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 standard tradition, it has impressed songs, films, TV reveals, books, and magazines. Within the standard creativeness of the previous, it represented hope, freedom, and a greater lifestyle. As we speak, 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, finest, and most scenic route from Chicago by way of St. Louis to Los Angeles,” as marketed by the U.S. 66 Freeway Affiliation. Spanning 2,448 miles, passing by way of eight states, and connecting dozens of small cities and main cities, Route 66 got here to be often known as the “Most important Road of America.”
In line with the Nationwide Park Service, in 1926 the newly designated route “was simply an task of a quantity to an already current community of state-managed roads, most of which have been in poor situation.” U.S. 66 stitched collectively components 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.
Resulting from 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 turned the primary U.S. freeway to be utterly paved.
Two main occasions through the Nineteen Thirties – the Nice Melancholy and the Mud Bowl – contributed to growth, enchancment, and elevated use of Route 66. Two of President Roosevelt’s New Deal financial restoration applications, the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration, put 1000’s of individuals to work constructing and enhancing American infrastructure, together with U.S. 66.
Widespread drought and mud storms within the Midwest and southern Nice Plains prompted a whole bunch of 1000’s of farmers and their households emigrate by way of Route 66 to seek out work in California. John Steinbeck, in The Grapes of Wrath, his 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 primary migrant street. 66 – the lengthy concrete path throughout the nation, waving gently up and down the map, from Mississippi to Bakersfield – over the pink 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 Warfare II, U.S. 66 served as an important route for shifting troopers and provides throughout the nation, and a number of other navy bases have been established on or close to the route. After the battle, financial prosperity allowed extra People to purchase vehicles and take holidays, making a tradition of journey and exploration that also exists at present. As visitors on Route 66 elevated, a whole bunch of mom-and-pop companies – fuel stations, motels, eating places, memento outlets, and roadside sights – sprang as much as serve the wants of vacationers, bringing much-needed income to small cities.
Sarcastically, the recognition of automotive (and motorbike) 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 Help 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 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 have been solely changed by interstates; some lived on as enterprise routes or frontage roads, whereas others have 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 have been fashioned to protect, shield, and promote the roadway, usually to encourage tourism within the small cities that obtained an financial enhance from Route 66 however have been later bypassed by interstates. In 1990, Congress handed a legislation authorizing the Nationwide Park Service Route 66 Hall Preservation Program.
Subsequent yr, Route 66 celebrates its one hundredth anniversary, and the August 2025 particular challenge 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 might 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
