On this day in history, June 27, 1985, iconic Route 66 reaches the ‘end of the road’
On this date in history, June 27, 1985, Route 66 — the iconic 2,200-mile American byway from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California — came to an end after 59 years.
This occurred after the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) decertified the road and voted to remove its highway signs, according to History.com.
Route 66 stretched through eight states, with its beginnings traced to the 19th century.
Those states are Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.
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In 1857, Congress commissioned explorer, frontiersman and military officer Lieutenant Edward Fitzgerald Beale to “chart a wagon road” following the 35th parallel “from Fort Defiance close to the New Mexico/Arizona border to the Colorado River,” notes the National Park Service website.
Beale’s Road, as it was originally called, established a “vital military transportation and communication link” between Fort Smith near the Arkansas River and the westernmost reaches of the Southwest, that site also says.
Route 66 traversed eight states: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. (iStock)
Lt. Beale felt certain that this link would become “the great emigrant road to California,” and the federal government subsequently underwrote the $200,000 cost.
This provided the impetus for both “the creation of the transcontinental railroad and the establishment of Route 66,” the park website also says.
The idea of building a highway along this route originated in Oklahoma in the mid-1920s, proposed as a link from that state to cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, said History.com.
“Highway Commissioner Cyrus S. Avery touted it as a way of diverting traffic from Kansas City, Missouri, and Denver,” that site also noted.
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In 1926, the highway was given its official designation as Route 66.
“The Mother Road,” as it was referred to by John Steinbeck in his 1939 dustbowl saga “The Grapes of Wrath,” was commissioned on Nov. 11, 1926, and ultimately stretched 2,448 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles, according to Route66roadtrip.com.
An historic Route 66 sign near a Shakey’s Pizza Parlor in Hollywood, California. (AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Getty Images)
It charted a diagonal course through the heart of America, uniting existing rural roads into one single numbered route and linking rural communities in the aforementioned eight states, according to the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway’s official website.
Route 66 better allowed farmers to more easily transport grain and other types of produce for distribution.
The highway was also a lifeline for the long-distance trucking industry, which by 1930 was competing with the railroad for dominance in the shipping market, according to History.com.
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Beginning in the 1950s and spanning to the early 1980s, new interstates were built on or alongside the old right-of-way of the original Route 66. By October 1984, its route had been usurped by highways, according to The Detroit Bureau, an automotive news website.
Less than a year later, on June 27, 1985, Route 66 was formally decertified, and the signs were removed becoming nothing more than a memory.
Route 66 was designated as a scenic byway by the United States Department of Transportation in 2005, The Detroit Bureau also said.
Santa Monica, California, is the end of the road for Route 66. (iStock)
Often called the “Main Street of America,” Route 66 became a pop culture reference through several decades.
Along with John Steinbeck’s Depression-era classic, the highway was also the inspiration for the 1947 Bobby Troup tune “Route 66,″ later recorded by artists like Nat “King” Cole, Chuck Berry and the Rolling Stones, said History.com.
Also, Route 66 featured in the 2006 animated film “Cars.”
Today, drivers can still use 85% of the road, and Route 66 has become a destination for tourists from all over the world, according to the National Historic Route 66 Federation.
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Other fast facts about Route 66, from Route66roadtrip.com:
1. Route 66 was replaced by five Interstates: I-55 from Chicago, I-44, I-40, I-15 and the I-10 into Los Angeles.
2. At the town of Continental Divide, New Mexico, Route 66 reached its highest point, with an elevation of just over 7,200 feet.
Route 66 runs through Monument Valley in the Navajo Tribe Park in Arizona. (iStock)
3. Portions of Route 66 are in three time zones: Central, Mountain and Pacific.
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4. There is a stretch of Route 66 near Tijeras, New Mexico, that — when driven eastbound — plays “America the Beautiful.” If you drive the speed limit of 45 mph for the quarter-mile stretch along the rumble strips, you can hear the song play through the vibrations in your car’s wheels.
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5. In 2026, the nation will be celebrating the “Route 66 Centennial … 100 years of the Mother Road serving the traveling public.”
Many states and organizations are planning special events and tours to highlight the centennial anniversary of U.S. Route 66.
