Route 66: The Mother Road
4/5
()
About this ebook
Related to Route 66
Titles in the series (27)
Classic Video Games: The Golden Age 1971–1984 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Breweriana: American Beer Collectibles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoute 66: The Mother Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghost Towns: Lost Cities of the Old West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Muscle Cars: The First American Supercars Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mail-Order Homes: Sears Homes and Other Kit Houses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pottery of the Southwest: Ancient Art and Modern Traditions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Confederate Currency Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChicago’s Bridges Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBowling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Amusement Parks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 1950s American Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bridal Fashion 1900–1950 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51950s American Fashion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Colonial Food Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Chicago School of Architecture: Building the Modern City, 1880–1910 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Airstream: The Silver RV Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Barns Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPresidents’ Gardens Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFashion in the Time of the Great Gatsby Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Classic Candy: America’s Favorite Sweets, 1950–80 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Golden Age of Train Travel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Harley-Davidson: A History of the World’s Most Famous Motorcycle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Streetcars of America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Covered Bridges Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Making Craft Beer at Home Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Shakers: History, Culture and Craft Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related ebooks
Hip to the Trip: A Cultural History of Route 66 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Life on Route 66: Personal Accounts Along the Mother Road to California Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5A Route 66 Companion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoute 66: America's Longest Small Town Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoute 66 in Arizona Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Route 66 in Chicago Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoute 66 in Springfield Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoute 66 in Illinois Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Haunted Route 66: Ghosts of America's Legendary Highway Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Route 66: A Road to America’s Landscape, History, and Culture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGreetings from Route 66: The Ultimate Road Trip Back Through Time Along America's Main Street Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoute 66 in New Mexico Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArizona's Historic Bridges Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrandfather Mountain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIllinois Haunted Route 66 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Travel Route 66: A Guide to the History, Sights, and Destinations Along the Main Street of America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Roadtrippers Route 66: Chicago to Santa Monica Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoute 66 Still Kicks: Driving America's Main Street Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Route 66—The Mother Road Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Across the Continent by the Lincoln Highway Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsExploring the Appalachian Trail: Hikes in the Southern Appalachians Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Guide Book to Highway 66 Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Rail-Trails Michigan & Wisconsin: The definitive guide to the region's top multiuse trails Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat's Great about Virginia? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Adirondacks: 1931-1990 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEarly Aspen: 1879-1930 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFabulous Farmer: The Story of Walter Knott and His Berry Farm Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn Route 66 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrowing Up on Route 66 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSanta Monica in Vintage Postcards Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies) History For You
America is the True Old World, Volume II: The Promised Land Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Hidden Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Delectable Negro: Human Consumption and Homoeroticism within US Slave Culture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Not Stolen: The Truth About European Colonialism in the New World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5"America is the True Old World" Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5101 Secrets of the Freemasons: The Truth Behind the World's Most Mysterious Society Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wager Disaster: Mayem, Mutiny and Murder in the South Seas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win | Summary & Key Takeaways Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Southern Cunning: Folkloric Witchcraft In The American South Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story of the Trapp Family Singers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A History of Magic and Witchcraft: Sabbats, Satan & Superstitions in the West Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Profiles in Courage: Deluxe Modern Classic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Everything American History Book: People, Places, and Events That Shaped Our Nation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Constitution of the United States of America: 1787 (Annotated) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Don Juan and the Art of Sexual Energy: The Rainbow Serpent of the Toltecs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer: An Edgar Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/518 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trail of Tears:The 19th Century Forced Migration of Native Americans Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Values: Lessons I Learned from My Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Short History of Reconstruction [Updated Edition] Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Route 66
2 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Route 66 - David Knudson
ROUTE 66
David Knudson
SHIRE PUBLICATIONS
Opened in 1938, Roy’s was more than a desert mirage for weary travelers.
CONTENTS
It was common for travelers to caravan together for physical and moral support as they drove across the desert. Here a caravan stops, likely to let cars and passengers alike cool down.
THE BIRTH OF ROUTE 66
REVITALIZING THE MOTHER ROAD
EXPLORING ROUTE 66
PLACES TO VISIT
FURTHER READING
From the 1930s through the 1940s, it is estimated that 210,000 people fled the Dust Bowl in the Midwest in all manner of conveyance and migrated to California. John Steinbeck immortalized their plight in his epic novel, The Grapes of Wrath.
THE BIRTH OF ROUTE 66
THE BEGINNING
Cyrus Stevens Avery (August 31, 1871–July 2, 1963) of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was known as the Father of Route 66.
Born in Stevensville, Pennsylvania, Avery eventually became one of Oklahoma’s best-known highway advocates and civic leaders.
After moving with his parents to Missouri in 1881, young Avery had little formal education. At the age of nineteen, however, he qualified to teach in a country school. He then worked his way through William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, graduating in 1897. In 1901, he moved to what was then known as Oklahoma Territory and sold life insurance in Oklahoma City. In 1904, he moved his business to Vinita, Oklahoma, and expanded into real estate loans. Then, foreseeing a strong future in the emerging oil industry, he relocated to Tulsa and launched Avery Oil and Gas Company in 1907.
Avery’s interests were varied, reaching far beyond the oil industry to farming, real estate development, and government. He served on the Tulsa County Commission from 1913–16 and on the Tulsa Water Board in the early 1920s, where he was instrumental in bringing water to the rapidly growing city.
Goldroad/Sitgreaves Pass, Arizona, is an early stretch of Route 66 between Oatman and Kingman that was modern in its day. The road was challenging to build and remains a challenge to motorists today. The harrowing stretch was mercifully bypassed by the divided, two-lane interstate early in 1953.
Cyrus Stevens Avery of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was known as the Father of Route 66.
He was nearly singlehandedly responsible for the development of Route 66.
Avery believed that well-planned and maintained roads and a system of interstate highways would bring prosperity to Oklahoma and its towns and cities. He became an avid member of several transcontinental road associations that were working to improve roads throughout the country, including the Oklahoma Good Roads Association, the Albert Pike Highway Association, and the pre-World War I National Ozark Trail Association.
Modern roads were not appreciated by everyone, however, particularly in the farm belt. Many opposed the taxes they generated, and those who drove slow-moving farm equipment along the roads often felt threatened by faster vehicles. But Avery saw beyond that fear to the future—a future that would be driven by automobiles.
Avery soon spearheaded the National Ozark Trail Association. (The trail itself eventually evolved into U.S. Highway 66.) He served as vice president of the U.S. 66 Highway Association in 1927, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture placed him on the Joint Board of Interstate Highways from 1925–27. During this time, he also served as one of Oklahoma’s highway commissioners from 1922 through 1926.
A look at the Farmersville filling station in Illinois.
The 1920s saw the notion of a national highway system take off. Legislation for public highways had first appeared in 1916 with the Federal Aid Road Act, with revisions made in 1921 with the Federal Aid Highway Act, but it was not until Congress