Famous Roads

Comments (5) for “Route 66?”

1. csucdartgirl Says:
   May 18th, 2005 at 1:52 pm

   There is a famous song about it.

   It used to be the “shiz-nizzle” now there’s only a little of it left.

2. Tracye M Says:
   May 19th, 2005 at 1:32 pm

   This site will tell you everything you wanted to know and more.

3. Stanly Says:
   May 20th, 2005 at 8:48 pm

   My flavor Flave…

4. The Shadow Says:
   May 21st, 2005 at 5:29 am

   There are entire books written on this subject, so you won’t be able to get all of the details here. However, there are a lot of websites devoted to it. If you put “Route 66″ in a search engine, you’ll find enough material to keep you happy all day. You can also find a number of books about it on Amazon.com.

   In short, Route 66 (officially “US-66″) was created in 1926 and ran from Chicago to Los Angeles and later to Santa Monica. It was originally supposed to be US-60 but was renumbered due to a disagreement between several states over route numbering. A few old maps from 1926 were actually printed with the wrong number.

   Route 66 was a major highway before the Interstate freeway system was created and was widely used for the westward migration during the Depression and after World War II. As the Interstate freeways were built, Route 66 was gradually replaced by sections of I-55, I-44, I-40, and I-15. The last section of the old highway to be bypassed by the freeway was at Williams, AZ in 1984. In 1985, the route number was officially decommissioned and passed into history. Since then, several states have posted “Historic US-66″ signs on some remaining sections of the original route.

   Although many people will tell you that little of Route 66 remains, that’s wrong. Large sections of it still remain although some can be difficult to locate. (I’ve driven most of the remaining route, so I’m speaking from experience.) Some of the books and websites devoted to the highway trace the route in detail if you’re interested.

5. surfjax32 Says:
   May 21st, 2005 at 11:33 am

   Hi I have driven Route 66 from start to finish a few times; I also live in a town that Route 66 goes through. Route 66 is many things, the Main Street of America, The Mother Road, Main Street USA and many more names. Route 66 first started out as many “trails” that wagon trains used to get to California or the “west”. There are still parts of Route 66 today that have ruts on the side of the road from wagon trains. The Sante Fe Tail, Smith trail and may Native American trails, are part of this history. Before there were roads there were railroads and many of them followed the old trails. They set up a system for transit across the US to the new west. In 1908 the Ford Motor T came out and changed the way Americans lived. They now could travel at a faster pace and see the country. Because of the cars, the idea of paved highways evolved. Nice roads that helped you navigate the land, smoother safer roads. Paving the roads started on a state level and then moved to a national level and in 1921 the federal government passed an act that would make a federal highway system.
   This was the reason Route 66 was born. It was the first highway to connect the rest of the US to the West. Route 66 starts in Chicago and ends in Santa Monica. Route 66 is very famous because people used it during the dust bowel and the depression.. When the Midwest was struck by a drought many people rushed to California to look for gold and to find jobs. They faced many hardships along the way and many turned away before they got there! The book “Grapes of Wrath” was based off this and really shows how hard times were thus, giving Route 66 the name of the “Mother Road”.
   There are 2,400 miles that run between Chicago and Santa Monica.
   Let us not forget that a song and a TV show also helped make this highway so popular in modern culture. Route 66 was the main highway for years, my grandparents drove it, and my parents drove it before the “new” interstates moved in. It also gave us things like diners, roadfood, tourist traps. Yep there were some around in other states but, the towns on Route 66 made them famous. The food, sounds silly but, Route 66 is also famous for the food. There are and were many good places to go, the Metro Dinner is the best food around and it must be because Elvis ate there. Delray’s Chicken Basket near Chicago, Lou Mitchell’s in Chicago, SnowCap in Seligman AR. There are tons of spots on Route 66 like this. Traveling it exposed people to new foods, foods from all cultures, and food that could be served fast and near the road. There are a lot of “tourist” places to stop. Most of the time these places were connected to a gas station, gave the people a break from the long travels, places like Meteor City, and Twin Arrows made those stops adventures.
   Another great thing about Route 66 was that it went through the towns of America not around them like the new interstates. You got to see how people lived, you got to see the town, and you got to experience things that you cannot find today driving down an interstate. When people traveled 66 the getting there part was a big fun part of the vacation, unlike now we rush to get to our destination.
   The Neon. Wow Route 66 was full of it! Signs lighting up the way to motor courts that let you sleep in a wigwam, or in a nice motor court with garage. The signs would hug the street, some were animated, some where not but, they sure made fun for traveling.
   Although it was decommissioned in 1985, yep that is when it was taken off the highway maps; it still had been overlooked and bypassed by the new systems before that. Today you can still drive hundreds of miles of the original route (there are several alignments depends on the year) some of it has been covered over by the new interstate some has not. It does take a little work to travel it but, most of the states on Route 66 have free maps and info that they will send you. They also mark the route (some states better than others) with historic Route 66 markers which helps you a lot when trying to follow the road. There are still parts of Route 66 that you can drive that are not paved, or one laned. Truly how the old highway was. There are people that will tell you that you cannot drive Route 66 this is untrue, you cannot drive the whole thing any more but you can drive a LARGE amount of it!
   There are several details of the Mother Road but one of the best is the people of Route 66 make it famous. I am young and I have driven the route several times, and I now live on Route 66. I wanted to know the history, I wanted to know why America loved it so much. So I did travel it my first trip lasted for over a month and I can tell you the people I met along the way and their stories of life on the mother road is what made it famous to me. It is sad to see the small towns dying, it is sad to see the people who made their living on the route have to move away. I am glad that I have done the trip several times because each time it changes. There is a real effort going on in a lot of these small towns to save the Mother Road and its historic spots. Old motels are being re-done, old restaurants and diners are being brought back to life but, still it is not enough to save some of these towns. The original generations of the Route are slowly leaving us and it is important to preserve their memories.
   You can still drive a lot of Route 66 today if you are looking for sites let me know. There are several that I recommend.

   Helpful websites:

   Great online newspaper with current events and other good articles.

   Best directions, very good, lets you choose what alignment you want to drive! I use them every time they even have the modern day street names!!!!!

   I hope this helps you.

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