Route 66 in Arizona

Route 66 was commissioned in 1926 and was fully decommissioned in 1984.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum in Washington DC has a piece of Route 66 pavement in its collection.

Cyrus Avery of Oklahoma is known as the father of Route 66.

The majority of available maps and travel guides for Route 66 go from East to West.  It’s much harder to travel West to East on the highway if you are following a guidebook.

Adrian, Texas is the geo-mathematical mid-point of Route 66.

Elvis Presley liked to stay at the Best Western Trade Winds Motel on Route 66 in Clinton, Oklahoma.

Route 66 is roughly 2448 miles long.

Martin Milner and George Maharis starred in the TV show “Route 66” from 1960 – 1964.  The show was never filmed on the real Route 66.

The Joads traveled Route 66 to escape the Oklahoma Dust Bowl in John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939.

Steinbeck was the first to refer to Route 66 as The Mother Road, in The Grapes of Wrath.

Besides The Mother Road, Route 66 is also referred to as The Main Street of America, and The Will Rogers Highway.