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U.S. Route 66

Route 66 site
In Staunton, Illinois
On Route 66

This entry covers U.S. Route 66 itself, with its map point near Litchfield, IL. Opened in 1926, the highway ran 2,448 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica and became one of the best-known roads in American culture. Here in central Illinois, driving a surviving stretch is the point: the old pavement ties together the gas stations, cafés and motels that grew up beside it.

What is U.S. Route 66?

The highway ranked among the first routes of the U.S. Numbered Highway System. It linked Chicago with Santa Monica across eight states: Illinois, Missouri and Kansas, then Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico, and finally Arizona before reaching California, a total of 2,448 miles. Illinois holds the very start of the route, and many old segments here have become part of state and local road networks.

Today surviving pieces are signed as Historic Route 66, and the road is a National Scenic Byway. Driving them is the best way to see the small towns the highway once fed.

History of U.S. Route 66

The highway was established on November 11, 1926, and its signs went up the following year. In the 1930s it carried families heading west, especially during the Dust Bowl, and it helped towns along its path grow. After the middle of the century, traffic shifted to the new interstates, and in 1985 Route 66 was officially taken out of the U.S. Highway System.

The road never left popular memory. The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck's 1939 novel, helped make Mother Road its best-known nickname; it has also been known as the Will Rogers Highway and the Main Street of America. Songs, television and the 2006 animated film Cars, whose story turns on a town bypassed by the interstate, kept it in the public eye.

Visiting U.S. Route 66: tips

There is no single building to visit here; the experience is the drive. Around Litchfield, the old road links several listed stops: the Soulsby Service Station is about 5 miles away, the Manske-Niemann Farm about 10.4 miles and the Belvidere Café, Motel, and Gas Station about 12.7 miles. A public restroom is noted about 0.5 mile from this point. Follow the Historic Route 66 signs where they appear, and expect the old alignment to shift between frontage roads and town streets.