Route 66 – What and Why?

For those who are unaware and want to know, here, in my own words, is some history and description of what Route 66 was and is today.

Route 66, sometimes also referred to as the Main Street of America or the Will Rogers Highway and part of the National Scenic Byway, was a network of evolved and unpaved byways that was officially incorporated as the Chicago to Los Angeles highway in 1926.  The route number was hotly debated.  Some states didn't want a number that would confuse travellers with close or similar numbers to those that already existed.  The number ‘66’ was available; it was easy to remember and had a good ring to it.  The route became Route 66!  

Casualty in a big ol' hole

At that point the network stretched from Illinois through Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona to California for 2448 miles. The alignment of the route sections has changed several times over the years so it is not possible to confirm its official length in miles now.  It served as the main artery for commercial purposes and, through the ‘dust bowl’ and depression of the 1930’s provided a migration route for farming families from Kansas and Oklahoma to find suitable work and a new life in California.  The road surfaces were not fully paved until the late 30’s so it would have been a difficult journey, especially in the extremes of weather where cars would get stuck in mud or run off the road and be at the mercy of a rare horse and cart to rescue them.  





As the route became popular, even settlements would up-route and move closer to the route to pick up the passing trade.  One example is Tucumcari in New Mexico, which, as a settlement, had previously existed several miles to the north.  

Once a busy service, now a 66 ruin

As traffic increased, so did the road-side trade as the vehicles would need rest stops for engine cooling, fuel and passengers would need food and rest.  Some of these ‘trading posts’ became very well known; some still exist; some are in ruins.The arrival of the first Interstate Highways from 1956, modelled on German autobahns, immediately impacted the daily trade of those businesses along Route 66 where sections of road were ‘demoted’ to business loops, linking the towns to the interstate.  They became almost immediately empty of traffic and passing custom. 

These ARE the knives you're looking for!

Where business owners had the acumen, imagination and sheer desperation to try and save their livelihoods, unique Route 66 tourist attractions evolved to maintain some level of competition and hope of survival.  Advertising hoardings would invite vacationing families travelling along the route and Interstate to stop off at the next exit and pay them a visit, promising that it would be worth it!  



The giant ‘muffler men’ spread along the route with their mysterious origins are good examples of how the quirkiness of Route 66 emerged.  

Gallup's giant; 'fiddler on the roof'??

There were casualties of this progression where some businesses just couldn't survive. Glen Rio once boasted the First & Last Motel in Texas on a stretch of the route which still has a narrow central reservation and existed along-side family-run filling stations, cafe’s, gift store and garage.  Once the I-40 opened, it became one of the ‘ghost towns’ of Route 66.  Ironically it is the opposite side of the Interstate to the bustling Russell’s travel centre that has a free and wonderful Car and Americana museum.  They share the same exit but supposedly drivers didn’t choose to make that extra few hundred yards to visit those old businesses. 

Glen Rio 'ghosts'

 Route 66 was decommissioned in 1985.  Even by then there were several associations campaigning to save it and still continue to do so, run by die-hard flailing gas station and motel owners.  Some states, such as Kansas, have ‘adopted’ sections which boost their heritage status and campaigners continue to push for this acknowledgement on a wider basis.  There are short sections in some states that have had the number 66 re-instated.  During my short time there we realised how much of an impact every US president has had across the States, either during their time in office or after.  Well Bill Clinton, aside from his more infamous activities, set up the National Route 66 Preservation Bill in 1999.  This provided $10 million of grants to restore and preserve some of the key historic features along the original route.   In 2008 the World Monuments Fund added to this so that gas stations, motels and cafes would be saved from becoming derelict.  

U-Drop Inn, Shamrock, Texas

 Some of the best art deco architecture in the USA has been preserved because of this funding.  Where possible, local towns have made use of them such as the famous U-Drop Inn of Shamrock in Texas where the Information Centre and Chamber of Commerce reside. 

The beautiful cafe and fuel pumps sit as silent monuments to a by-gone era for the town and the route.  It means that they are still here for us to enjoy and wonder about the people who have filled up their road-weary and filthy vehicles with fuel, slid into a booth with their companions to enjoy a meal and a coffee or three.

New career as a pump attendant?

Did you know that Will Rogers was a much revered Broadway entertainer from Claremore, near Tulsa, Oklahoma who patronised the small businesses along the route as he gigged the vaudeville halls across the States in the early 20^th century?  He later moved into journalism, radio, politics and the movies, becoming one of the biggest and best-loved celebrities in the world during the 20s and 30s.  Without realising it, we are still influenced by him as he is the origin of several famous quotes as a humorist.  The Route 66 Association and MGM dedicated a memorial to him in Santa Monica, California, marking one of the official route ends in the early 50’s.  One of his many famous quotes was that he’d ‘never met a man he didn’t like on Route 66’.  This is displayed on a road marker along the route in his home town.

Did you know that the road stencils of the well-known Route 66 ‘chevron’ originated to make drivers aware they’re on the route because souvenir hunters would steal the road-side signs so often?

Did you also know that Radiator Springs in the Pixar animated film ‘Cars’ was based on the ‘ghost towns’ of Route 66?

If you didn't then you do now!