30. The Keeley Institute and the famous Keeley Gold Cure (Dwight, IL)

Long before the glory days of Route 66, the Route 66 town of Dwight, IL,  was the center of the world thanks to a Civil War surgeon who established the world's first treatment center for alcohol and drug addiction.  Dr. Keeley's method involved having patients ingest flecks of gold dust, which was very secretive at the time.  Join Dr. Timothy Hickman, from Lancaster University (United Kingdom) as he talks with Route 66 Podcast host Anthony Arno all about a little known treatment center that continued to exist well into the glory days of Route 66. By the 1900, Dr. Keeley was perhaps the most famous physician in the world that people loved to hate because of his methodology.  Many thought that he was a real "quack," but he was certainly a pioneer in treating addictions with over 200 treatment centers around the world by the beginning of the 20th Century. Don't miss one of those episodes about Route 66 that truly contains a bizarre but true story about life along The Mother Road.