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Oklahoma

Route 66 Oklahoma

     

“I challenge anyone to show a road of equal length that traverses more scenery, more agricultural wealth, and more mineral wealth than does U.S. 66".

Quote by Cyrus Avery, a businessman from Tulsa, Oklahoma who is credited with creating the identity of Route 66.  He was the chairman of the State Highway Commission.  Mr Avery proposed a highway from Chicago to Los Angeles that was approved and designated U.S. 66 in 1926 which subsequently was coined the route's nickname, "Main Street of America."

     

 

"Your Oklahoma Route 66 Visitor Center"

Link to United States and International Route 66 Associations

 

Historic Route 66 in Oklahoma, which stretches 373 miles across the state, boasts of many National Register of Historic Places sites connected in some way with the Mother Road.  Several of these include Fort Reno which served as a US military post from 1874 through World War II, Miami’s Coleman Theatre, entertaining visitors with live music and cinema since 1929, and Arcadia’s Round Barn which has served as a community hall since 1898.

 

Many motels built in Oklahoma in the 1930’s and 1940’s were variations of little Russian-German bungalows.  Weary travelers would enjoy a night’s rest in these tiny houses with pyramidal roofs, introduced to the Midwest by Russian-German Mennonites in the 1870’s.  Two other domestic styles of lodging were Tudor and ranch.

 

Experience "66" with Little Guy

 

It was the Oklahomans who produced gas stations with heavy canopies, often supported by a single elaborate pier.  Their heavy-duty gas stations were more than likely a result of the intensity of the Oklahoma sun and the amount of oil they pumped out of the ground.

 

Get Your Kicks On Route 66 - Oklahoma Route 66 Attractions

Take a Tour of "Elk City Museum"

(From Elk City Chaber of Commerce)

Clinton, Oklahoma Route 66 Museum

(Link to Museum Information)

       

Visit Clinton - Route 66 Museum, Miami, Afton, Elk City, Claremore, Tulsa, Chandler, Sapulpa, Stroud, Oklahoma City, Arcadia, Weatherford, Elk City, and Erick.

 

Discover Our Interactive

Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary Map

Interactive map provided by the National Park Service

(click on map to find out information about your location on Route 66)

 

U.S. Highway 66 -- popularly known as Route 66 or the Mother Road -- holds a special place in American consciousness and evokes images of simpler times, mom and pop businesses, and the icons of a mobile nation on the road. This travel itinerary aids the public to visit the historic placesthat recall those images and experiences that are reminders of our past and evidence of the influence of the automobile.

 

The Route 66 DiscoverOur Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary was produced by the National Park Service's Heritage Education Services and the National Park Service Route66 Corridor Preservation Program, in partnership with the American Express and World Monuments Fund Sustainable Tourism Initiative and theNational Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers.