US 66 was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. Highway 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. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in the United States, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas.U.S. The people who thrived during the growing popularity of the highway were the same people who later fought to keep. Route 66 was the main route for immigrants going west , especially during the 1930s, and it sustained the economy of the areas the highway crossed. Route 66: the so-called Mother Highway, or the Main Highway of America.

Its original length was about 2,400 miles (3,862 kilometers). In John Steinbeck's classic American novel, The Grapes of Wrath (1939), the road 'Highway 66' symbolized escape and loss.Route 66 began in Chicago, Ill., and ended in Los Angeles, California. It was recognized in popular culture by both the hit song ' (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66' and the Route 66 television series, which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964.

The paved road becomes a dirt road, south of Cajon, which was also the original Route 66. Parts of the original Route 66 from 1913, prior to its official naming and commissioning, can still be seen north of the Cajon Pass. This road became part of US 66. His secondary orders were to test the feasibility of the use of camels as pack animals in the southwestern desert. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, was ordered by the War Department to build a government-funded wagon road along the 35th Parallel. Edward Fitzgerald Beale, a naval officer in the service of the U.S.

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. While legislation for public highways first appeared in 1916, with revisions in 1921, until Congress enacted an even more comprehensive version of the act in 1925, the government had not executed its plan for national highway construction. Finally, the National Old Trails Road became the rest of the route to Los Angeles. Again, a shorter route was taken, here following the Postal Highway between Oklahoma City and Amarillo. 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, which ended at the National Old Trails Road just south of Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Avery was adamant that the highway have a round number and had proposed number 60 to identify it. Highways, although it was not completely paved until 1938. Championed by Avery when the first talks about a national highway system began, US 66 was first signed into law in 1927 as one of the original U.S. Louis streets and on Route 266 to Halltown, Missouri. A placard in Park Central Square was dedicated to the city by the Route 66 Association of Missouri, and traces of the 'Mother Road' are still visible in downtown Springfield along Kearney Street, Glenstone Avenue, College, and St. From the outset, public road planners intended US 66 to connect the main streets of rural and urban communities along its course for the most practical of reasons: most small towns had no prior access to a major national thoroughfare.The numerical designation 66 was assigned to the Chicago-to-Los Angeles route on April 30, 1926, in Springfield, Missouri.

After the new federal highway system was officially created, Cyrus Avery called for the establishment of the U.S. The state of Missouri released its 1926 state highway map with the highway labeled as US 60. Avery and highway engineer John Page settled on '66', which was unassigned, despite the fact that in its entirety, US 66 was north of US 60. The final conclusion was to have US 60 run between Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Springfield, Missouri, and the Chicago– L.A. Arguments and counterarguments continued throughout February, including a proposal to split the proposed route through Kentucky into Route 60 North (to Chicago) and Route 60 South (to Newport News).

Highway 66 Association also placed its first advertisement in the July 16, 1932, issue of the Saturday Evening Post. The race ended in Madison Square Garden, where the $25,000 first prize (equal to $376,793 in 2020) was awarded to Andy Hartley Payne, a Cherokee runner from Oklahoma. The publicity worked: several dignitaries, including Will Rogers, greeted the runners at certain points on the route. In 1928, the association made its first attempt at publicity, the ' Bunion Derby', a footrace from Los Angeles to New York City, of which the path from Los Angeles to Chicago would be on US 66. Woodruff of Springfield, Missouri, elected the first president. In 1927, in Tulsa, the association was officially established with John T.

During the Depression, it gave some relief to communities located on the highway. US 66 became the main road of travel for these people, often derogatorily called ' Okies' or 'Arkies'. The Dust Bowl of the 1930s saw many farming families, mainly from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Texas, heading west for agricultural jobs in California. Much of the highway was essentially flat and this made the highway a popular truck route. The association went on to serve as a voice for businesses along the highway until it disbanded in 1976.Traffic grew on the highway because of the geography through which it passed. Highway 66 Association office in Oklahoma received hundreds of requests for information after the ad was published.

Several places were dangerous: more than one part of the highway was nicknamed 'Bloody 66' and gradually work was done to realign these segments to remove dangerous curves. Highway 66 Association, US 66 became the first highway to be completely paved in 1938. Due to the efforts of the U.S. Restored Magnolia gasoline station museum on Route 66 in Shamrock in Wheeler County, TexasMuch of the early highway, like all the other early highways, was gravel or graded dirt.

Notable buildings include the art deco–styled U-Drop Inn, constructed in 1936 in Shamrock, in Wheeler County east of Amarillo, Texas, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Despite such hazards in some areas, US 66 continued to be a popular route. The section remained as US 66 until 1953 and is still open to traffic today as the Oatman Highway.

Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri was located near the highway, which was locally upgraded quickly to a divided highway to help with military traffic. US 66, already popular and fully paved, became one of the main routes and also served for moving military equipment. During World War II, more migration west occurred because of war-related industries in California.

Route Of Route 66