No street tells the story of Twentieth-century America and captures the spirit of journey like Route 66. The historical past of Route 66 is considered one of ingenuity, patriotism, and capitalism; of transportation, migration, and tourism; of transformation, inspiration, and evolution. In widespread tradition, it has impressed songs, films, TV exhibits, books, and magazines. Within the widespread creativeness of the previous, it represented hope, freedom, and a greater lifestyle. Right this moment, it represents nostalgia for a bygone period.
Designated in 1926 by the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads as a part of the primary federal freeway system, Route 66 established “the shortest, greatest, and most scenic route from Chicago by St. Louis to Los Angeles,” as marketed by the U.S. 66 Freeway Affiliation. Spanning 2,448 miles, passing by eight states, and connecting dozens of small cities and main cities, Route 66 got here to be referred to as the “Important Avenue of America.”
Based on the Nationwide Park Service, in 1926 the newly designated route “was simply an task of a quantity to an already present community of state-managed roads, most of which had been in poor situation.” U.S. 66 stitched collectively elements of a number of older routes, together with the Lone Star Route from Chicago to St. Louis, a part of the Ozark Trails system from St. Louis to New Mexico, and the Nationwide Previous Trails Street westward to L.A.
Attributable to its diagonal orientation and southern routing, Route 66 established a year-round, largely flat freeway that opened the American West, turning into a significant truck route and democratizing over-the-road, cross-country journey. In 1938, it grew to become the primary U.S. freeway to be utterly paved.
Two main occasions throughout the Thirties – the Nice Melancholy and the Mud Bowl – contributed to improvement, enchancment, and elevated use of Route 66. Two of President Roosevelt’s New Deal financial restoration packages, the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration, put hundreds of individuals to work constructing and bettering American infrastructure, together with U.S. 66.
Widespread drought and mud storms within the Midwest and southern Nice Plains prompted tons of of hundreds of farmers and their households emigrate by way of Route 66 to seek out work in California. John Steinbeck, in The Grapes of Wrathhis 1939 novel concerning the devastating results of the Mud Bowl and the mass migration that adopted, supplied a vivid description of Route 66 and established considered one of its most enduring nicknames, the “Mom Street”:
Freeway 66 is the principle migrant street. 66 – the lengthy concrete path throughout the nation, waving gently up and down the map, from Mississippi to Bakersfield – over the crimson lands and the grey lands, twisting up into the mountains, crossing the Divide and down into the brilliant and horrible desert, and throughout the desert to the mountains once more, and into the wealthy California valleys. … 66 is the mom street, the street of flight.
Throughout World Conflict II, U.S. 66 served as an important route for transferring troopers and provides throughout the nation, and a number of other navy bases had been established on or close to the route. After the battle, financial prosperity allowed extra Individuals to purchase automobiles and take holidays, making a tradition of journey and exploration that also exists at the moment. As visitors on Route 66 elevated, tons of of mom-and-pop companies – gasoline stations, motels, eating places, memento retailers, and roadside sights – sprang as much as serve the wants of vacationers, bringing much-needed income to small cities.
Mockingly, the recognition of automotive (and bike) journey alongside Route 66 led to its demise. U.S. 66 was in a relentless state of enchancment, which led to rerouting and realignments that bypassed main cities (like Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1937) and dozens of small cities. President Eisenhower signed the Federal Assist Freeway Act of 1956 to create a nationwide system of interstate highways. 5 interstates (I-55, I-44, I-40, I-15 and I-10) regularly changed U.S. 66 between the Nineteen Fifties and the Eighties. After the 1984 bypassing of the final part of U.S. 66 by I-40, Route 66 was formally decommissioned in 1985.
Many sections of Route 66 had been solely changed by interstates; some lived on as enterprise routes or frontage roads, whereas others had been deserted and left to deteriorate. Recognizing the significance of Route 66 in American historical past and popular culture, state-level preservation associations and devoted volunteer teams had been fashioned to protect, shield, and promote the roadway, usually to encourage tourism within the small cities that acquired an financial increase from Route 66 however had been later bypassed by interstates. In 1990, Congress handed a regulation authorizing the Nationwide Park Service Route 66 Hall Preservation Program.
Subsequent yr, Route 66 celebrates its a hundredth anniversaryand the August 2025 particular subject of Rider honors the milestone with devoted tour tales, a journey information, essays, and sources. Many cities, cities, and tourism bureaus alongside the Route 66 hall have centennial celebrations deliberate, so subsequent yr will likely be a good time to trip America’s freeway. Go get your kicks on Route 66!
See all of Rider‘s Route 66 tour tales and sources
