Main Street of America Map Inside Right (1929) by US 66 Highway AssociationOklahoma Route 66 Association
The highway that's the best
When US 66 was created, it was one of many federal highways established across the country. After a century of progress and evolution, it's arguably the most famous road in the world. How did that happen? Was it intentional or an accident?
El Reno US 66 Men (1927-10-01) by Beryl FordOklahoma Route 66 Association
Father of Route 66
When the Federal Highway System was being laid out, a man from Tulsa, Oklahoma advocated for a road connecting Chicago to the Pacific Ocean: Cyrus Avery. Long involved with the Good Roads Movement, he predicted it would become the strongest commercial corridor in the country.
On November 11th, 1926, US 66 was established. But Avery and his friends knew that simply adding the highway to a map wasn't enough.
The Main Street of America
The patchwork of regional roads needed to be paved; to accomplish that, the communities needed to be engaged directly. Thus, at a meeting in Tulsa in 1927, the US 66 Highway Association was born and the road was given its first nickname: The Main Street of America.
Take the scenic route
Between 1927 and 1938, gaps were closed by paving dirt and gravel lanes. Alignments were adjusted to make the road easier to travel. In 1932, an ad in the Saturday Evening Post encouraged people traveling to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles to take US 66 to their destination.
Will Rogers Highway Emblem (1935) by US 66 Highway AssociationOklahoma Route 66 Association
The Will Rogers Highway
It was another Oklahoman that gave Route 66 its next nickname. Will Rogers was known worldwide for his wit and wisdom. When the actor, humorist, and newspaper columnist tragically died in an airplane crash in 1935 people began looking for a way to honor this American icon.
By the end of 1935, the US Highway 66 Association had formally adopted The Will Rogers Highway as a new moniker. For the next six years, the nickname was ubiquitous with the highway in newspapers across the country. Of course, John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath gave the road its most popular nickname in 1939: The Mother Road.
Will Rogers Highway Sign on Venice Beach (1938) by US 66 Highway AssociationOklahoma Route 66 Association
Venice Beach Mardi Gras Beauty Contest
The winner of this 1938 beauty contest was Claire James (Miss Hollywood), who later flew to Amarillo, Texas as a part of the celebration to commemorate Route 66 being fully paved from Chicago to Santa Monica.
When the United States entered World War II, the Association (and leisure travel as a whole) went dormant. In 1947, the Association was reactivated at a meeting in Oklahoma City. In attendance was a barber from Clinton, Oklahoma named Jack Cutberth. He and his wife Gladys quickly became a vital cog in the machine that turned US 66 from a road to a legend. For the next three decades, they drove up and down the highway distributing literature and promoting the highway.
Drive US 66 Brochure Back (1950) by US 66 Highway AssociationOklahoma Route 66 Association
Drive US 66
Jack and Gladys Cutberth, on behalf of the US 66 Highway Association, printed and distributed thousands of guides to restaurants, motels, gas stations, and other businesses along the road. These gave the highway a sense of community and togetherness across 2,400 miles.
During this time, US 66 became Route 66 through the cultural zeitgeist. It was the subject of song, film, television, and literature. The highway represented freedom, the ability to go where you wanted and experience the Great American Road Trip. From national parks to quirky roadside attractions to Disneyland, Route 66 had it all.
But a new age was coming.
The Turner Turnpike, a new state-of-the-art highway connecting Tulsa and Oklahoma City with multiple lanes of uninterrupted concrete, opened in 1953 as the first major bypass of Route 66. It was hailed as a remarkable evolution in travel...but it was a harbinger of things to come. In the coming years, the Interstate Highway System would begin replacing Route 66 piece by piece.
Left in the dust
By the 1970s, the rest of the country had caught up with Oklahoma’s turnpike. Route 66 had been supplanted by multiple Interstate highways, each bypass taking business away from Main Street. The US 66 Highway Association tried in vain to co-exist with this new interstate system.
Although Jack Cutberth was successful in lobbying to get portions of old Highway 66 designated as Interstate Business Loops, it wasn’t enough. Jack passed away in 1978; the next year, the US 66 Highway Association was deactivated.
"When my husband died, [the US 66 Highway Association] died with him." - Gladys Cutberth, The Daily Oklahoman, 11-21-79
US 66 was formally decertified in 1985, which literally took it off the map.
But that was not the end of the road.
Tap to explore
The angel of Route 66
Angel Delgadillo of Seligman, AZ became the country’s strongest advocate for recognizing Route 66 as a historic highway. He was successful, and in 1987 the first segment in Arizona received that designation. Within 2 years, all eight states had their own Route 66 Association.
Angel was featured in a Super Bowl ad for Chevrolet in 2012.
OKC Capitol (2017-01-21) by Rhys MartinOklahoma Route 66 Association
A capital idea
The Oklahoma Route 66 Association is the only one that was established by legislative action, which created a task force comprised of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, the Oklahoma Historical Society, and the Oklahoma Tourism office.
Along with 40+ communities along Oklahoma’s Route 66 corridor, those groups created the outline that formed the Association as a separate 501c3 non-profit organization. Articles of Incorporation were signed on October 16th, 1989 and it has operated independently ever since.
Installation of Oklahoma Historic Route 66 Sign in Tulsa (1992) by UnknownOklahoma Route 66 Association
Signs and wonders
Since that time, the Oklahoma Route 66 Association has served as the only statewide organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Route 66. It spearheaded the effort to get the first Historic Route 66 signs installed along the highway, with the first being installe
Starting in 1996, an annual Trip Guide has been produced which includes maps, historic information, and guidance for people wanting to explore the highway. It has led preservation efforts and advocacy campaigns related to the road and its people. It has advised communities on economic development both local and national in scope. Along with its counterparts in the other seven Route 66 states, it continues the work that the original US 66 Highway Association started in 1927.
New Historic Route 66 Sign (2022) by Rhys MartinOklahoma Route 66 Association
The journey continues
Route 66 has always been a road of the future. At the Oklahoma Route 66 Association, we work with communities and travelers to tell the full story of the Mother Road and advocate for the preservation of its history, one mile at a time.
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