Route 66
By: Hunter Terhark (5th hour)
The Beggining
Route 66 was to be built as a national highway linking L.A. to Chicago and some larger towns in between, originally the road was made as a shipping route to combat the railroad industry. Cyrus Avery and John Woodruff were the founders of the road. Route 66 began construction in 1926.
The Formative Years
Route 66 was known for being America's first national highway stretching from L.A. to Chicago, however the road didn't follow a linear route like most roads of its time, it dipped and dodged through the country side linking other towns on the way, truckers and farmers loved the road due to the amount of connections it had, and also had more temperate weather compared to most northern highways.
During World War II
Route 66 is known as "The Mother Road" as stated in John Steinbeck's "The Grapes Of Wrath". The road held up to its name in World War II and the depression. Some 210,000 people escaped Kansas when the dust bowls hit on the famous route which became known also as "The road of opportunity". The road also facilitated the most remarkable manpower mobilization in the history of the nation, setting up many industries and created thousands of civilian jobs.
Famous Names Of Route 66
The Mother Road, Main Street USA, The road to freedom, The Road of Opportunity, the Will Rodgers Road, Main Street of America.
Cars: The Story of Route 66
John Mayer - Route 66 [With Lyrics] (Disney Cars Soundtrack)