This week in 1985, one of the most iconic symbols of America’s transportation, Route 66, was officially decommissioned, meaning it was no longer part of the U.S. Highway System and was replaced by the Interstate Highway System.
U.S. Route 66, also known as the Main Street of America or the Mother Road, was one of the original highways in the U.S. Highway System. Established on 11 November 1926, Route 66 originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before ending in Santa Monica, California, covering a total of 4,000 kilometres.
The selection of the number “66” was largely arbitrary. The number 60 was originally proposed for the Chicago-to-Los Angeles route, but a dispute arose with the organisers of U.S. Route 60, a highway with a similar routing. As a compromise, the number 66 was assigned to the highway.
It was recognised in popular culture by both the 1946 hit song by Bobby Troup, “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66”, and the 𝘙𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘦 66 TV series, which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964. In John Steinbeck’s novel 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩 (1939), the highway symbolises escape, loss, and the hope of a new beginning.
And for the modern-day one, here’s Stone Temple Pilots with their highway tune, “Interstate Love Song”.
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