U. S. 66 Route Marker

Cyrus Avery, a highway advocate in Tulsa, Oklahoma, founded Route 66 while helping to plan a national highway system in the 1920s. New, long-distance highways crossed the nation east to west and north to south, superseding short, local roads. Roadside markers with route numbers, like this example from Clinton, Oklahoma, directed motorists and replaced road names. Avery’s proposal for a route from Chicago to Los Angeles through his home state was approved and designated U. S. 66 in 1926. Route 66 became a corridor for important migrations by Dust Bowl victims, military personnel, veterans, and vacationers.