U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in the United States, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before terminating in Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km).
U.S. Route 66 in the state of Texas extended across the Texas Panhandle from its designation in 1926 to its decommissioning in 1985.
U.S. Route 66, the historic east–west US highway between Chicago, Illinois and Santa Monica, California, passed through one brief segment in the southeastern corner of Kansas. It entered the state south of Baxter Springs and continued north until it crossed Brush Creek, from where it turned east and left the state in Galena. After the decertification of the highway in 1985, this road segment was numbered as US-69 (alternate) from Quapaw, Oklahoma north to Riverton, Kansas and as K-66 from Riverton east to Route 66 in Missouri.
U.S. Route 66 is a former east–west United States Numbered Highway, running from Santa Monica, California to Chicago, Illinois. In Missouri, the highway ran from downtown St. Louis at the Mississippi River to the Kansas state line west of Joplin. The highway was originally Route 14 from St. Louis to Joplin and Route 1F from Joplin to Kansas. It underwent two major realignments and several lesser realignments in the cities of St. Louis, Springfield, and Joplin. Current highways covering several miles of the former highway include Route 100, Route 366, Route 266, Route 96, and Route 66. Interstate 44 (I-44) approximates much of US 66 between St. Louis and Springfield.
U.S. Route 66 was a United States Numbered Highway in Illinois that connected St. Louis, Missouri, and Chicago, Illinois. The historic Route 66, the Mother Road or Main Street of America, took long distance automobile travelers from Chicago to Southern California. The highway had previously been Illinois Route 4 and the road has now been largely replaced with Interstate 55 (I-55). Parts of the road still carry traffic and six separate portions of the roadbed have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Standard Oil Gasoline Station is a historic gas station in Odell, Illinois, that lies along historic U.S. Route 66. Before the days of the interstate highway system the station served patrons along the highway's cross country jaunt. It is fairly typical of gas stations along the historic corridor.
Ambler's Texaco Gas Station, also known as Becker's Marathon Gas Station, is a historic filling station located at the intersection of Old U.S. Route 66 and Illinois Route 17 in the village of Dwight, Illinois, United States. The station has been identified as the longest operating gas station along Route 66; it dispensed fuel for 66 continuous years until 1999. The station is a good example of a domestic style gas station and derives its most common names from ownership stints by two different men. North of the station is an extant outbuilding that once operated as a commercial icehouse. Ambler's was the subject of major restoration work from 2005–2007, and reopened as a Route 66 visitor's center in May 2007. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
The U-Drop Inn, also known as Tower Station and U-Drop Inn and Tower Café, was built in 1936 in Shamrock, Texas along the historic Route 66 highway in Wheeler County. Inspired by the image of a nail stuck in soil, the building was designed by J. C. Berry. An unusual example of art deco architecture applied to a gas station and restaurant, the building features two flared towers with geometric detailing, curvilinear massing, glazed ceramic tile walls, and neon light accents. It has traditionally held two separate business: "Tower Station," a gas station on the western side, and the "U-Drop Inn," a café on the eastern side. Though it has passed hands several times in its history, the building has consistently housed the same types of businesses it was originally constructed for.
The Ariston Café is a historic restaurant located in Litchfield, Illinois along Old U.S. Route 66. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
Sprague's Super Service is a historic independent gas station on Route 66 in Normal, Illinois.
Belvidere Café, Motel and Gas Station is a historic building in Litchfield, Illinois along Route 66. The site also has a residence and two motel units.
Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket is a restaurant in Willowbrook, DuPage County, Illinois. It is located along historical U.S. Route 66, near present-day Interstate 55.
The Standard Oil Gasoline Station is a historic building once used as a gas station in Plainfield, Illinois.
The Wagon Wheel Motel, Café and Station in Cuba, Missouri, is a 19-room independently owned historic U.S. Route 66 restored motel which has been serving travelers since 1938. The site opened as a café in 1936; the motel has remained in continuous operation since 1938. The motel rooms were fully restored in 2010, adding modern amenities such as HDTV and wireless Internet.
The Provine Service Station is a historic filling station on U.S. Route 66 in Oklahoma. Located a half-mile south of Hydro, Oklahoma and operated by Lucille Hamons from 1941 until her death on August 18, 2000, the site was added to the US National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
The Baxter Springs Independent Oil and Gas Service Station is a historic gas station located at 940 Military Avenue in Baxter Springs, Kansas, along the former route of U.S. Route 66. The station was built in 1930 by the Independent Oil and Gas Company; the company merged with Phillips Petroleum the following year, and the station became a Phillips 66 station. The station was designed in the Tudor Revival style so to resemble a small cottage; this style was popular among gas stations at the time, as oil companies wanted their stations to fit in with nearby residential architecture. An addition which served as an auto repair shop was added to the station between 1930 and 1942. Phillips operated the station until 1958, and it continued to sell gasoline until the 1970s. The building now serves as the Kansas Route 66 Visitors Center.
The Jackson Conoco Service Station is a one-story brick structure located in El Reno, Oklahoma. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004, it was constructed by the Continental Oil Company in 1934 as a service station to serve the increasing automobile traffic along Route 66. Conoco built and operated many such facilities in the 1930s, all identical except for the positioning of the service bay; one other example is listed on the NRHP in Oklahoma, the Spraker Service Station in Vinita.
The Bridgeport Hill Service Station is a group of three buildings on Bridgeport Hill near Geary, Oklahoma. Originally constructed as a service station on U.S. Route 66, it includes a well house, an auto garage, and the gas station itself. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003 as an example of a private business constructed to take advantage of the then-newly constructed US Highway 66.
Big Chief Restaurant, located at 17352 Manchester Road in Wildwood, Missouri, currently operates under the name Big Chief Roadhouse. It was also formerly known as Big Chief Highway Hotel and Big Chief Dakota Grill. The restaurant opened in 1928 as part of a tourist camp that included overnight accommodations for travelers on the newly opened U.S. Route 66 in Pond, Missouri, now incorporated within Wildwood. After the highway was later routed to bypass Pond, the business struggled to survive, operating as housing for government employees during World War II. Eventually the cabins were demolished, and the restaurant was used for other business operations. It was reopened as a restaurant in the 1990s.
