In another one of our attempts to save you looking for all the best resources. I thought I’d give you links to my new (or at least newly renewed) passion of Route 66.
Because of publicity, movies like “Cars” and other ways of generating awareness, Route 66 is one of the best “known” preservation efforts centered around mid-Century.
From Wikipedia:
U.S. Route 66 (also known as the Will Rogers Highway and colloquially known as the Main Street of America or the Mother Road) was a highway within the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926 – with road signs erected the following year.[1] The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in America, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, before ending at Los Angeles, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km).[2] It was recognized in popular culture by both a hit song and the Route 66 television show in the 1960s.
Route 66 served as a major path for those who migrated west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and it supported the economies of the communities through which the road passed. People doing business along the route became prosperous due to the growing popularity of the highway, and those same people later fought to keep the highway alive in the face of the growing threat of being bypassed by the new Interstate Highway System.
Route 66 underwent many improvements and realignments over its lifetime, and was officially removed from the United States Highway System on June 27, 1985[3] after it was decided the route was no longer relevant and had been replaced by the Interstate Highway System. Portions of the road that passed through Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, and Arizona have been designated a National Scenic Byway of the name “Historic Route 66”. Several states have adopted significant bypassed sections the former alignment of US 66 into the state road network as State Route 66.
My Favorite Links:
Route 66 Chamber of Commerce: We provide our visitors with information to help them plan an adventure on the Historic Mother Road of America.
Project Route 66: Preserving a part of American History one song at a time!
Route 66 Magazine – Printed publication: Route 66 Magazine is your passport to the scenic beauty, charm, and spirit of America’s most storied highway.
Route 66 Yahoo Group – “The Route 66 eGroup”. Also referred to as “The Route 66 Mailing List”, the first Route 66 related list on yahoogroups.
