U.S.

Route 66 (US 66 or Route 66), also known as the Will Rogers Highway, the Main
Street of America or the Mother Road, was one of the original highways in the U.S.
Highway System. US 66 was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the
following year.[4] The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in the United
States, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas,
New Mexico, and Arizona before ending in Santa Monica, California, near Los Angeles,
covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km).[5] It was recognized in popular culture by both the
hit song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" and the Route 66 television show in the 1960s. In
John Steinbeck's classic-American novel, The Grapes of Wrath (1939), the road, "Highway
66", was turned into a powerful symbol of escape and loss.

US 66 served as a primary route for those who migrated west, especially during the Dust
Bowl of the 1930s, and the road supported the economies of the communities through which
it passed. People doing business along the route became prosperous due to the growing
popularity of the highway, and those same people later fought to keep the highway alive in the
face of the growing threat of being bypassed by the new Interstate Highway System.

US 66 underwent many improvements and realignments over its lifetime, but was officially
removed from the United States Highway System in 1985[2] after it had been replaced in its
entirety by segments of the Interstate Highway System. Portions of the road that passed
through Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, and Arizona have been communally designated a
National Scenic Byway of the name "Historic Route 66", returning the name to some maps.[6]
[7]
Several states have adopted significant bypassed sections of the former US 66 into their
state road networks as State Route 66. The corridor is also being redeveloped into U.S.
Bicycle Route 66, a part of the United States Bicycle Route System that was developed in the
2010s.

Before the U.S. Highway System

A remnant of an original state right-of-way marker serves as a reminder of the early days of
the road's construction. This was part of the 1927 construction of US 66.

In 1857, Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale, a Naval officer in the service of the U.S. Army Corps
of Topographical Engineers, was ordered by the War Department to build a government-
funded wagon road along the 35th Parallel. His secondary orders were to test the feasibility of
the use of camels as pack animals in the southwestern desert. This road became part of US 66.
[9]

Parts of the original Route 66 from 1913, prior to its official naming and commissioning, can
still be seen north of the Cajon Pass. The paved road becomes a dirt road, south of Cajon,
which was also the original Route 66.[10]

Before a nationwide network of numbered highways was adopted by the states, named auto
trails were marked by private organizations. The route that would become US 66 was covered
by three highways. The Lone Star Route passed through St. Louis on its way from Chicago to
Cameron, Louisiana, though US 66 would take a shorter route through Bloomington rather
than Peoria. The transcontinental National Old Trails Road led via St. Louis to Los Angeles,
but was not followed until New Mexico; instead US 66 used one of the main routes of the
Ozark Trails system,[11] which ended at the National Old Trails Road just south of Las Vegas,
New Mexico. Again, a shorter route was taken, here following the Postal Highway between
Oklahoma City and Amarillo. Finally, the National Old Trails Road became the rest of the
route to Los Angeles.[12]

While legislation for public highways first appeared in 1916, with revisions in 1921, it was
not until Congress enacted an even more comprehensive version of the act in 1925 that the
government executed its plan for national highway construction. The original inspiration for a
roadway between Chicago and Los Angeles was planned by entrepreneurs Cyrus Avery of
Tulsa, Oklahoma, and John Woodruff of Springfield, Missouri. The pair lobbied the
American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) for the creation of a route
following the 1925 plans.[13]

National Museum of American History

The National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. has a section on US 66 in its
"America on the Move" exhibition. In the exhibit is a portion of pavement of the route taken
from Bridgeport, Oklahoma and a restored car and truck of the type that would have been
driven on the road in the 1930s. Also on display is a "Hamons Court" neon sign that hung at a
gas station and tourist cabins near Hydro, Oklahoma, a "CABINS" neon sign that pointed to
Ring's Rest tourist cabins in Muirkirk, Maryland, as well as several post cards a traveler sent
back to his future wife while touring the route.[49]

Museums in Oklahoma

Elk City, Oklahoma has the National Route 66 & Transportation Museum, which
encompasses all eight states through which the Mother Road runs.[50] Clinton, Oklahoma has
the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum, designed to display the iconic ideas, images, and myths of
the Mother Road.[51] Tulsa, Oklahoma has The Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza, located next to
the historic 11th Street Bridge which over which the Route passed, containing among other
things a giant symbolic sculpture of the intersection of a car and a horse-drawn wagon. Future
plans for the site include a Route 66 Interpretive Center.[52] The Heart of Route 66 Auto
Museum in Sapulpa, Oklahoma features a 66-foot high gas pump, the world’s tallest.[53]
Route description

Over the years, US 66 received many nicknames. Right after US 66 was commissioned, it was
known as "The Great Diagonal Way" because the Chicago-to-Oklahoma City stretch ran
northeast to southwest. Later, US 66 was advertised by the U.S. Highway 66 Association as
"The Main Street of America". The title had also been claimed by supporters of US 40, but
the US 66 group was more successful. In the John Steinbeck novel The Grapes of Wrath, the
highway is called "The Mother Road", its prevailing title today.[54] Lastly, US 66 was
unofficially named "The Will Rogers Highway" by the U.S. Highway 66 Association in 1952,
although a sign along the road with that name appeared in the John Ford film, The Grapes of
Wrath, which was released in 1940, twelve years before the association gave the road that
name. A plaque dedicating the highway to Will Rogers is still located in Santa Monica,
California. There are more plaques like this; one can be found in Galena, Kansas. It was
originally located on the Kansas-Missouri state line, but moved to the Howard Litch
Memorial Park in 2001.[55]

California

Main article: U.S. Route 66 in California

The sign of US 66's western terminus at the Santa Monica Pier

US 66 had its western terminus in California, and covered 315 miles (507 km) in the state.[56]
The terminus was located at the Pacific Coast Highway, then US 101 Alternate and now SR 1,
in Santa Monica, California. The highway ran through major cities such as Santa Monica, Los
Angeles, and San Bernardino. San Bernardino also contains one of the two surviving
Wigwam Motels along US 66. The highway had major intersections with US 101 in
Hollywood, I-5 in Los Angeles, I-15, and I-40 in Barstow, and US 95 in Needles. It also ran
concurrent to I-40 at California's very eastern end.[57]

Arizona
US 66 marker on the corner of Navajo Boulevard and Hopi Drive in Holbrook, AZ

Main article: U.S. Route 66 in Arizona

In Arizona, the highway originally covered 401 miles (645 km) in the state. Along much of
the way, US 66 paralleled I-40. It entered across the Topock Gorge, passing through the ghost
town of Oatman along the way to Kingman.[58] Between Kingman and Seligman, the route is
still signed as SR 66. Notably, just between Seligman and Flagstaff, Williams was the last
point on US 66 to be bypassed by an Interstate. Holbrook also contains one of the two
surviving Wigwam Motels on the route.[59]

New Mexico

Main article: U.S. Route 66 in New Mexico

US 66 covered 380 miles (610 km) in the state and passed through many Indian reservations
in the western half of New Mexico.[60] East of those reservations, the highway passed through
Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Las Vegas. As in Arizona, in New Mexico, U.S. 66 paralleled I-
40.[61]

Texas

Main article: U.S. Route 66 in Texas

The Midpoint Café in Adrian, TX, at the midpoint of the route

US 66 covered 178 miles (286 km) in the Texas Panhandle, travelling in an east–west line
between Glenrio, New Mexico and Texas and Texola, Oklahoma.[62] Adrian, in the western
Panhandle, was notable as the midpoint of the route. East of there, the highway passed
through Amarillo, famous for the Cadillac Ranch, Conway, Groom, and Shamrock.

Oklahoma and Kansas

Main articles: U.S. Route 66 in Oklahoma and U.S. Route 66 in Kansas

The highway covered 267 miles (430 km) in Oklahoma. Today, it is marked by I-40 west of
Oklahoma City, and SH-66 east of there. After entering at Texola, US 66 passed through
Sayre, and Elk City before entering Oklahoma City.[63] Beyond Oklahoma City, the highway
passed through Edmond on its way to Tulsa. Past there, US 66 passed through northeastern
Oklahoma before entering Kansas where it covered only 13.2 miles (21.2 km).[64] Only three
towns are located on the route in Kansas: Galena, Riverton and Baxter Springs.

Missouri

Main article: U.S. Route 66 in Missouri

US 66 covered 292 miles (470 km) in Missouri. Upon entering from Galena, Kansas, the
highway passed through Joplin. From there, it passed through Carthage, Springfield, where
Red's Giant Hamburg, the world's first drive-thru stands, Waynesville, Devils Elbow, and
Rolla before passing through St. Louis.[65]

Illinois

Main article: U.S. Route 66 in Illinois

US 66 covered 301 miles (484 km) in Illinois. It entered Illinois in East St. Louis after
crossing the Mississippi River. Near there, it passed by Cahokia Mounds, a UNESCO World
Heritage Site. The highway then passed through Hamel, Springfield, passing by the Illinois
State Capitol, Bloomington-Normal, Pontiac, and Gardner.[66] It then entered the Chicago area.
After passing through the suburbs, U.S. 66 entered Chicago itself, where it terminated at Lake
Shore Drive.[67]