Three pieces of Route 66 were recently added to the National Register of Historic Places.
One is the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, which links Madison, Ill., to north St. Louis over the Mississippi River. It was designated on Dec. 1. This story in the Suburban Journals of St. Louis provides a nice overview of the bridge’s history. It’s been closed to traffic for decades, but it’s now a bicycle and pedestrian trail.
And, according to this Dec. 29 news release from the National Register, the McLean Historic Commercial District in the Route 66 town of McLean, Texas, was placed on the Register.
In the same week, the Maplewood Commercial Historic District in Maplewood, Mo., which is on the old Manchester Boulevard alignment of Route 66, was listed on the Register.