This story is the first in series highlighting some of the historic, kitschy and beautiful sites to see when driving coast-to-coast along 1-40 and Route 66, aka the “Mother Road.”
If you have a child who has proclaimed their desire to write and make movies since the age of four, then at some point you find yourself driving across the country with said child sitting next to you.
And so it was for me and my oldest son, Jack. We loaded the car and hit the road, I-40 specifically. As North Carolinians, I-40 with its eastern end point in Wilmington, N.C., is a direct route to Barstow, Calif., its western end point. Then, it's just a hop, skip and jump along a few other roads to La La Land.
At 2,559 miles, I-40 is one of the longest interstates in the country and has a somewhat notorious distinction of being among the roads that by-passed the fabled Route 66, a.k.a. the “Mother Road.”
Somewhere around Oklahoma City we saw the first sign for “Historic Route 66.” From that point on, the famous highway was either running somewhat parallel to I-40 or the two roads were merged onto the same path. We both got a little excited when we knew we’d intersected the fabled road.
Fabled? Absolutely! Route 66 has been waxed poetically about by singers, songwriters, authors and filmmakers. For generations of people, it was the artery they traveled from point A to point B, making memories stopping at unique, neon-lit businesses and attractions along the way.
For me, it was just part of Americana that seeped into my general knowledge. For Jack, it's the major plot point for “Cars,” the first movie he ever watched on the big screen, forever solidifying his love of the movies.
“Cars” was a huge blockbuster hit when it debuted in 2006. For those who never saw this delightful animated film by Pixar, it's basically about a world inhabited by cars. And, in this world a famous race car, Lighting McQueen, finds himself stranded in Radiator Springs, a fictional town somewhere in America’s west.
This once thriving town along Route 66, is now run down and barely hanging on ever since an interstate was built just a few miles away. In the end, McQueen falls in love with Radiator Springs and its people, or rather cars, so he helps spruce up the town, bring much needed publicity and, ultimately, tourists. Radiator Springs is reborn!
It’s actually a fairly accurate depiction of what happened along Route 66. It was special—emblematic of America booming and expanding. Then, it symbolized how easily times change and once bright stars can be overshadowed by something bigger and better.
To explain how this came to be it’s important to understand how Americans traveled decades ago. The contiguous U.S. is big—3,119,884 sq miles, in fact. It’s amazing to think we can jump into a car near the Atlantic Ocean and within days be standing on the shore of the Pacific without having to toil difficult roads. Thank you, President Eisenhower (more about that later).
Prior to the interstate system Americans enjoy today, the country’s first federal highway system was basically the combination of existing local, state and national roads into a single system by the Bureau of Public Roads, according to the National Park Service’s (NPS) website.
In 1926, one such road was renamed U.S. Route 66 and it was advertised as “the shortest, best and most scenic route from Chicago through St. Louis to Los Angeles.”
The Route 66 highway stretched over 2,400 miles, connecting east and west. It started in Chicago, Ill., and ended in Santa Monica, Calif. The road was hugely popular.
In the 1930s, it was a major route for moving military equipment across the country and the main road for millions fleeing poverty in the Midwest and Southern Plains for California during the Dust Bowl of the Great Depression, according to history by the Federal Highway Administration (FHA).
John Steinbeck represented this migration through the fictional Joad family in his 1939 novel, “The Grapes of Wrath.” Just as it was for the Joads, Route 66 symbolized hope since it led to a part of the country promising jobs and prosperity. For this reason, Steinbeck gave Route 66 its popular nickname, “Mother Road.”
By 1938, Route 66, also commonly called “Main Street America,” was the first completely paved highway in the country. As one of the country’s main highways, its use and popularity continued to grow, mirroring changing times in the U.S.
After WWII, America was booming. From the end of the war to 1955, the number of registered cars grew from 25.8 million to 52.1 million, according to NPS’s history. Americans had more money and more leisure time, so they hit the road, especially Route 66.
As a result, mom and pop hotels and restaurants, often promoting roadside attractions, thrived. The attractions – unusual and whimsical by design to literally attract motorists to businesses – date back to the 1920s, but this was their heyday.
Thanks to its sites, landmarks and popularity, Route 66 was forever woven into America’s cultural fabric, certainly pop culture. Songwriter Bobby Troup was inspired during a 1941 trip along the road and wrote “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66.” The song is all about enjoying the journey along the road. The song talks about travelling to Amarillo, Joplin, Flagstaff, San Bernardino and more – all cities along Route 66’s path.
A few years later, The Nat King Cole trio recorded its popular version of the song and followed by numerous other artists, including Chuck Berry and John Mayer (for the “Cars” soundtrack).
In the 1950s and 60s, television was also booming and the “Route 66” show was born. The popular drama, which ran for four seasons on CBS, followed two friends driving a Corvette along the popular road and stumbling into adventure in different towns along the way.
Small towns and big cities alike catered to the Route 66 motorists and everyone was happy. Life along the Mother Road was thriving! Unfortunately, the uptick in traffic caused problems for Route 66 and the other highways at the time, which were not well maintained and unsafe.
These two-lane roads were often not wide enough making passing difficult, and vehicles leaving and entering the road from homes and businesses created all kinds of headaches and accidents. These were among the problems President Eisenhower set out to eliminate with a brand new interstate system.
Eisenhower had observed these issues long before the 1950s. According to the FHA's history, Eisenhower was shocked to see the poor conditions of America’s roads during a cross country military convoy in 1919. In contrast, he saw first hand the impressive Autobahn highway in Germany during WWII. Out of these combined experiences, he made revitalizing the country’s highway system a priority when he took office in 1953.
The interstate system as we know it today, began in 1956 in Kansas with I-70, according to the NPS. By June 2023, there were 46,876 miles of interstate highway in the U.S. and the number continues to grow today.
These newly built interstates bypassed small towns and focused on larger metropolitan areas. Bypassing meant no off/on ramps leading to areas that were once popular stops. Local economies suffered. Plus, motorists were increasingly drawn to the growing number of national restaurant and lodging franchises popping up along the interstates.
Local gas stations, diners and tourist attractions became empty shells, sometimes sitting just hundreds of feet from the interstate. Things just dried up along the Mother Road.
In addition to I-40, Route 66 was also replaced by I-55, 1-44, 1-15 and 1-10 over the course of three decades, according to the NPS. As Jack and I experienced, sometimes these interstates are right on top of the original Route 66 path. In other sections, it runs alongside and you can just look out your car window and see it nearby as a frontage road.
The highway was officially decommissioned in 1984. But, nostalgia is a powerful thing and a movement to revive and protect the Route 66 corridor slowly grew among private citizens, communities and government agencies. In 1990, the U.S. Congress passed the Route 66 Study Act, which declared it a “symbol of the American people's heritage of travel and their legacy of seeking a better life.”
Through a series of subsequent studies and laws, the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program was created in 1999. The program, which is administered by the National Park Service, is a collaborative effort among private, nonprofit and government partners to preserve historic features along Route 66.
Other significant preservation moves included the The National Trust for Historic Places adding Route 66 to their “America's Most Endangered List” and designating it a National Treasure. Similarly, the World Monument Fund placed Route 66 on its Watch List for threatened cultural sites in 2008. This step eventually led to the formation of the Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership, which still actively works to promote and revitalize the road and the areas along it.
So, what does all this background mean? Well, there are still plenty of decrypted buildings along Route 66. We saw lots of abandoned travel plazas, restaurants and souvenir shops covered in overgrowth and decades of rust. It’s easy to imagine, though, their past as hubs of activity, places full of excitement and energy.
Thankfully, for every interstate casualty there seemed to be just as many Route 66 towns, attractions and businesses going strong and helping create memories for new generations.
There is no better example than Williams, Ariz. In 1984, this small town on Route 66 in Northern Arizona was the last one by-passed, in this case by I-40, before the road was officially decommissioned the following year.
The Mother Road runs straight through the middle of downtown Williams. The community has embraced its Route 66 heritage and in some ways looks frozen in time with a certain retro, kitschy mid-century appeal.
Jack and I stayed in Williams before our Grand Canyon visit the next day. We arrived just before sunset and after getting situated at our hotel, we walked toward the bright lights. Stretched over a few blocks, downtown Williams features a collection of souvenir shops and restaurants with nostalgic charm and neon signs. The downtown strip practically glows.
We ate dinner outside at the Cruiser’s Route 66 Cafe, surrounded by Coke-a-Cola advertisements, gas station memorabilia and a giant mural depicting a drive-in movie featuring Marlon Brando in 1953’s “The Wild One.” A local musician performed classic rock-n-roll songs and the crowd sang and clapped along.
We each had a burger with fries and an enormous shake – the only logical choice considering our surroundings. Afterwards, we decided to go back to the hotel and get our car, so we could enjoy the full effect of the Williams Route 66 experience at night.
Route 66 is a wide, one-way street through downtown. We worked our way to the far end and just as we started down the historic route, Jack surprised me with the song “Sh-Boom (Life Could Be A Dream)” by the Chords.
In the movie “Cars,” this 1954 song plays as the neon lights in Radiator Springs are turned on for the first time in years. In the movie, the cars cruise down the main street, just as Jack and I were doing.
As we bopped along to the song’s infectious melody, the irony and sweetness of the moment wasn’t lost on me. There we were. Jack, all grown up and going to LA to pursue a dream that all began with this movie. Would you believe me if I said I didn’t tear up?
I’m not old enough to have cruised neon-lit towns along Route 66 during its heyday. My generation circled the mall. Yet, as Jack and I cruised down that road, I felt nostalgic for something I never experienced first hand.
Maybe it was about the past and the present being connected and forming a new future together? A hope of dreams coming true? Could a road really evoke all of that? My guess is, yes, based on all the people who feel an affection for Route 66.
But, sometimes it's best to just feel something and not try to figure it out. Whatever it was, this mother felt a certain kind of magic while driving the Mother Road.
