Effingham

Effingham exists, functionally, because two interstates — I-57 and I-70 — cross almost precisely here in the middle of Illinois farmland, and for most travelers it’s a gas-and-fast-food stop rather than a destination. But the town leans hard into its crossroads identity: the Cross at the Crossroads, a 198-foot steel cross erected in 2001, is visible from both highways for miles before you arrive, and it turns out to be one of the more oddly moving roadside landmarks we found on the whole trip, less kitsch than genuinely sincere.

The Cross at the Crossroads

We pulled off just to see it up close and ended up staying half an hour, walking the small plaza at its base with a handful of other travelers who’d clearly had the same impulse. At 198 feet it’s one of the tallest crosses in the country, built partly in response to a devastating 1968 tornado that flattened much of downtown Effingham, and the plaque explaining that history gave the whole stop more weight than we’d expected from what looked, from the highway, like a simple roadside attraction.

Downtown and the diner counter

Effingham’s actual downtown, a few minutes from the interstate exits, is a modest but tidy grid of shops rebuilt after that same 1968 tornado. We ate lunch at a diner counter where a retired corn and soybean farmer struck up a conversation about the drought that year, and by the time we left we knew more about grain futures than either of us had ever expected to. It’s the kind of unplanned, purely local conversation that never happens at the highway exits, only a few blocks further in.

Getting There

Effingham sits directly at the I-57/I-70 interchange, making it an easy stop by car from any direction; the nearest airports are in St. Louis (about ninety minutes west) or Indianapolis (about two hours east). A car is essential — there is no meaningful public transit and the cross and downtown are a short drive apart.