Table of Contents
ISBN: 978-1-4824-4671-5
Levels: GR: L; DRA: 24
Road Trip:
Famous Routes
Road Trip: Famous Routes Route 66 NELSON
Road Trip:
Famous Routes
MARIA NELSON
Road Trip:
Famous Routes
BY MARIA NELSON
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Nelson, Maria, author.
Title: Route 66 / Maria Nelson.
Description: New York : Gareth Stevens Publishing, [2017] | Series: Road
trip: famous routes | Includes index.
Identiers: LCCN 2016015492 | ISBN 9781482446722 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781482446715 (library bound) | ISBN
9781482449488 (6 pack)
Subjects: LCSH: United States Highway 66--History--Juvenile literature. |
Automobile travel--United States--Juvenile literature.
Classication: LCC F595.3 .N45 2016 | DDC 917.304--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016015492
First Edition
Published in 2017 by
Gareth Stevens Publishing
111 East 14th Street, Suite 349
New York, NY 10003
Copyright 2017 Gareth Stevens Publishing
Designer: Andrea Davison-Bartolotta
Editor: Kristen Nelson
Photo credits: Cover, p. 1 (top) Ovidiu Hrubaru/Shutterstock.com; cover, p. 1 (bottom) Francesco Ferrarini/
Shutterstock.com; pp. 4, 21 (map) Rainier Lesniewski/Shutterstock.com; p. 5 trekandshoot/Shutterstock.com; p. 6
Al Freni/The Life Images Collection/Getty Images; p. 7 Car Culture Collection/Getty Images; p. 8 Mark Williamson/
Photolibrary/Getty Images; p. 9 David McNew/Getty Images; p. 11 (main) Denise Taylor/Moment Mobile/Getty
Images; p. 11 (inset) Tupungato/Shutterstock.com; p. 12 Rudy Balasko/Shutterstock.com; p. 13 Gimas/Shutterstock.com;
p. 15 (main) John Elk/Lonely Planet Images/Getty Images; p. 15 (inset) Richard Cummins/Lonely Planet Images/Getty
Images; p. 16 Rich Reid/National Geographic/Getty Images; p. 17 Josemaria Toscano/Shutterstock.com; p. 19 (main)
Nagel Photography/Shutterstock.com; p. 19 (inset) George Burba/Shutterstock.com; p. 20 (main) Jon Bilous/
Shutterstock.com; p. 20 (sign) elenaburn/Shutterstock.com; p. 21 (whale) Carol M. Highsmith/LOC.gov; p. 21 (cars)
BedoMedo/Shutterstock.com.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the
publisher, except by a reviewer.
Printed in the United States of America
CPSIA compliance information: Batch #CS16GS: For further information contact Gareth Stevens, New York, New York at 1-800-542-2595.
Words in the glossary appear in bold type the rst time they are used in the text.
Main Street of America ......................... 4
The Growth of Route 66 ......................... 6
Highways Take Over ........................... 8
Remembering Route 66 ........................ 10
Chain of Rocks Bridge ......................... 12
Museum Tour ................................ 14
Southwest Cities .............................. 16
Natural Beauty ............................... 18
California ................................... 20
Glossary .................................... 22
For More Information .......................... 23
Index ...................................... 24
Contents
Title
One of the most famous routes in US history doesnt exist
anymore! Route 66 once connected Chicago, Illinois, and Los
Angeles, California, running through several states and big cities.
It was such an iconic roadway, people wrote about it in books,
movies, and songs. Today, only parts of it have been preserved .
Luckily for road trippers, the path of this national historic
highway is still easy to follow. Theres so much to do, youll need
more than one road trip to do it all!
Main Street of America
US Highway 66 was the official
name of Route 66, but it was also
called the mother road and the
Main Street of America.
NV
OR
WA
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
NE
AR
LA
MS
AL
FL
GA
SC
NC
SD
ND
MN
WI
IN
OH
KY
TN
VA
MD
DE
NJ
PA
WV
AZ
NM
Mexico
Pacic
Ocean
Gulf of
Mexico
Atlantic
Ocean
Canada
TX
OK
IL
MO
IA
KS
CA
Los
Angeles
Chicago
where found: crosses Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas,
New Mexico, Arizona, California
year established: planning began in 1925; completed in 1938
year decommissioned : 1985
length: more than 2,000 miles (3,220 km)
periods of highest trafc: 1930s when those who lived in the
Dust Bowl traveled west; late 1940s following World War II (19391945)
major attractions: Chain of Rocks
Bridge, London Bridge, the Painted
Desert, Petried Forest National Park,
Santa Fe National Forest, the Will
Rogers Memorial Museum, Chicago,
Los Angeles
Route 66
All About
Pit Stop
Nat King Cole was the rst to tell
people to get their kicks in the
famous song called Route 66.
In 1925, the US government decided to build a system
of roads across the nation. A route connecting Chicago and
Los Angeles was part of this plan from the
start. First called Route 60, then Route 62, the
roadway was nally named Route 66.
The eight states it ran through had to
build their own length of the route, so it wasnt
completed until 1938. By
then, many people were
leaving the Dust Bowl for
California. They used the
new road to get there!
Pit Stop
People traveling Route 66 needed food,
gas, and places to stay. So, hotels, gas
stations, and many of the rst fast-food
restaurants began to be built along the
roadway during the 1930s.
The Growth of Route 66
Have you ever seen a
billboard as you were driving?
Advertising to drivers on a road
became popular with Route 66!
Highways Take Over
By the mid-1950s, Route 66 and other major roadways
across the United States were dealing with more cars than they
could handle. Wider, safer roads were built, and they bypassed
parts of Route 66. Then, the US government started to construct
high-speed superhighways. These were often right next to the
old roadway or built over parts of it.
By 1984, the last bit of Route 66 that was being used
was bypassed by new highways. In June 1985, the route was
ocially decommissioned.
Pit Stop
Just as highways bypassed Route 66,
Route 66 had taken the place of old
auto trails that people once used to
