U. S. Highway "Route" 66 was commissioned in 1926, the year U. S. numbered highways came into existence. It consisted of a 'collection" of two-lane concrete or asphalt paved roads extending from Chicago to Santa Monica, running through the states of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Route 66 is considered the "Mother Road" of American highways. The old "Main Street of America" was deactivated in 1984 and the U. S. 66 highway shields taken down, after being replaced by the modern interstate highway system.
