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"Main Street of America" redirects here. For other uses, see Main Street, America.
"The Mother Road" redirects here. For the route in China, see China National Highway 312.
U.S. Route 66
Will Rogers Memorial Highway
Route information
Length
2,448 mi (3,940 km)
Existed
November 26, 1926[1]–June 26, 1985[2]
Tourist
routes
Historic Route 66
Major intersections (in 1947)[3]
West end
US 101 Alt. in Santa Monica, Cal.
US 6 / US 99 / US 101 in Los Angeles, Cal.
US 91 from San Bernardino to Barstow, Cal.
US 93 / US 466 in Kingman, Ariz.
US 89 from Ash Fork to Flagstaff, Ariz.
US 666 from Sanders, Ariz. to Gallup, N.M.
US 60 / US 87 / US 287 in Amarillo, Tex.
US-77 in Oklahoma City, Okla.
US-166 in Baxter Springs, Ks.
US 71 from Joplin to Carthage, Mo.
US 40 / US 50 / US 61 in St. Louis, Mo.
East end
US 41 / US 54 in Chicago, Ill.
Location
States
California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System
ListSpecialDividedReplaced
U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66), also known as the Will Rogers Highway, the Main Street of America or the Mother Road, was one of the original highways in the U.S. Highway System. US 66 was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year.[4] The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in the United States, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before ending in Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km).[5] It was recognized in popular culture by both the hit song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" and the Route 66 television series, which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964. In John Steinbeck's classic American novel, The Grapes of Wrath (1939), the road, "Highway 66", was turned into a powerful symbol of escape and loss.
US 66 served as a primary route for those who migrated west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and the road supported the economies of the communities through which it passed. People doing business along the route became prosperous due to the growing popularity of the highway, and those same people later fought to keep the highway alive in the face of the growing threat of being bypassed by the new Interstate Highway System.
