U.S. Route 66

U.S. Route 66 (US 66 or Route 66), also known as the Will Rogers Highway and colloquially known as the Main Street of America or the Mother Road, was one of the original highways within the U.S. Highway System. Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in America, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before ending at Santa Monica, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km). It was recognized in popular culture by both the hit song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" 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.

U.S. Route 66 in Oklahoma

The historic U.S. Route 66 (US 66, Route 66) ran from west to northeast across the state of Oklahoma, along the path now taken by Interstate 40 (I-40) and State Highway 66 (SH-66). It passed through Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and many smaller communities. West of the Oklahoma City area, it has been largely replaced by I-40; the few independent portions that are still state-maintained are now I-40 Business. However, from Oklahoma City northeast to Kansas, the bypassing I-44 is mostly a toll road, and SH-66 remains as a free alternate.

History

The history of Route 66 in Oklahoma can be traced back to two auto trails—the St. Louis, Missouri–Las Vegas, New Mexico, main route of the Ozark Trails network, and the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Amarillo, Texas, Postal Highway. In the state highway system, approved in mid-1924, the portions of these in Oklahoma, which crossed at Oklahoma City, became SH-7 and SH-3 respectively. US 66 was designated in late 1926, and followed these state highways with one exception: a new SH-39 was created to carry Route 66, leaving SH-7 at Commerce and heading east and north to the state line in the direction of Baxter Springs, Kansas. (The short stub of SH-7 north of Commerce remained until it became part of US-69 in the mid-1930s.)

U.S. Route 66 in Kansas

U.S. Route 66 (US 66, Route 66), the historic east–west US highway between Chicago, Illinois and Santa Monica, California, passed through one brief segment in the southeastern corner of Kansas. It entered the state south of Baxter Springs and continued north until it crossed the Brush Creek, from where it turned east and left the state in Galena. After the decertification of the highway in 1985, this road segment was numbered as US-69 (alternate) from Quapaw, Oklahoma north to Riverton, Kansas and as K-66 (Kansas highway) from Riverton east to Route 66 in Missouri.

History

The eleven miles (18 km) of US-66 in Kansas retains much of the character of the Mother Road. It passes through Baxter Springs, Riverton and Galena in Cherokee County.

In 1929 the US-66 in Kansas was paved, Kansas being the first state to do that.

In Galena, US-66 originally turned north on Main Street, then east on Front Street before leaving the state as Route 66 to Central City, Missouri. This portion was changed in 1979 to remain on 7th Avenue, seven blocks south of the original routing, eastward to the Missouri state line.