There is no lack of famous roads in the world: we are talking about iconic roads, which alone are worth a trip. Just think of Highway 1 in the United States, which runs along the Pacific coast of California, or the Strada della Forra on Lake Garda, or Trollstigen in Norway. But there is no doubt about it: if there is one road that everyone really knows, at least from hearsay, it is Route 66. A road that today in fact no longer exists, but which remains the icon of a certain way of looking at the United States. The ‘mother road‘ – as it is called because of the nickname given to it by John Steinbeck in his famous novel The Grapes of Wrath – is an indelible symbol of American and world-wide on-the-road culture, and still knows many people eager to follow its route. But where did Route 66 actually pass, how long was it, where did it begin, and where did it end? Let us take a look at what the name Route 66 really means by tracing the history of this legendary road.
What States does Route 66 go through?
Even before presenting the history of Route 66, it is worth remembering what it is concretely. This name refers to one of the first and most famous US federal highways. Inaugurated on 11 November 1926, Route 66 was a total of 3,755 kilometres long, connecting Chicago, an Illinois city on the shores of Lake Michigan, to Santa Monica, in California. Or rather, Route 66 ended its westward journey right in front of the Santa Monica beach. Thus, from east to west, this road crossed these American states: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and finally California.
As explained below in the history of Route 66, today it no longer exists: it was officially removed when the modern highway system was introduced. However, it must be said that many of the highways of the Interstate Highway System faithfully follow the original itinerary of Route 66, thus making it possible to follow it. Moreover, currently, due to the curiosity it arises and widespread interest it draws, it is possible to find signs indicating the itinerary of the Historic Route 66.
Milestones of Route 66 history
In order to understand the history of Route 66, it is worth understanding that, at the beginning of the last century, the US road system was anything but efficient. In fact, there was talk of a poorly organised road network, mostly in poor or precarious condition, without homogeneity in the various states. So it was that at the beginning of the 1920s the American Association of State Highway Officials actually began to plan a national road system, to make travel safe and fast. But that was not all: they also wanted to create an intuitive system, thus indicating the roads with unique and meaningful numbers. The new even-numbered national roads ran on the east-west axis, while the odd-numbered national roads ran on the south-north axis; and again, the most important roads had one- or two-digit names, while the secondary roads had three-digit names, the first digits of which referred to the most important intersecting road.
Route 66 opening
Against this backdrop the idea of US 66 was introduced, with the aim of connecting Chicago and Los Angeles. Route 66 was opened to traffic in 1926, although it must be said that the paving was not completed until years later, in 1938. The patron of the project was Cyrus Avery, who wanted the route to be called US 60, a name that had already been ‘reserved’ for the road between Virginia Beach and Los Angeles; in the end, Avery chose the number 66, which was easy to remember for repetition.
The Great Depression years
It is thus clear that Route 66, at the time, was only one of the “many” new national highways that criss-crossed the United States. To what, then, is its fame due? It began almost immediately, during the years of the Great Depression, with more and more people moving westwards from the eastern states in search of new professional opportunities; it must also be said that, since much of the route of US 66 was flat, this route was often preferred by those who drove heavy vehicles. Thus, traffic on Route 66 in the 1920s and 1930s gradually increased, which also helped to build up income for families in the rural areas it passed through, who in many cases invested in the construction of service stations, workshops and restaurants.
Route 66 during the Second World War and the post-war period
During the Second World War, Route 66 faced increased traffic for military reasons, as goods and troops had to move across the country in the direction of California. Given the increase in traffic, it was decided to multiply the lanes in the Missouri section. It is therefore not surprising that in the post-war period, and especially during the 1950s, US 66 was the preferred route for Americans travelling to California for holidays, with the route taking travellers near the Painted Desert, close to the Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater.
Such growing popularity gave new impetus to the establishment of new businesses along the road, from motels to touristic restaurants and even the first drive-ins. It is worth mentioning that the first McDonald’s was opened right along Route 66, at San Bernardino.
The Federal-Aid Highway Act changes
The history of Route 66 came to a turn in 1956, when Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act, which aimed to introduce into the US road system something similar to German highways, faster and wider. Over the years, sections of US 66 were gradually cancelled and replaced by “new” roads. Today, the route of Route 66 has been replaced by five different highways, namely:
- Interstate 55 (in the first segment, 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)
- Interstate 10 (in the final segment, from San Bernardino to Santa Monica)
Since Route 66 was declared a road of historical interest – due to the efforts of associations in Arizona and Missouri – as anticipated, signs have reappeared to indicate the original route to those wishing to embark on this fascinating journey of discovery of the United States.
