Friday, April 17, 2009

Article #51-Old Route 66

Driving along our modern freeways, I enjoy looking for the old deserted highway roadbeds off to the sides. Remnants of old bridges and cuts in the hills are still to be seen, a record of past days when life was simpler. I know that probably seems amazing to travel without an Interstate highway, but it did happen not so long ago.

It was a slower time, although America was gearing up to meet the challenge of an increasingly mobile society. When Route 66 was built, it represented new freedom to travel across the American West. Starting in Chicago, Illinois, going west across Kansas to St. Louis, Missouri then through Tulsa, Oklahoma and down to Amarillo, Texas, across New Mexico (paralleling today’s I-40), it passed through Flagstaff Arizona. Entering California, it crossed Needles, Barstow, San Bernardino, Pasadena, Los Angeles and ended at the Santa Monica pier. There were already other east-west highways existing but most avoided going through rural America. Route 66 would change all that.
 When the federal government was convinced to build this road in 1926, the Great Depression was starting. Further work was postponed until 1933 when thousands of unemployed men were hired to finish paving this scenic byway. By 1938, the 2,300 mile road was completed and ready for motorists. John Steinbeck in his popular novel Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939, refers to Route 66 as the Mother Road. Also called the road to opportunity, it was used by many living in the Dust Bowl areas to migrate to California and start over. During WWII, it was handy for transporting troops and materials to the west coast. 

More tourists on this now famous road led to the development of new motels and service stations in rural towns along the route. My husband and his adventurous grandmother Big Momma used Route 66 in their annual summer vacations from Texas to explore the west and midwest. Unfortunately, increased truck travel also led to the deterioration of the road then the new Interstate highways were the final blow to Route 66’s demise. You can still follow sections of this forgotten road by following signs that tout Historic Route 66, but its days of glory are gone. A popular song and a short lived television series were created and named after it. The route gets lost nowadays in many metropolitian areas but still makes an adventurous vacation to try to follow it.

10 comments:

  1. I didn't know much about it but remembered that TV show. It's a shame that it wasn't kept up, but so much of our history just sits and deteriorates....Interesting info and I appreciated the map...

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  2. I can see Martin Milner and George Maharis in their Corvette as I type...cruising through the small towns of America while Nat King Cole sings, "Get your kicks on Roooo-ute 66". big sigh. I used to watch it as faithfully as a gal with a heavy work and dating schedule could.

    My family and I also took many a vacation on that old highway. We put wet towels in the windows to cool us down, and hung a radiator bag from the front of the car in case the car needed cooling, and took to the road to see what we could see.

    GREAT memories.

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  3. I hope they never do away with it entirely! What a classic!!

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  4. Rambling woods stole my thoughts!!! Interesting info!

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  5. Many interesting tings grew out of the Great Depression. Our local swimming pool was built by the unemployed in the 193os'

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  6. Ummm...reminds me of that tv show too.

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  7. I used to love that television series. I used to watch it as a child. I didn't realize then that there was actually a real Route 66.

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  8. Having just traveled on 95, I have to say I am amazed by the vision of the leaders who built these amazing roads. What they made possible!

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  9. I guess Sandpoint is for the deer and hiking tourists like you. Beautiful country to wander around in. And there is a place somewhere somehow, hopefully where the deer and the antelope play...Utah Marilyn

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  10. Wonderful post, Lin. Thanks so much for this interesting and insightful information!

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