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Route 66 didn't happen by chance.
From its birth in the mid 20's it was marketed as America's
Main Street, the only way to travel from west to east and vice
versa (unless you needed to go past Chicago, of course.
The Dust Bowl turned the road into a path to salvation. Disneyland
turned it into a direct route to family fun. But the everyday
traveler is Route 66's real claim to fame, as the two-thousand
some miles saw so many Americans travel perhaps just a mile
or two a day, or maybe a semi-monthly trip across the state
to visit relatives.
It isn't an active participant in history as much as a bystander
that witnessed it all, from the Roaring 20s to the Depression,
through World War II and the Baby Boom and birth of the road
trip, and finally the emergence of modern transportation and
the Eisenhower Interstate System that caused the Mother Road
her death.
America's Main Street stands as a proxy for all those classic
roads, winding through big cities like St. Louis, population
350,000, and small ones like Hamel, IL, population 550. Traveling
it today, the road looks quite different than it did in its
heyday, but it's still classic old Route 66. |
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Digital Route 66 dot com is a collection of
pictures and information from along the Mother Road, primarily
in (but not limited to) Illinois and eastern Missouri.
Corrections on any information or incorrect photo captions are
welcomed; simply click on the "Comments (n)" link
beneath any picture. Simply want to add your own thoughts or
make a comment? Go ahead and click.
All master copies are either 1600x1200 or 3264 x 2448 digital;
prints may be available. Contact
for details. |
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