The hubs and I were driving around this past weekend when the Depeche Mode cover version of Route 66 came on the radio (SiriusXM channel 33, for the win!). Despite the fact I pay to not hear deejays speak, the deejay proceeded to talk about the fact that Route 66 was turning 100 this year (and some stuff about other cover versions of the Bobby Troup song officially called "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66.")
Well isn't that cool, I thought. America's most famous road is turning 100 just as the country itself is celebrating 250 years. The Americana stars have aligned.
Confession time. I've never actually driven on Route 66, not even a small section of it, but I've always been fascinated by the lore around it. All those dumpy-looking motels, greasy diners, abandoned gas stations, neon signs, and endless miles of open road just scream classic Americana to me.
Apparently, there are faster and smoother ways to get from Chicago to California, but none are more iconic than Route 66.
I have learned that Route 66 officially came into existence on November 11, 1926, and was a part of the nation’s newly numbered federal highway system. It was not an entirely new roadway, and not built from scratch. Officials, instead, cobbled together a network of existing local, state, and national roads to create a roughly 2,400-mile route stretching from Chicago to Los Angeles and eventually Santa Monica.
Along the way, it passed through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, tying together eight states and inspiring a legend.
Oklahoma businessman Cyrus Avery, who eventually became known as the “Father of Route 66,” pushed for the highway because he foresaw what a major roadway passing through a community could do for its local businesses. Farmers would get access to grocery stores, truckers would have an easy route west, and small towns would find themselves inundated with the business of those passing through.
And, because we are Americans, we quickly figured out how to sell those travelers all the gas, cheeseburgers, motel rooms, postcards, and sodas they could ever want. Also because we're Americans, we apparently felt it necessary to put up odd roadside attractions and sell tickets to them.
Route 66, the "Mother Road" stretching from Chicago to Los Angeles, was also a place for drivers to "get their kicks." Though long bypassed by interstates, the historic highway, home of scenic vistas and roadside curiosities, continues to attract travelers searching for an… pic.twitter.com/cgGZEQ3cAk
— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) June 28, 2026
Route 66, the "Mother Road" stretching from Chicago to Los Angeles, was also a place for drivers to "get their kicks." Though long bypassed by interstates, the historic highway, home of scenic vistas and roadside curiosities, continues to attract travelers searching for an America of yesterday. Correspondent Lee Cowan takes a drive along Route 66, which is now marking its centennial.
During the Great Depression, Route 66 served as an escape route for families abandoning their ruined farms due to the Dust Bowl. In search of relief from the crushing poverty of the time, they loaded their things into their cars (if they had cars!) and headed west in search of work.
Author John Steinbeck wrote about this in his 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath, and referred to Highway 66 as the “Mother Road,” a name that apparently has stuck. During World War II, the highway moved troops, equipment, and military supplies. After the war, it became a road trip destination for American families.
The arrival of interstates apparently killed off the old federal highway system. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 created a national highway system that bypassed much of Route 66 and the communities that relied on it.
Route 66 was officially decommissioned in 1985, but it certainly hasn't died.
Here's a Route 66 video I created from my road trip photos through Arizona & New Mexico. The soundtrack is the Rolling Stones 1964 cover of Bobby Troup's "Route 66." pic.twitter.com/oG6Dbb4TwV
— Nikki Kreuzer (@NikkiKreuzer) May 30, 2018
The official centennial celebrations are already underway, with communities hosting car cruises, festivals, museum exhibits, concerts, restoration projects, and plenty of opportunities to pose beside oversized roadside objects that make absolutely no sense.
And honestly, the timing could not be better. As America celebrates its 250th birthday, Route 66 is celebrating a century of carrying Americans through some of the country’s most challenging years, its greatest expansions, and its most gloriously tacky roadside adventures.
So, have you ever gotten your kicks on Route 66?
