A celebration of America’s most historic highway, in words and pictures. Winding through the rugged heartland of the American West, Route 66 has resonated for generations in hardscrabble tales of hopeful seekers of new homes and new lives. It also inspired Alan and Claudia Heller, longtime residents of Duarte, a California town along Route 66, to hitch their trailer to a retirement dream and travel the road again, journeying through their home state and back to Chicago. They collected stories of the iconic highway, and what it means to the people who live along its way, for a series in the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group. This collection retraces their journey and introduces us to some of the people and places that make Route 66 truly historic.

It started in the heartland and originally ended in Los Angeles (not, contrary to myth, at the ocean). It carried truckers crossing the country, Okies fleeing the Dust Bowl, vacationers seeking the sun. It was Americas Main Street, the Mother Road, the Will Rogers Highway, and, at its dangerous curves, Bloody 66. Get your kicks on Route 66 with this wonderfully illustrated tribute to the best-loved highway in this car-loving nation. Michael Witzel shares his expertise and wealth of personal, archive, collector, and contributing photographer images in these pages, offering a nostalgic tour of the charms and oddities of this road through American cultural history. Starting in Chicago and running to Santa Monica, this book highlights the sights along the highway with historic and current photos in then-and-now pairings, and includes Route 66 postcards, road signs, trinkets, maps, brochures, and advertisements. Here we see Route 66 as it was in its heyday and as it is now, the neon glamour of yesterday versus the ghost towns of today. Witzel and his wife, Gyvel Young-Witzel, recount the highways history, its role in popular culture, and its demise, as well as the individual stories of famous sights. Several profiles of those with close ties to the Mother Road, including the woman who played Ruthie Joad in the The Grapes of Wrath film, are included.

Learn about Route 66 with iMinds insightful knowledge series. Route 66 is arguably the most famous road in the United States of America. Stretching 2448 miles across much of the country, from Chicago in the East to Los Angeles in the West, it was also America's longest road. As it wound its way across the remarkable scenery of America, Route 66 originally passed through the states of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. In the early 1920s, entrepreneurs Cyrus Avery and John Woodruff conceived the idea of building a massive highway that linked Chicago to Los Angeles. Their inspiration sprung from the changing needs of the American people. iMinds brings targeted knowledge to your eReading device with short information segments to whet your mental appetite and broaden your mind.

From its designation in 1926 to the rise of the interstates nearly sixty years later, Route 66 was, in John Steinbeck’s words, America’s Mother Road, carrying countless travelers the 2,400 miles between Chicago and Los Angeles. Whoever they were—adventurous motorists or Dustbowl migrants, troops on military transports or passengers on buses, vacationing families or a new breed of tourists—these travelers had to eat. The story of where they stopped and what they found, and of how these roadside offerings changed over time, reveals twentieth-century America on the move, transforming the nation’s cuisine, culture, and landscape along the way. Author T. Lindsay Baker, a glutton for authenticity, drove the historic route—or at least the 85 percent that remains intact—in a four-cylinder 1930 Ford station wagon. Sparing us the dust and bumps, he takes us for a spin along Route 66, stopping to sample the fare at diners, supper clubs, and roadside stands and to describe how such venues came and went—even offering kitchen-tested recipes from historic eateries en route. Start-ups that became such American fast-food icons as McDonald’s, Dairy Queen, Steak ’n Shake, and Taco Bell feature alongside mom-and-pop diners with flocks of chickens out back and sit-down restaurants with heirloom menus. Food-and-drink establishments from speakeasies to drive-ins share the right-of-way with other attractions, accommodations, and challenges, from the Whoopee Auto Coaster in Lyons, Illinois, to the piles of “chat” (mining waste) in the Tri-State District of Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma, to the perils of driving old automobiles over the Jericho Gap in the Texas Panhandle or Sitgreaves Pass in western Arizona. Describing options for the wealthy and the not-so-well-heeled, from hotel dining rooms to ice cream stands, Baker also notes the particular travails African Americans faced at every turn, traveling Route 66 across the decades of segregation, legal and illegal. So grab your hat and your wallet (you’ll probably need cash) and come along for an enlightening trip down America’s memory lane—a westward tour through the nation’s heartland and history, with all the trimmings, via Route 66.

Now Russell Olsen’s best-selling collections featuring Route 66 filling stations, main streets, motor courts, cafés, campgrounds, honky-tonks, truck stops, and barbecue joints as they appeared both in their heyday and today is available in one package. For more than 30 years, Route 66 was America’s main east-west artery, pointing the nation toward all the promise that California represented. To serve these travelers, Route 66 boasted bustling commercial hubs, many of which remain today, many more of which crumbled long ago. All of the sites included here—150 in all—are shown both during their mid-century heydays and as they appear today. Taken together, the marvelous visual and descriptive elements assembled here—period postcards and imagery, specially commissioned maps, and Olsen’s own photography and capsule histories of the sites featured—comprise a unique, state-by-state look back at America’s Main Street.

""Route 66 Locations"" takes readers on an illuminating journey along America's most iconic highway, exploring the rich tapestry of historical landmarks, cultural attractions, and urban developments that define the ""Mother Road."" This comprehensive guide delves into the evolution of Route 66 from its inception to its decommissioning, examining its profound impact on American culture and geography. The book follows the geographic path of Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles, offering a unique temporal perspective on each significant location. It combines historical analysis with current status reports and future outlooks, providing readers with a holistic view of the highway's place in American history. From the rise and fall of roadside businesses to the influence on migration patterns, ""Route 66 Locations"" paints a vivid picture of how this iconic route shaped 20th-century America and continues to captivate imaginations today. What sets this book apart is its interdisciplinary approach, blending elements of urban planning, sociology, and economics to present a nuanced understanding of Route 66's cultural significance. By examining preservation efforts and addressing debates surrounding redevelopment, the book serves as both a practical guide for modern-day explorers and a call to action for those interested in protecting this vital piece of Americana.

U.S. Highway 66 was always different from other roads. During the decades it served American travelers, Route 66 became the subject of a world-famous novel, an Oscar-winning film, a hit song, and a long running television program. The 2,000 mile concrete slab also became a seven-year obsession for Susan Croce Kelly and Quinta Scott. They traveled Route 66, photographing buildings, knocking on doors, and interviewing the people who had built the buildings and run the businesses along the highway. Drawing on the oral tradition of those rural Americans who populated the edge of old Route 66, Scott and Kelly have pieced together the story of a highway that was conceived in Tulsa, Oklahoma; linked Chicago to Los Angeles; and played a role in the great social changes of the early twentieth century. Using the words of the people themselves and documents they left behind, Kelly describes the life changes of Route 66 from the dirt-and-gravel days until the time when new technology and different life-styles decreed that it be abandoned to the small towns it had nurtured over the course of thirty years. Scott's photographic essay shows the faces of those 66 people and gives a feeling of what can be seen along the old highway today, from the seminal highway architecture to the grainfields of the Illinois prairie, the windbent trees of western Oklahoma, the emptiness of New Mexico, and the bustling pier where the highway ends on the edge of the Pacific Ocean. Route 66 uses oral history and photography as the basis for a human study of this country's most famous road. Historic times, dates, places, and events are described in the words of men and women who were there: driving the highway, cooking hamburgers, creating pottery, and pumping gas. As much as the concrete, gravel, and tar spread in a sweeping arc from Chicago to Santa Monica, those people are Route 66. Their stories and portraits are the biography of the highway.

Hit the Road with Moon Travel Guides! Moon Route 66 Road Trip reveals the best of this iconic highway, from sweeping prairies and red rock mountains to the glittering Pacific. Inside you'll find: Maps and Driving Tools: 37 easy-to-use maps keep you oriented on and off the highway, along with site-to-site mileage, driving times, and detailed directions for the entire route Eat, Sleep, Stop and Explore: You'll know exactly what you want to do at each stop with lists of the best hikes, views, and more. Wander transcendent landscapes like Acoma Pueblo or Joshua tree. Immerse yourself in classic Americana with roadside attractions, outsider art, and kitsch masterpieces. Explore metropolitan icons like Los Angeles or Chicago, or stop for a drink at an authentic soda fountain Itineraries for Every Traveler: Drive the entire original route in two weeks, or follow strategic routes for one- to two-days in Chicago, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Santa Fe, and the Grand Canyon, plus side trips to Taos, Las Vegas, Joshua Tree, and Santa Monica Expert Perspective: Historian and Route 66 connoisseur Candacy Taylor provides critical insight into the history of the "Mother Road," including the women of Route 66, car culture, and the untold stories of the Green Book, which enabled African Americans to travel west safely Planning Your Trip: Know when and where to get gas, how to avoid traffic, tips for driving in different road and weather conditions, and suggestions for LGBTQ travelers, seniors, and road trippers with kids With Moon Route 66 Road Trip's practical tips, detailed itineraries, and insider's view, you're ready to fill up the tank and hit the road. Looking to explore more of America on wheels? Try Moon California Road Trip! Doing more than driving through? Check out Moon Grand Canyon, Moon New Mexico, or Moon Utah.

Now available in paperback!!This incredible collection of historical photographs captures the reverence of all the attractions and towns of the Mother Road, Route 66. Noted author Michael Witzel spent years traveling Route 66 collecting mementos of life and folklore that make up the most famous road in America. His unmatched photography takes readers back to the attractions and towns as they were and offers a captivating view of them today. Here it is, the American highway past and present in Motorbooks' beautiful 10 x 10 format, the classic photographic essay of an American legend.

'Every time I have ridden 66, within 10 miles of setting off, I never want that ride to end. I think it's because Route 66 encapsulates struggle, and, ultimately, triumphing over unimaginably difficult conditions. I think everyone can connect with that.' RIDING ROUTE 66 follows Henry Cole as he travels along Route 66, on a journey of self-discovery. Route 66, or the 'Mother Road', is one of the most famous roads in the USA. Crossing the width of the country, it is an immensely challenging road to travel. Henry has ridden it three times. This book is about the freedom that only the road and a motorcycle can give you, and the importance of embracing the highs and lows of life equally. Henry is one of the most well-known figures in motorcycling, having presented over twenty series of many TV shows as well as being the founder of bespoke motorcycle manufacturer Gladstone Motorcycles.