U.S. Route 66. Former US Highway between Chicago and Santa Monica 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.[3] 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 a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km).[4] 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. History[edit] Before the U.S. In 1857, Lt. Parts of the original Route 66 from 1913, prior to its official naming and commissioning, can still be seen north of the Cajon Pass.
Birthplace and rise of US 66[edit] Changes in routing[edit] From downtown St. Decline[edit] National Historic Route 66 Federation. Route 66. This article is an itinerary. Official Route 66 sign Understand[edit] Route 66 is one of the essential icons of America, both for Americans and for people abroad. It represents a multitude of ideas: freedom, migration West, and the loneliness of the American heartland. The highway was first opened in 1926, although much of the route was not paved for decades afterwards.
It soon captured America's imagination. John Steinbeck, in his 1940 novel Grapes of Wrath, chronicled the migration along Route 66 of thousands of farmers leaving the Dust Bowl of Kansas and Oklahoma during the Great Depression, trying to reach a better land in California. Later representations of the road were a little more upbeat. In the 1980s, the aging highway was decommissioned. Prepare[edit] In The Grapes of Wrath, to prepare for their trip to California, the Joad family packs everything on their farm into a $50 jalopy, and kills their two remaining pigs to make a barrel of salt pork to feed the 14 people on board.
The Mother Road: Historic Route 66. Restaurants « Route 66 News.