126-801: U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 ( US 66 or Route 66 ) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System . It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in the United States, ran from Chicago , Illinois , through Missouri , Kansas , Oklahoma , Texas , New Mexico , and Arizona before terminating in Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, California , covering
252-508: A suspension toll bridge into Bridgeport. In 1933, a straighter cut-off route was completed from west of El Reno to one mile (1.6 km) south of Bridgeport, crossing over a 38-span steel pony truss bridge over the South Canadian River, bypassing Calumet and Geary by several miles. From west of Santa Rosa, New Mexico , to north of Los Lunas, New Mexico , the road originally turned north from current I-40 along much of what
378-613: A Bachelor of Arts degree in 1897. He married Essie McClelland after graduation, then moved to Oklahoma City to be an insurance agent. In 1904, he moved to Vinita in Indian Territory , where he expanded into real estate loans and invested in the oil industry , establishing the Avery Oil & Gas Company. In 1907, he moved again to Tulsa . He bought a farm near Tulsa in 1908, where he raised Holstein and Ayshire cattle, Druoc hogs, Shopshire sheep, and Percheron horses. In
504-425: A banner such as alternate or bypass —are also managed by AASHTO. These are sometimes designated with lettered suffixes, like A for alternate or B for business. The official route log, last published by AASHTO in 1989, has been named United States Numbered Highways since its initial publication in 1926. Within the route log, "U.S. Route" is used in the table of contents, while "United States Highway" appears as
630-510: A combination of California State Route 66 , I-210 and State Route 2 (SR 2) or I-10 from San Bernardino across the Los Angeles metropolitan area to Santa Monica. When the highway was decommissioned, sections of the road were disposed of in various ways. Within many cities, the route became a "business loop" for the interstate. Some sections became state roads, local roads, or private drives, or were abandoned completely. Although it
756-655: A compromise: connect their highway with Avery's in Springfield and give their highway the number 60. Avery could have his Chicago–Los Angeles highway if he would accept the number 62 which was originally assigned to their road. Avery disliked the number 62, found out 66 was not used, and designated the Chicago–Los Angeles highway as U.S. 66. In 1926, the Federal Highway System was approved by Congress. With this done, Congress also de-certified all
882-419: A continuous routing. United States Numbered Highway System The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways ) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States . As the designation and numbering of these highways were coordinated among the states, they are sometimes called Federal Highways , but
1008-458: A distinctively-shaped white shield with large black numerals in the center. Often, the shield is displayed against a black square or rectangular background. Each state manufactures their own signage, and as such subtle variations exist all across the United States. Individual states may use cut-out or rectangular designs, some have black outlines, and California prints the letters "US" above the numerals. One- and two-digit shields generally feature
1134-464: A government-funded wagon road along the 35th Parallel . His secondary orders were to test the feasibility of the use of camels as pack animals in the southwestern desert . This road became part of US 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 . The paved road becomes a dirt road, south of Cajon, which
1260-623: A main route. Odd numbers generally increase from east to west; U.S. Route 1 (US 1) follows the Atlantic Coast and US 101 follows the Pacific Coast. (US 101 is one of the many exceptions to the standard numbering grid; its first "digit" is "10", and it is a main route on its own and not a spur of US 1.) Even numbers tend to increase from north to south; US 2 closely follows the Canadian border, and US 98 hugs
1386-591: A near-perfect microcosm of the culture of America, now linked by the automobile. Many sections of US 66 underwent major realignments. In 1930, between the Illinois cities of Springfield and East St. Louis , US 66 was shifted farther east to what is now roughly Interstate 55 (I-55). The original alignment, marked as Temporary 66, followed the current Illinois Route 4 (IL 4). From downtown St. Louis to Gray Summit, Missouri , US 66 originally went down Market Street and Manchester Road, which
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#17328025603981512-498: A part of popular culture. US 101 continues east and then south to end at Olympia, Washington . The western terminus of US 2 is now at Everett, Washington . Cyrus Avery Cyrus Stevens Avery (1871–1963) was a businessperson, oilman, and highway commissioner. He created the U.S. Route 66 while being a member of the federal board appointed to create the Federal Highway System , then pushed for
1638-713: A part of the U.S. Numbered System." U.S. Route 3 (US 3) meets this obligation; in New Hampshire , it does not follow tolled portions of the Everett Turnpike . However, US Routes in the system do use parts of five toll roads: U.S. Routes in the contiguous United States follow a grid pattern, in which odd-numbered routes run generally north to south and even-numbered routes run generally east to west, though three-digit spur routes can be either-or. Usually, one- and two-digit routes are major routes, and three-digit routes are numbered as shorter spur routes from
1764-856: A popular route. 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 . A restored Magnolia fuel station is also located in Shamrock as well as Vega , in Oldham County , west of Amarillo. During World War II , more migration west occurred because of war-related industries in California. US 66, already popular and fully paved, became one of
1890-457: A proposal to split the proposed route through Kentucky into Route 60 North (to Chicago) and Route 60 South (to Newport News ). The final conclusion was to have US 60 run between Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Springfield, Missouri, and the Chicago– L.A. route be US 62. Avery and highway engineer John Page settled on "66", which was unassigned, despite the fact that in its entirety, US 66
2016-602: A rough grid. Major routes from the earlier map were assigned numbers ending in 0, 1 or 5 (5 was soon relegated to less-major status), and short connections received three-digit numbers based on the main highway from which they spurred. The five-man committee met September 25, and submitted the final report to the Joint Board secretary on October 26. The board sent the report to the Secretary of Agriculture on October 30, and he approved it November 18, 1925. The new system
2142-561: A significant distance in and near Flagstaff, Arizona . Farther west, a long segment of US 66 in Arizona runs significantly north of I-40, and much of it is designated as State Route 66 (SR 66). This runs from Seligman to Kingman, Arizona , via Peach Springs . A surface street stretch between San Bernardino and La Verne (known as Foothill Boulevard ) to the east of Los Angeles retains its number as SR 66 . Several county roads and city streets at various places along
2268-466: A single, paved lane, concrete curbs to mark the edge of the lane, and gravel shoulders for passing. Some states have kept the 66 designation for parts of the highway, albeit as state roads. In Missouri, Routes 366 , 266 , and 66 are all original sections of the highway. State Highway 66 (SH-66) in Oklahoma remains as the alternate "free" route near its turnpikes. "Historic Route 66" runs for
2394-545: A total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km). It was recognized in popular culture by both the 1946 hit song " (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66 " and the Route ;66 television series , which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964. It was also featured in the Disney / Pixar animated feature film franchise Cars , beginning in 2006. In John Steinbeck 's novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939), the highway symbolizes escape, loss, and
2520-637: Is a north–south route, unlike its parent US 22 , which is east–west. As originally assigned, the first digit of the spurs increased from north to south and east to west along the parent; for example, US 60 had spurs, running from east to west, designated as US 160 in Missouri , US 260 in Oklahoma , US 360 in Texas , and US 460 and US 560 in New Mexico . As with
2646-436: Is a spur off US 64 . Some divided routes , such as US 19E and US 19W , exist to provide two alignments for one route. Special routes, which can be labeled as alternate, bypass or business, depending on the intended use, provide a parallel routing to the mainline U.S. Highway. Before the U.S. Routes were designated, auto trails designated by auto trail associations were the main means of marking roads through
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#17328025603982772-772: Is in the process of eliminating all intrastate U.S. Highways less than 300 miles (480 km) in length "as rapidly as the State Highway Department and the Standing Committee on Highways of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials can reach agreement with reference thereto". New additions to the system must serve more than one state and "substantially meet the current AASHTO design standards ". A version of this policy has been in place since 1937. The original major transcontinental routes in 1925, along with
2898-495: Is largely Route 100 . In 1932, this route was changed and the original alignment was never viewed as anything more than temporary. The planned route was down Watson Road, which is now Route 366 but Watson Road had not been completed yet. In Oklahoma, from west of El Reno to Bridgeport , US 66 turned north to Calumet and then west to Geary , then southwest across the South Canadian River over
3024-495: Is no longer possible to drive US 66 uninterrupted all the way from Chicago to Los Angeles, much of the original route and alternate alignments are still drivable with careful planning. Some stretches are quite well preserved, including one between Springfield, Missouri, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Some sections of US 66 still retain their historic 9-foot-wide (2.7 m) "sidewalk highway" form, never having been resurfaced to make them into full-width highways. These old sections have
3150-522: Is now US 84 to near Las Vegas, New Mexico , followed (roughly) I-25 —then the decertified US 85 through Santa Fe and Albuquerque to Los Lunas and then turned northwest along the present New Mexico State Road 6 (NM 6) alignment to a point near Laguna. In 1937, a straight-line route was completed from west of Santa Rosa through Moriarty and east–west through Albuquerque and west to Laguna. This newer routing saved travelers as much as four hours of travel through New Mexico. According to legend,
3276-564: The Autobahn network as a necessary component of a national defense system. During its nearly 60-year existence, US 66 was under constant change. As highway engineering became more sophisticated, engineers constantly sought more direct routes between cities and towns. Increased traffic led to a number of major and minor realignments of US 66 through the years, particularly in the years immediately following World War II when Illinois began widening US 66 to four lanes through virtually
3402-688: The Gulf Freeway carried US 75 , the Pasadena Freeway carried US 66 , and the Pulaski Skyway carries US 1 and US 9 . The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 appropriated funding for the Interstate Highway System, to construct a vast network of freeways across the country. By 1957, AASHO had decided to assign a new grid to the new routes, to be numbered in the opposite directions as
3528-468: The National Register of Historic Places in 1984 and 1989, respectively. In 2005, the State of Missouri made the road a state scenic byway from Illinois to Kansas. In the cities of Rancho Cucamonga , Rialto , and San Bernardino in California, there are US 66 signs erected along Foothill Boulevard , and also on Huntington Drive in the city of Arcadia . "Historic Route 66" signs may be found along
3654-618: The New England states got together to establish the six-state New England Interstate Routes . Behind the scenes, the federal aid program had begun with the passage of the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 , providing 50% monetary support from the federal government for improvement of major roads. The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 limited the routes to 7% of each state's roads, while 3 in every 7 roads had to be "interstate in character". Identification of these main roads
3780-559: The Old State Capitol . Many preservation groups have tried to save and even landmark the old motels and neon signs along the road in some states. In 1999, President Bill Clinton signed a National Route 66 Preservation Bill that provided for $ 10 million in matching fund grants for preserving and restoring the historic features along the route. In 2008, the World Monuments Fund added US 66 to
3906-537: The Pacific coast . Many local disputes arose related to the committee's choices between designation of two roughly equal parallel routes, which were often competing auto trails. At their January meeting, AASHO approved the first two of many split routes (specifically US 40 between Manhattan, Kansas and Limon, Colorado and US 50 between Baldwin City, Kansas and Garden City, Kansas ). In effect, each of
U.S. Route 66 - Misplaced Pages Continue
4032-663: The United States Secretary of Agriculture appointed him to the Joint Board of Interstate Highways, which was to designate the new federal highways and mark them. One of the routes requested by Congress was a road running from Virginia Beach, Virginia to Los Angeles, California . This road would follow what is now U.S. Highway 60 from Virginia Beach to Springfield, Missouri , continue west to Joplin , across southern Kansas , Colorado , Utah , turning south to Las Vegas, Nevada , then further south and west to Los Angeles. Avery successfully argued that to avoid
4158-626: The World Monuments Watch as sites along the route such as gas stations, motels, cafés, trading posts and drive-in movie theaters are threatened by development in urban areas and by abandonment and decay in rural areas. The National Park Service developed a Route 66 Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary describing over one hundred individual historic sites. As the popularity and mythical stature of US 66 has continued to grow, demands have begun to mount to improve signage, return US 66 to road atlases and revive its status as
4284-415: The auto trails which they roughly replaced, were as follows: US 10, US 60, and US 90 only ran about two thirds of the way across the country, while US 11 and US 60 ran significantly diagonally. US 60's violation of two of the conventions would prove to be one of the major sticking points; US 60 eventually was designated as US 66 in 1926, and later it became
4410-559: The " Jesse James hideout". The Big Texan advertised a free 72-ounce (2.0 kg) steak dinner to anyone who could consume the entire meal in one hour. It also marked the birth of the fast-food industry: Red's Giant Hamburg in Springfield, Missouri , site of the first drive-through restaurant, and the first McDonald's in San Bernardino, California . Changes like these to the landscape further cemented 66's reputation as
4536-673: The "66" and U.S. Route shield or outline directly onto the road surface , along with the state's name. This is common in areas where conventional signage for "Historic Route 66" is a target of repeated theft by souvenir hunters. Various sections of the road itself have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places . The Arroyo Seco Parkway in the Los Angeles Area and US 66 in New Mexico have been made into National Scenic Byways. Williams Historic Business District and Urban Route 66, Williams were added to
4662-409: The 1940s and 1950s to adopt the same number as the U.S. Route they connected to – mostly in the western provinces. Examples include British Columbia 's highways 93 , 95 , 97 , and 99 ; Manitoba 's highways 59 , 75 , and 83 ; or Ontario King's Highway 71 . The reverse happened with U.S. Route 57 , originally a Texas state highway numbered to match Mexican Federal Highway 57 . In the 1950s,
4788-629: The 1950s, US 66 became the main highway for vacationers heading to Los Angeles. The road passed through the Painted Desert and near the Grand Canyon . Meteor Crater in Arizona was another popular stop. This sharp increase in tourism in turn gave rise to a burgeoning trade in all manner of roadside attractions, including teepee - shaped motels , frozen custard stands, Indian curio shops, and reptile farms. Meramec Caverns near St. Louis , began advertising on barns, billing itself as
4914-476: The Black Mountains was completely bypassed by a new route between Kingman, Arizona , and Needles, California ; by the 1960s, Oatman, Arizona , was virtually abandoned as a ghost town . Since the 1950s, as Interstates were being constructed, sections of US 66 not only saw the traffic drain to them, but often the route number itself was moved to the faster means of travel. In some cases, such as to
5040-744: The City of Tulsa, Oklahoma renamed the Eleventh Street Bridge (which carried US 66 over the Arkansas River ), the Cyrus Avery Route 66 Memorial Bridge in his honor. In late 2012, artist Robert Summers unveiled East Meets West , a sculpture in Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza at Southwest Boulevard at Riverside Drive in Tulsa. The detailed 135%-scale bronze depicts Avery stopping his Ford on
5166-484: The Gulf Coast. The longest routes connecting major cities are generally numbered to end in a 1 or a 0; however, extensions and truncations have made this distinction largely meaningless. These guidelines are very rough, and exceptions to all of the basic numbering rules exist. The numbering system also extended beyond the borders of the United States in an unofficial manner. Many Canadian highways were renumbered in
U.S. Route 66 - Misplaced Pages Continue
5292-508: The I-40 route just outside the city, therefore providing local businesses dependent on highway traffic easy access to and from the freeway via the north–south highway that crossed old US 66 in San Jon. I-40 was completed from Glenrio to the east side of San Jon in 1976 and extended west to Tucumcari in 1981, including the bypasses around both cities. Originally, highway officials planned for
5418-733: The Interstate 55 Business route, in Bloomington, Illinois . The sweeping curve on the southeast side of the city originally was intended to easily handle traffic at speeds up to 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), as part of an effort to make US 66 an Autobahn equivalent for military transport. In 1953, the first major bypassing of US 66 occurred in Oklahoma with the opening of the Turner Turnpike between Tulsa and Oklahoma City. The new 88-mile (142 km) toll road paralleled US 66 for its entire length and bypassed each of
5544-407: The Interstate Highway System. Portions of the road that passed through Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona have been communally designated a National Scenic Byway by the name " Historic Route 66 ", returning the name to some maps. Several states have adopted significant bypassed sections of the former US 66 into their state road networks as State Route 66 and much of
5670-502: The New Mexico Legislature enacted legislation that banned the construction of interstate bypasses around cities by local request. This legislation was short-lived, however, due to pressures from Washington and threat of loss of federal highway funds so it was rescinded by 1965. In 1964, Tucumcari and San Jon became the first cities in New Mexico to work out an agreement with state and federal officials in determining
5796-601: The Northeast, New York held out for fewer routes designated as US highways. The Pennsylvania representative, who had not attended the local meetings, convinced AASHO to add a dense network of routes, which had the effect of giving six routes termini along the state line. (Only US 220 still ends near the state line, and now it ends at an intersection with future I-86 .) Because US 20 seemed indirect, passing through Yellowstone National Park , Idaho and Oregon requested that US 30 be swapped with US 20 to
5922-767: The Oklahoma Good Roads Association. He also served as president of the Albert Pike Highway Association from 1917 to 1927. He was elected chairman of the Tulsa County Commission, serving from 1913 to 1916, and is considered responsible for the construction of the Eleventh Street Bridge , which replaced an older wooden bridge across the Arkansas River. He also began pushing for a statewide improvement of roads. He eventually became involved in
6048-425: The U.S. Highway System remains in place to this day and new routes are occasionally added to the system. In general, U.S. Routes do not have a minimum design standard, unlike the later Interstate Highways , and are not usually built to freeway standards. Some stretches of U.S. Routes do meet those standards. Many are designated using the main streets of the cities and towns through which they run. New additions to
6174-693: The U.S. Highway grid. Though the Interstate numbers were to supplement—rather than replace—the U.S. Route numbers, in many cases (especially in the West ) the US highways were rerouted along the new Interstates. Major decommissioning of former routes began with California 's highway renumbering in 1964 . The 1985 removal of US 66 is often seen as the end of an era of US highways. A few major connections not served by Interstate Highways include US 6 from Hartford, Connecticut, to Providence, Rhode Island and US 93 from Phoenix, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada, though
6300-535: The US Highway system, three-digit numbers are assigned to spurs of one or two-digit routes. US 201 , for example, splits from US 1 at Brunswick, Maine , and runs north to Canada. Not all spurs travel in the same direction as their "parents"; some are connected to their parents only by other spurs, or not at all, instead only traveling near their parents, Also, a spur may travel in different cardinal directions than its parent, such as US 522 , which
6426-477: The US highway, which did not end in zero, but was still seen as a satisfyingly round number. Route 66 came to have a prominent place in popular culture, being featured in song and films. With 32 states already marking their routes, the plan was approved by AASHO on November 11, 1926. This plan included a number of directionally split routes, several discontinuous routes (including US 6 , US 19 and US 50 ), and some termini at state lines. By
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#17328025603986552-650: The United States. These were private organizations, and the system of road marking at the time was haphazard and not uniform. In 1925, the Joint Board on Interstate Highways , recommended by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), worked to form a national numbering system to rationalize the roads. After several meetings, a final report was approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in November 1925. After getting feedback from
6678-463: The act in 1925. The original inspiration for a road between Chicago and Los Angeles was planned by entrepreneurs Cyrus Avery of Tulsa, Oklahoma , and John Woodruff of Springfield, Missouri , who lobbied the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) for the creation of a route following the 1925 plans. From the outset, public road planners intended US 66 to connect the main streets of rural and urban communities along its course for
6804-535: The annual June Chicago Blues Festival was held each year in Grant Park and included a "Route 66 Roadhouse" stage on Columbus Avenue, a few yards north of old US 66/Jackson Boulevard (both closed to traffic for the festival), and a block west of the route's former eastern terminus at US 41 Lake Shore Drive . Since 2001, Springfield, Illinois has annually held its "International Route 66 Mother Road Festival" in its downtown district surrounding
6930-480: The approval of the states along the former US 60. But Missouri and Oklahoma did object—Missouri had already printed maps, and Oklahoma had prepared signs. A compromise was proposed, in which US 60 would split at Springfield, Missouri , into US 60E and US 60N, but both sides objected. The final solution resulted in the assignment of US 66 to the Chicago-Los Angeles portion of
7056-430: The area. Disputes over proposed highway routing in the vicinity of San Jon held up construction plans for several years as federal officials proposed that I-40 run some five to six miles (8 to 10 km) north of that city while local and state officials insisted on following a proposed route that touched the northern city limits of San Jon. In November 1969, a truce was reached when federal highway officials agreed to build
7182-405: The auto trail associations were not able to formally address the meetings. However, as a compromise, they talked with the Joint Board members. The associations finally settled on a general agreement with the numbering plans, as named trails would still be included. The tentative system added up to 81,000 miles (130,000 km), 2.8% of the public road mileage at the time. The second full meeting
7308-423: The city with both turnpikes. In some cases, such as many areas in Illinois, the new Interstate Highway not only paralleled the old US 66, it actually used much of the same roadway. A typical approach was to build one new set of lanes, then move one direction of traffic to it, while retaining the original set of lanes for traffic flowing in the opposite direction. Then a second set of lanes for traffic flowing in
7434-561: The completion of I-40 just north of Williams, Arizona . Finally, with decertification of the highway by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials the following year, US 66 officially ceased to exist. With the decommissioning of US 66, no single interstate route was designated to replace it, with the route being covered by Interstate 55 from Chicago to St. Louis, Interstate 44 from St. Louis to Oklahoma City, Interstate 40 from Oklahoma City to Barstow ; Interstate 15 from Barstow to San Bernardino, and
7560-675: The creation of the Ozarks Trails , a system of roads connecting St. Louis and Amarillo , Texas . After working with creating more roads, he was elected president of the Associated Highway Associations of America. In 1923, he was appointed to the Oklahoma State Highway Commission, where he implemented a gasoline tax to fund the highway department. He became instrumental in pushing for a federal level of good roads. In 1925,
7686-509: The early highway, like all the other early highways, was gravel or graded dirt. Due to the efforts of the U.S. Highway 66 Association, US 66 became the first highway to be completely paved in 1938. 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. One section through the Black Mountains outside Oatman, Arizona ,
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#17328025603987812-449: The east of St. Louis, this was done as soon as the Interstate was finished to the next exit. The displacement of US 66 signage to the new freeways, combined with restrictions in the 1965 Highway Beautification Act that often denied merchants on the old road access to signage on the freeway, became factors in the closure of many established US 66 businesses as travelers could no longer easily find or reach them. In 1936, US 66
7938-488: The entire state from Chicago to the Mississippi River just east of St. Louis , and included bypasses around virtually all of the towns. By the early to mid-1950s, Missouri also upgraded its sections of US 66 to four lanes complete with bypasses. Most of the newer four-lane 66 paving in both states was upgraded to freeway status in later years. One notable remnant of US 66 is Veterans Parkway, signed as
8064-686: The establishment of the U.S. Highway 66 Association to pave and promote the highway. As such, he is known as the "Father of Route 66". He was born in Stevensville, Pennsylvania on August 31, 1871. He and his parents, Alexander James Avery and Ruie Stevens Avery moved to Missouri in 1881. In 1890, the family moved to Noel, Missouri , where Cyrus received a certificate to teach in public schools. In 1893, he enrolled in William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri , where he earned
8190-471: The first documented person to drive an automobile from San Francisco to New York using only a connection of dirt roads, cow paths, and railroad beds. His journey, covered by the press, became a national sensation and called for a system of long-distance roads. In the early 1910s, auto trail organizations—most prominently the Lincoln Highway —began to spring up, marking and promoting routes for
8316-517: The first president. 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. The publicity worked: several dignitaries, including Will Rogers , greeted the runners at certain points on the route. The race ended in Madison Square Garden , where the $ 25,000 first prize (equal to $ 443,605 in 2023)
8442-568: 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. Highways , although it was not completely paved until 1938. Avery was adamant that the highway have a round number and had proposed number 60 to identify it. A controversy erupted over the number 60, largely from delegates from Kentucky who wanted a Virginia Beach –Los Angeles highway to be US 60 and US 62 between Chicago and Springfield, Missouri. Arguments and counterarguments continued throughout February, including
8568-465: The following year, he established a 1,400 acres (570 ha) farm northeast of Tulsa for diversified agriculture. Cyrus had three children with Essie: sons Gordon Avery and Leighton Avery, and daughter Helen Avery Berghell. Shortly after WWI, Avery opened a proto- motel outside Tulsa. Avery soon realized that an interstate system of highways would help his adopted city and state prosper. Impressed with Missouri's Good Roads Movement , Avery joined
8694-650: The former route within San Bernardino County, California , is designated as County Route 66 . The corridor is also being redeveloped into U.S. Bicycle Route 66 , a part of the United States Bicycle Route System that was developed in the 2010s. In 1857, Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale , a naval officer in the service of the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers , was ordered by the War Department to build
8820-533: The group decided not to name the highways (as had been done by many non-profit groups which were currently connecting various state routes into longer multi-state and transcontinental routes), but instead to follow the pattern of numbering the highways, as established in Wisconsin and Missouri . The current east-west routes would be even numbers, and the north-south would be odd. Major routes would be one- or two-digit numbers ending in either "1" or "0" depending on
8946-449: The heading for each route. All reports of the Special Committee on Route Numbering since 1989 use "U.S. Route", and federal laws relating to highways use "United States Route" or "U.S. Route" more often than the "Highway" variants. The use of U.S. Route or U.S. Highway on a local level depends on the state, with some states such as Delaware using "route" and others such as Colorado using "highway". In 1903, Horatio Nelson Jackson became
9072-531: The high peaks of the Rocky Mountains , the road should turn south through Tulsa and Oklahoma City, continue west across the Texas Panhandle , New Mexico , Arizona , and southern California . His suggestion that this highway should go east from Springfield to St. Louis and Chicago, Illinois , as commerce naturally continued in that direction, was also adopted. After the highways were routed,
9198-674: The hope of a new beginning; Steinbeck dubbed it the Mother Road . Other designations and nicknames include the Will Rogers Highway and the Main Street of America , the latter nickname shared with U.S. Route 40 . US 66 was a primary route for those who migrated west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and it supported the economies of the communities through which it passed. People doing business along
9324-713: The last section of US 66 to be bypassed by interstates in Texas, but as was the case in many places, lawsuits held up construction of the new interstates. The US Highway 66 Association had become a voice for the people who feared the loss of their businesses. Since the interstates only provided access via ramps at interchanges, travelers could not pull directly off a highway into a business. At first, plans were laid out to allow mainly national chains to be placed in interstate medians. Such lawsuits effectively prevented this on all but toll roads. Some towns in Missouri threatened to sue
9450-478: The latter is planned to be upgraded to Interstate 11 . Three state capitals in the contiguous U.S. are served only by U.S. Routes: Dover, Delaware ; Jefferson City, Missouri ; and Pierre, South Dakota . In 1995, the National Highway System was defined to include both the Interstate Highway System and other roads designated as important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility. AASHTO
9576-453: The locations of their I-40 bypasses as close to their business areas as possible in order to permit easy access for highway travelers to their localities. Other cities soon fell in line including Santa Rosa , Moriarty , Grants and Gallup although it wasn't until well into the 1970s that most of those cities would be bypassed by I-40. By the late 1960s, most of the rural sections of US 66 had been replaced by I-40 across New Mexico with
9702-514: The lowest numbers in the east and the highest in the west, while east-to-west highways are typically even-numbered, with the lowest numbers in the north, and the highest in the south, though the grid guidelines are not rigidly followed, and many exceptions exist. Major north–south routes generally have numbers ending in "1", while major east–west routes usually have numbers ending in "0". Three-digit numbered highways are generally spur routes of parent highways; for example, U.S. Route 264 (US 264)
9828-495: The main road of travel for these people, often derogatorily called " Okies " or "Arkies". During the Depression, it gave some relief to communities located on the highway. The route passed through numerous small towns and, with the growing traffic on the highway, helped create the rise of mom-and-pop businesses , such as service stations , restaurants , and motor courts , all readily accessible to passing motorists . Much of
9954-580: The main routes and also served for moving military equipment. Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri was located near the highway, which was locally upgraded quickly to a divided highway to help with military traffic. When Richard Feynman was working on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos , he used to travel nearly 100 miles (160 km) to visit his wife, who was dying of tuberculosis , in a sanatorium located on US 66 in Albuquerque . In
10080-483: The more colorful names and historic value of the auto trail systems. The New York Times wrote, "The traveler may shed tears as he drives the Lincoln Highway or dream dreams as he speeds over the Jefferson Highway , but how can he get a 'kick' out of 46, 55 or 33 or 21?" (A popular song later promised, " Get your kicks on Route 66! ") The writer Ernest McGaffey was quoted as saying, "Logarithms will take
10206-552: The most notable exception being the 40-mile (64 km) strip from the Texas border at Glenrio west through San Jon to Tucumcari, which was becoming increasingly treacherous due to heavier and heavier traffic on the narrow two-lane highway. During 1968 and 1969, this section of US 66 was often referred to by locals and travelers as "Slaughter Lane" due to numerous injury and fatal accidents on this stretch. Local and area business and civic leaders and news media called upon state and federal highway officials to get I-40 built through
10332-760: 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 . 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. Louis streets and on Route 266 to Halltown, Missouri . Championed by Avery when
10458-516: The new recreation of long-distance automobile travel. The Yellowstone Trail was another of the earliest examples. While many of these organizations worked with towns and states along the route to improve the roadways, others simply chose a route based on towns that were willing to pay dues, put up signs, and did little else. Wisconsin was the first state in the U.S. to number its highways , erecting signs in May 1918. Other states soon followed. In 1922,
10584-458: The numbering grid for the new Interstate Highway System was established as intentionally opposite from the US grid insofar as the direction the route numbers increase. Interstate Highway numbers increase from west-to-east and south-to-north, to keep identically numbered routes geographically apart in order to keep them from being confused with one another, and it omits 50 and 60 which would potentially conflict with US 50 and US 60 . In
10710-422: The old "association" highways. In 1927, Avery pushed for the creation of the U.S. Highway 66 Association to promote paving U.S. 66 and promote travel on the highway. He was elected vice president in 1929, and recruited Lon Scott for to promote the new highway. He got a business connection in Springfield, Missouri appointed as president. In the 1930s, Avery would attempt to have himself elected president of
10836-723: The old route have also retained the "66" number. The first Route 66 associations were founded in Arizona in 1987 and, in 1989, Missouri (incorporated in 1990) and Illinois. Other groups in the other US 66 states soon followed. In 1990, the state of Missouri declared US 66 in that state a "State Historic Route". The first "Historic Route 66" marker in Missouri was erected on Kearney Street at Glenstone Avenue in Springfield, Missouri (now replaced—the original sign has been placed at Route 66 State Park near Eureka ). Other historic markers now line—at times sporadically—the entire 2,400-mile (3,900 km) length of road. In many communities, local groups have painted or stenciled
10962-521: The old route on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena , and along Foothill Boulevard in San Dimas , La Verne , and Claremont , California. The city of Glendora, California , renamed Alosta Avenue, its section of US 66, by calling it "Route 66". Flagstaff, Arizona , renamed all but a few blocks of Santa Fe Avenue as "Route 66". Until 2017, when it was moved to the nearby Millennium Park ,
11088-510: The only state without a "0" highway. They countered Avery's US route by pushing for US 60 to run between Virginia Beach and Los Angeles; the Springfield to Chicago section could be "U.S. 60 North". Avery returned with "U.S. 60 South" for the Springfield–Virginia Beach alignment. Kentucky threatened to walk completely out of the new highway system (individual states could not be forced to participate in it). Finally, Kentucky offered
11214-492: The optional routes into another route. In 1934, AASHO tried to eliminate many of the split routes by removing them from the log, and designating one of each pair as a three-digit or alternate route, or in one case US 37 . AASHO described its renumbering concept in the October 1934 issue of American Highways : "Wherever an alternate route is not suitable for its own unique two-digit designation, standard procedure assigns
11340-658: The organization, but he never succeeded. Essie Avery died in October 1962. Cyrus Avery died in Los Angeles, California on July 2, 1963, and was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Tulsa. Avery Drive, a street in southwest Tulsa, was named for him. In 1997, the National Historic Route 66 Federation established a Cyrus Avery Award, which has been presented variously to individuals for outstanding creativity in depicting Route 66, and to organizations for noteworthy preservation projects. In 2004,
11466-459: The other direction would be constructed, finally followed by abandoning the other old set of lanes or converting them into a frontage road . The same scenario was used in western Oklahoma, when US 66 was initially upgraded to a four-lane highway such as from Sayre to Erick to the Texas border at Texola in 1957 and 1958 where the old paving was retained for westbound traffic and a new parallel lane built for eastbound traffic (much of this section
11592-458: The other states. Many states agreed in general with the scope of the system, but believed the Midwest to have added too many routes to the system. The group adopted the shield, with few modifications from the original sketch, at that meeting, as well as the decision to number rather than name the routes. A preliminary numbering system, with eight major east–west and ten major north–south routes,
11718-412: The place of legends, and 'hokum' for history." When the U.S. numbered system was started in 1925, a few optional routings were established which were designated with a suffixed letter after the number indicating "north", "south", "east", or "west". While a few roads in the system are still numbered in this manner, AASHO believes that they should be eliminated wherever possible, by the absorption of one of
11844-616: The rerouting was done at the behest of Democratic Governor Arthur T. Hannett to punish the Republican Santa Fe Ring , which had long dominated New Mexico out of Santa Fe. In 1940, the first freeway in Los Angeles was incorporated into US 66; this was the Arroyo Seco Parkway , later known as the Pasadena Freeway ; now again known as Arroyo Seco Parkway. In 1953, the Oatman Highway through
11970-572: The roadways were built and have always been maintained by state or local governments since their initial designation in 1926. The route numbers and locations are coordinated by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The only federal involvement in AASHTO is a nonvoting seat for the United States Department of Transportation . Generally, most north-to-south highways are odd-numbered, with
12096-594: The route and the nominal direction of travel. Second, they are displayed at intersections with other major roads, so that intersecting traffic can follow their chosen course. Third, they can be displayed on large green guide signs that indicate upcoming interchanges on freeways and expressways. Since 1926, some divided routes were designated to serve related areas, and designate roughly-equivalent splits of routes. For instance, US 11 splits into US 11E (east) and US 11W (west) in Bristol, Virginia , and
12222-588: The route became prosperous, and they later fought to keep it alive in the face of the growing threat of being bypassed by the more advanced controlled-access highways of the Interstate Highway System in the 1960s and 70s. US 66 underwent many improvements and realignments over its lifetime, but it was officially removed from the United States Highway System in 1985 after it was entirely replaced by segments of
12348-602: The route. To avoid a "U.S. 0", U.S. Highway 2 was treated as a "0" highway and U.S. Route 101 would be treated as a two-digit highway to expand the number of available routes north-south. Avery, arguing that the Chicago to Los Angeles route would be a major highway, numbered the highway US 60, began production of roadside signs. However, political trouble was brewing. The Virginia Beach–Springfield route had been designated as U.S. 62 and actually terminated south of Galloway, Missouri at U.S. Highway 65 . Kentucky would be
12474-646: The routes rejoin in Knoxville, Tennessee . Occasionally only one of the two routes is suffixed; US 6N in Pennsylvania does not rejoin US ;6 at its west end. AASHTO has been trying to eliminate these since 1934; its current policy is to deny approval of new split routes and to eliminate existing ones "as rapidly as the State Highway Department and the Standing Committee on Highways can reach agreement with reference thereto". Special routes —those with
12600-500: The same large, bold numerals on a square-dimension shield, while 3-digit routes may either use the same shield with a narrower font, or a wider rectangular-dimension shield. Special routes may be indicated with a banner above the route number, or with a letter suffixed to the route number. Signs are generally displayed in several different locations. First, they are shown along the side of the route at regular intervals or after major intersections (called reassurance markers ), which shows
12726-493: The southwest to Oklahoma City , from where it ran west to Los Angeles . Kentucky strongly objected to this designated route, as it had been left off any of the major east–west routes, instead receiving the US ;62 designation. In January 1926, the committee designated this, along with the part of US 52 east of Ashland, Kentucky , as US 60 . They assigned US 62 to the Chicago-Los Angeles route, contingent on
12852-538: The splits in US 11 , US 19 , US 25 , US 31 , US 45 , US 49 , US 73 , and US 99 . For the most part, the U.S. Routes were the primary means of inter-city vehicle travel; the main exceptions were toll roads such as the Pennsylvania Turnpike and parkway routes such as the Merritt Parkway . Many of the first high-speed roads were U.S. Highways:
12978-711: The state also included projects to upgrade the through routes in El Reno, Weatherford, Clinton, Canute, Elk City, Sayre, Erick, and Texola to four-lane highways not only to provide seamless transitions from the rural sections of I-40 from both ends of town but also to provide easy access to those cities in later years after the I-40 bypasses were completed. In New Mexico, as in most other states, rural sections of I-40 were to be constructed first with bypasses around cities to come later. However, some business and civic leaders in cities along US 66 were completely opposed to bypassing fearing loss of business and tax revenues. In 1963,
13104-475: The state if the US 66 designation was removed from the road, though lawsuits never materialized. Several businesses were well known to be on US 66, and fear of losing the number resulted in the state of Missouri officially requesting the designation "Interstate 66" for the St. Louis to Oklahoma City section of the route, but it was denied. In 1984, Arizona also saw its final stretch of highway decommissioned with
13230-481: The states, they made several modifications; the U.S. Highway System was approved on November 11, 1926. Expansion of the U.S. Highway System continued until 1956, when the Interstate Highway System was laid out and began construction under the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower . After the national implementation of the Interstate Highway System, many U.S. Routes that had been bypassed or overlaid with Interstate Highways were decommissioned and removed from
13356-545: The system, however, must "substantially meet the current AASHTO design standards ". As of 1989, the United States Numbered Highways system had a total length of 157,724 miles (253,832 km). Except for toll bridges and tunnels , very few U.S. Routes are toll roads . AASHTO policy says that a toll road may only be included as a special route , and that "a toll-free routing between the same termini shall continue to be retained and marked as
13482-497: The system. In some places, the U.S. Routes remain alongside the Interstates and serve as a means for interstate travelers to access local services and as secondary feeder roads or as important major arteries in their own right. In other places, where there are no nearby Interstate Highways, the U.S. Routes often remain as the most well-developed roads for long-distance travel. While the system's growth has slowed in recent decades,
13608-550: The time the first route log was published in April 1927, major numbering changes had been made in Pennsylvania in order to align the routes to the existing auto trails. In addition, U.S. Route 15 had been extended across Virginia . Much of the early criticism of the U.S. Highway System focused on the choice of numbers to designate the highways, rather than names. Some thought a numbered highway system to be cold compared to
13734-489: The towns along US 66. The Turner Turnpike was joined in 1957 by the new Will Rogers Turnpike , which connected Tulsa with the Oklahoma-Missouri border west of Joplin, Missouri , again paralleling US 66 and bypassing the towns in northeastern Oklahoma in addition to its entire stretch through Kansas. Both Oklahoma turnpikes were soon designated as I-44 , along with the US 66 bypass at Tulsa that connected
13860-492: The two routes received the same number, with a directional suffix indicating its relation to the other. These splits were initially shown in the log as—for instance—US 40 North and US 40 South, but were always posted as simply US 40N and US 40S. The most heated argument, however, was the issue of US 60. The Joint Board had assigned that number to the Chicago-Los Angeles route, which ran more north–south than west–east in Illinois, and then angled sharply to
13986-468: The two-digit routes, three-digit routes have been added, removed, extended and shortened; the "parent-child" relationship is not always present. AASHTO guidelines specifically prohibit Interstate Highways and U.S. Routes from sharing a number within the same state. As with other guidelines, exceptions exist across the U.S. Some two-digit numbers have never been applied to any U.S. Route, including 37, 39, 47, 86, and 88. Route numbers are displayed on
14112-477: The unqualified number to the older or shorter route, while the other route uses the same number marked by a standard strip above its shield carrying the word 'Alternate'." Most states adhere to this approach. However, some maintain legacy routes that violate the rules in various ways. Examples can be found in California , Mississippi , Nebraska , Oregon , and Tennessee . In 1952, AASHO permanently recognized
14238-517: Was also a foundation for many chain stores back in the 1920s, sprouting up next to it to increase business and sales. The beginning of the decline for US 66 came in 1956 with the signing of the Interstate Highway Act by President Dwight D. Eisenhower who was influenced by his experiences in 1919 as a young Army officer crossing the country in a truck convoy (following the route of the Lincoln Highway ), and his appreciation of
14364-720: Was also chosen, based on the shield found on the Great Seal of the United States . The auto trail associations rejected the elimination of the highway names. Six regional meetings were held to hammer out the details—May 15 for the West , May 27 for the Mississippi Valley , June 3 for the Great Lakes , June 8 for the South , June 15 for the North Atlantic , and June 15 for New England . Representatives of
14490-440: Was also the original Route 66. Before a nationwide network of numbered highways was adopted by the states, auto trails were marked by private organizations. The route that became US 66 was covered by three highways: Legislation for public highways first appeared in 1916, with revisions in 1921, but the government did not execute a national highway construction plan until Congress enacted an even more comprehensive version of
14616-521: Was awarded to Andy Hartley Payne , a Cherokee runner from Oklahoma. The U.S. Highway 66 Association also placed its first advertisement in the July 16, 1932, issue of the Saturday Evening Post . The ad invited Americans to take US 66 to the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. A U.S. Highway 66 Association office in Oklahoma received hundreds of requests for information after the ad
14742-510: Was both praised and criticized by local newspapers, often depending on whether that city was connected to a major route. While the Lincoln Highway Association understood and supported the plan, partly because they were assured of getting the US 30 designation as much as possible, most other trail associations lamented their obsolescence. At their January 14–15, 1926 meeting, AASHO was flooded with complaints. In
14868-524: Was completed in 1923. The American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), formed in 1914 to help establish roadway standards, began to plan a system of marked and numbered "interstate highways" at its 1924 meeting. AASHO recommended that the Secretary of Agriculture work with the states to designate these routes. Secretary Howard M. Gore appointed the Joint Board on Interstate Highways , as recommended by AASHO, on March 2, 1925. The Board
14994-418: Was composed of 21 state highway officials and three federal Bureau of Public Roads officials. At the first meeting, on April 20 and 21, the group chose the name "U.S. Highway" as the designation for the routes. They decided that the system would not be limited to the federal-aid network; if the best route did not receive federal funds, it would still be included. The tentative design for the U.S. Route shield
15120-518: Was deferred to a numbering committee "without instructions". After working with states to get their approval, the committee expanded the highway system to 75,800 miles (122,000 km), or 2.6% of total mileage, over 50% more than the plan approved August 4. The skeleton of the numbering plan was suggested on August 27 by Edwin Warley James of the BPR, who matched parity to direction, and laid out
15246-402: Was entirely bypassed by I-40 in 1975), and on two other sections; from Canute to Elk City in 1959 and Hydro to Weatherford in 1960, both of which were upgraded with the construction of a new westbound lane in 1966 to bring the highway up to full interstate standards and demoting the old US 66 paving to frontage road status. In the initial process of constructing I-40 across western Oklahoma,
15372-730: Was extended from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica to end at US 101 Alt., today the intersection of Olympic and Lincoln Boulevards . Even though there is a plaque dedicating US 66 as the Will Rogers Highway placed at the intersection of Ocean Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard , the highway never terminated there. US 66 was rerouted around several larger cities via bypass or beltline routes to permit travelers to avoid city traffic congestion. Some of those cities included Springfield, Illinois ; St. Louis, Missouri ; Rolla, Missouri ; Springfield, Missouri ; Joplin, Missouri ; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma . The route
15498-404: Was fraught with hairpin turns and was the steepest along the entire route, so much so that some early travellers, too frightened at the prospect of driving such a potentially dangerous road, hired locals to navigate the winding grade. The section remained as US 66 until 1953 and is still open to traffic today as the Oatman Highway. Despite such hazards in some areas, US 66 continued to be
15624-424: Was held August 3 and 4, 1925. At that meeting, discussion was held over the appropriate density of routes. William F. Williams of Massachusetts and Frederick S. Greene of New York favored a system of only major transcontinental highways, while many states recommended a large number of roads of only regional importance. Greene in particular intended New York's system to have four major through routes as an example to
15750-480: Was north of US 60. The state of Missouri released its 1926 state highway map with the highway labeled as US 60. After the new federal highway system was officially created, Cyrus Avery called for the establishment of the U.S. Highway 66 Association to promote the complete paving of the highway from end to end and to promote travel down the highway. In 1927, in Tulsa, the association was officially established with John T. Woodruff of Springfield, Missouri, elected
15876-466: Was published. 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. Much of the highway was essentially flat and this made the highway a popular truck route. The Dust Bowl of the 1930s saw many farming families, mainly from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Texas, heading west for agricultural jobs in California. US 66 became
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