How Route 66 Forever Changed America.
From Dust Bowl Escape Route to Cultural Legend — How America’s Most Iconic Highway Became the Symbol of Freedom, Hope, and the Open Road.
They close their eyes and see America, and Americans see an open road—an open road with no skyline on skyline before them, wind in the windows. That vision lay in part along one mythical route: Route 66. Nicknamed "The Mother Road," Route 66 is a highway from Chicago to Los Angeles, yes, but so much more: an enduring symbol of hope, migration, defiance, and the dogged American Dream.
History of Route 66
Route 66 started in America for the first time on 11th November 1926 as an American Highway, the first and most beloved Route 66, America's Road. It was 2,448 miles long from Illinois, passing through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. A few other highways went around country towns, but Route 66 went the long way through country towns, and rural America was thriving with the rest of America.
Built under the boom prosperity, the highway was a highway to prosperity. The highway opened American markets to goods and tourist markets. People could travel from state to state for the first time in history without the use of the railroads.
A Lifeline During the Great Depression
While the nation slept in suspended animation during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Route 66 fared better with its people. The Dust Bowl that ruined Oklahoma's and Texas's crop agriculture and the region took its victims who filled as much as they could into dented cars and trucks and left on Route 66 to work and live better.
John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath mythologized the migration to mean to call Route 66 "the road of flight." Others referred to it as a hope in hopelessness—a flight from poverty, home, and a new life in California's productive valleys.
WWII and Economic Boom
World War II sped up Route 66 even quicker. As military camps began to appear in the Southwest, the highway became the main route for troop transportation and war equipment shipment. Restaurants, motels, filling stations, and roadside rests were booming as soldiers were driving back and forth between their duty tours and their families back home waiting for them.
When the economy collapsed and car culture went wild post-war, Route 66 was a tourist utopia. Fords and Chevys were packed to capacity with uncles, cousins, and sisters to travel out to the Grand Canyon, eat in mom-and-pop restaurants in one-horse towns, or see the wacky roadside attractions. The road gave birth to dreams and the promise of the great American dream along the curve of the road.
The Cultural Icon
Route 66 was an icon during the 1950s and '60s. Route 66 was a cultural phenomenon. Bobby Troup's "Get Your Kicks on Route 66 cemented its coolness, good times. Films and television shows translated the highway into shorthand for rebellion, romance, and the open road.
And most importantly, it was an American milestone identity. With sleazy roadside motel bars, drive-ins, and trading posts, Route 66 pulsed with the sleazy, freaky ambiance of American culture, where cowboys and rock 'n' roll existed together, Native American sculpture and immigrant restaurants were linked.
The Decline and Revival
It was ironic that the fame Route 66 had achieved was the same one that brought its demise. It was President Eisenhower who signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act, creating the Interstate Highway System during the 1950s. Other faster interstates like I-40 and I-55 later bypassed small towns and traveled through the middle of America, relegating Route 66 to an anachronism.
Route 66 officially lost its U.S. highway number in 1985.
And that was just the start. Americans in general fell head over heels in love with Route 66 culture. People came together and kept some of that old road alive. Lots of Route 66 is still drivable today as a "Historic Route," the feel of old-time diners, neon lights, and those people of the road--such as Texas's Cadillac Ranch, or Oklahoma's Blue Whale.
Route 66 Today: A Road With a Story Yet to Tell
Route 66 appeals to something deep in the American psyche: the power to redo, discover, and reinterpret. Or perhaps you're a baby boomer who grew up with parents who took family vacations along America's roads in the '60s, or perhaps a Gen Zer seeking some retro-tinged Instagram selfie fun. Something on the road is for everybody.
A lovely reminder of where we came from, but where it is still possible yet to proceed.
As you drive past ghost townships and look in awe at the abandoned gas stops and refurbished diners, you know—a section of road called Route 66 is more than any road—it's a living archive of American culture and history. With each creased mile, it speaks softly in its stories: farmers, lovers, protesters, and regular people calling out for freedom.
The last time you ever heard anybody "get their kicks on Route 66," don't imagine they're singing along to song lyrics. They're talking about when the highway had the power to change your life.
About the Creator
Pen to Publish
Pen to Publish is a master storyteller skilled in weaving tales of love, loss, and hope. With a background in writing, she creates vivid worlds filled with raw emotion, drawing readers into rich characters and relatable experiences.
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