The Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program is already under the auspices of the National Park Service. But the NPS recently launched a Route 66 “Discover Our Shared Heritage” travel itinerary site that should prove useful to novice travelers and be informative to researchers.
Funded in part by American Express and the World Monuments Fund, the site contains essays about Route 66’s history, an interactive map to historical sites, and links to other Route 66 sites (including Route 66 News).
The choice material is the state-by-state listings of prime historical sites along the Mother Road. The list isn’t by any means all-inclusive, but contains the best-of-the-best.
It’s in the descriptions and background of the properties where the site really shines. For instance, the entry for the Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Mo., contains a description from a 1939 AAA travel directory of the motel charging “$2.50 to $3 a day for two persons” and it being “one of the finest lodges in the state.” And the listing of historic Route 66 segments in Oklahoma is valuable because it contains directions to these secluded areas.
Go ahead and surf on over. And make sure you have an hour or two to spare.
(Hat tip: Los Angeles Times Daily Travel & Deal blog)
Need to add that one to my favorite Route 66 website list.
Can’t speak for all of the other sites listed on the National Park Service (nps.gov) Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary Route 66 site, but I was disappointed by their description of this Kansas Route 66 site:
“The Kansas Route 66 Historic District-East Galena is located along Main St. in Galena, KS. To follow the oldest alignment of Route 66 through the Kansas Route 66 Historic District-East Galena, travel west out of Joplin, Missouri on 7th St. and enter Galena from the north end of town, then make a sharp left turn onto Main St.”
In FACT, the Kansas Route 66 Historic District, East OF Galena is actually described as:
“The Kansas Route 66 Historic District, East of Galena includes a 1.2 mile stretch of US Highway 66. The district begins at the Missouri state line and continues west to a point approximately 300 feet northeast of the intersection with Front Street at the north end of the Galena business district. In addition to the historic roadbed, the district includes nine functional concrete structures; seven small box culverts; one large, triple box culvert; and a viaduct. The paving of the road and construction of the structures took place between 1922 and 1923, three years prior to the designation of Route 66 as a federal highway.Both of the larger structures are in good condition and retain a very high degree of integrity. While some of the original railings on the smaller culverts are damaged beyond repair or missing, as a group these elements, together with their setting, form a cultural landscape that clearly conveys the historic feeling Route 66.”
The Kansas Route 66 Historic District, East OF Galena has NOTHING to do with Galena’s boarded up “fine old buildings” on Main Street and NO part of Main Street or so-called “business district” is on the National Register of Historic Places. Other than those nit-picking details, the National Park Service website is dead-on accurate!