"You see, it's all
clear, you were meant to be here, from the beginning" - Emerson,
Lake and Palmer, From the BeginningThis site is meant to provide information on America's
favorite Historical highway, Route 66. The maps are scanned from
a Rand McNally Auto Road Atlas for 1928. The original routing of
route sixty-six is from "American Highways" of April,
1927. Vol. VI, No. 2.
If you want to contact the webmaster of this site for any reason,
Click Here
to E-mail me.
Also listed below are the histories of the branch routes of US
66: US 166, US 266, US 366 [I], US 366 [II], US 466, US 566, and
the oft maligned US 666.
From 1925:
The original US 60, route 66's
planning number, in text form
Why the number changed from '60' to '66' -Article Reprinted with Permission
From 1927:
The original route of US 66, in text
form
Scanned maps from 1928:
City of Chicago, Illinois
From Chicago, IL to Chenoa, IL
From Chenoa, IL to Springfield, IL
From Springfield, IL to St. Louis, MO
City of St. Louis, Missouri
From St. Louis, MO to St. James, MO
From St. James, MO to Baxter Springs,
KS
From Baxter Springs, KS to Tulsa, OK
From Tulsa, OK to Oklahoma City, OK
From Oklahoma City, OK to Hydro, OK
From Hydro, OK to Texola, OK
From Texola, OK to Glenrio, NM
From Glenrio, NM to Santa Fe, NM
From Santa Fe, NM to Lupton, AZ
From Lupton, AZ to Williams, AZ
From Williams, AZ to Topock, AZ
From Topock, AZ to Barstow, CA
From Barstow, CA to Los Angeles, CA
City of Los Angeles, California
1938: US 66 was re-aligned in New Mexico, taking a more
direct route between Santa Rosa, NM and Laguna, NM. Also, by 1938
US 66 had been extended west to Santa Monica from its prior
terminus at US 101.
1973: Truncated to Pasadena, CA
1974: Truncated to Topock, AZ
1976: Truncated Gardner, IL
1978: Truncated to Normal, IL
1979: Truncated to Scotland, MO
June 27, 1985: Decomissioned
The branch routes of US 66:
US 166: Originally left US 66 at Baxter Springs, KS and connected
to US 81 at South Haven, KS. The 1925 plan for US 160 left US 166
at Coffeyville and connected to US 75 at Independence. US 166 was
extended east to Springfield, MO in 1945. It was truncated near
Joplin, MO in 1966, the rest of the route is now I-44.
US 266: Originally left US 64 at Warner, OK and joined US 66 at
Oklahoma City, OK, the same as the 1925 plan fro US 260. The half
of this route west from Henryetta, OK was retired in favor of US
62 in 1931.
US 366 [I]: Originally left US 66 at Amarillo, TX and passed
through New Mexico on its way to a southwesterly terminus at US
80 in El Paso, TX, the same as the 1925 plan for US 360. This US
366 designation was retired in 1931 in favor of the US 60
extension from Amarillo, TX to Clovis, NM and the US 70 rerouting
from Clovis to El Paso, TX (currently US 54 from Alamogordo, NM
to El Paso).
US 366 [II]: A new US 366 was assigned in 1931, taking over the
route formerly known as US 470. US 366 left US 380 at Williard,
NM to join US 66 at Albuquerque, NM. The portion of the route
from Moriarty, NM was incorporated into US 66 in 1938, the
remainder was decomissioned in 1939, now numbered NM 41.
US 466: The 1925 US 460 connected Los Lunas, NM to a point on US
70 near LaJoya, NM. US 466 was a 'reserved' number in 1926, the
planned route was assigned US 85. A US 466 was finally assigned
in 1934. US 466 left US 66 at Kingman, AZ and headed west, ending
in Morro Bay, CA. This route was truncated at the California
border in 1964, and fully decomissioned in 1971. Its route is now
US 93 from Kingman to Las Vegas, NV; I-15 from Las Vegas to
Barstow, CA; CA-58 from Barstow to Bakersfield, CA; CA-99 from
Bakersfield to Famoso, CA; CA-46 from Famoso to Shandon, CA and
CA-41 from Atascadero,CA to Morro Bay. From 1934-1959, US 466
passed through Creston, from 1960 to 1964 US 466 passed through
Paso Robles, CA.
US 566: This route was added to the 1926 numbering, it was not in
the 1925 plan. Originally left US 366 at Hondo, NM and connected
with US 85 in San Antonio, NM. The US 566 designation was retired
in favor of US 380 in 1931.
US 666: This route was US 560 in the original 1925 numbering
scheme, US 560 was never used anywhere else. Originally left US
66 at Gallup, NM and terminated at US 450 (now US 160) in Cortez,
CO. US 66 was extended south to Douglas, AZ in 1938. US 666 was
extended north to Monticello, UT in 1970. US 666 was truncated
back to Gallup, NM in 1993, I-40 is on its former route from
Gallup to Sanders and US 191 was assigned to the rest of US 666.
More information on US 66 and other US Highways can be found at
my main site:
U.S. Highways : From US 1 to (US
830)
Visit Other Route 66 Pages in Web Ring Below
This page last updated on Sunday, April 30, 2000 11:53:19 PM Eastern Daylight Time
This web page originally posted by Robert V. Droz on January 1, 2000.
