Route 66, a hundred years of legend: the road that changed America and the car
From Chicago to California, 2,448 miles that have become a global symbol. Route 66 will celebrate its centenary in 2026: established when part of the route was still unpaved and officially removed from federal maps in 1985, it lives on as an icon of motoring, travel and American culture
Key points
Route 66, a number destined to become legendary. When it was officially established on 11 November 1926, no one could have imagined that a simple road designation would become one of the most recognisable symbols of the 20th century. US Highway 66 linked Chicago to California, with its terminus later moved to Santa Monica: some 2,448 miles, just under 4,000 km, across eight states and three time zones.
Even the number was almost chosen at random. The new road was originally to be called US 60, then US 62 was considered. On 30 April 1926, Cyrus Avery and B.H. Piepmeier proposed US 66 instead, as this number was still available. A bureaucratic decision destined to become a global icon. The road itself was also very different from the one that has entered the collective imagination. The route incorporated existing roads and included unpaved sections: it was not until 1938 that Route 66 became fully paved.
From the Great Depression to the ‘Mother Road’
In the 1930s, Route 66 ceased to be merely a piece of infrastructure. It became an escape route to the West for families devastated by the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. John Steinbeck recounts that exodus in *The Grapes of Wrath*, and in 1939 he gave Route 66 the nickname that would come to define it forever: ‘Mother Road’.
But the freedom promised by the open road was not the same for everyone. In the America of segregation, African-American motorists had to plan their stops, refuelling and overnight stays carefully. From 1936 onwards, the Negro Motorist Green Book listed hotels, restaurants and petrol stations where Black travellers could stop without facing the widespread discrimination prevalent in many of the areas they passed through. It is a lesser-known chapter compared to that of diners and Cadillacs, but one that is essential to understanding the social dimension of Route 66.
Motels, diners and petrol stations: the birth of the car economy
After the Second World War came the golden age. Car production, fuel availability and tourism all grew. Route 66 thus became the grand stage for American motoring. Along the route, an economy emerged designed for those who view the world through a windscreen. Motels, diners, drive-ins and petrol stations had to grab people’s attention in a matter of seconds. Gigantic signs and extravagant architecture began to appear: from the Wigwam Motel to the Blue Whale in Catoosa and the U-Drop Inn in Shamrock, right through to the Cadillacs embedded in the ground at Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo. In Kansas, Route 66 runs for just 13 miles, the shortest stretch of the eight states it passes through. In Adrian, Texas, the Midpoint Café symbolically marks the halfway point of the journey.
