While Route 66 had the same type of early highway boosters and tourism promoters other highways in the United States had, it seemed to capture the imaginations of Americans to a much greater extent. It played a prominent role in the story of the Joad family, the key characters in The Grapes of Wrath in the 1930s and in a 1960s television show called Route 66. Bobby Troup’s jazzy lyrics for “Get Your Kicks on Route 66,” written while he and his wife were driving along Route 66 in California after he returned from World War II, became a popular musical backdrop for leisure travelers using Route 66. In the decades since the federal government removed the highway designation and U.S. Highway 66 officially ceased to exist, there has been substantial growth in the interest the former highway evokes for people from all over the world.

Modern-day promotion of the highway has become a major aspect of the tourism industries for the states and cities through which it passed. Some of the largest Route 66 fan clubs are located in other countries, such as Japan and Germany. Numerous books ranging from turn-by-turn guidebooks to general histories about the highway, its people, and places to books about the weird and unusual along the highway have been written through the years. It has also become an important economic development driver as owners rehabilitate former gas stations, restaurants, and other resources along the route and give them new lives.

Additionally, communities have developed infrastructure to celebrate the history and culture related to the highway. One example in Oklahoma City is the Route 66 Park at the edge of Lake Overholser developed in the early 2000s.

Evidence of the former U.S. Highway 66 and associated property types is identifiable in quite a few places within the City. Opportunities abound for the city of Oklahoma City and private property owners to capitalize on programs that promote heritage tourism, foster economic development, and support rehabilitation projects. Two opportunities are the City’s already-established Commercial District Revitalization Program and the Business Improvement Districts. A basic strategy for promoting heritage tourism is to install additional signage marking the various alignments around the city. Lastly, a strategy property owners may consider is the Historic Tax Credit program that applies to income-producing historic properties that are revitalized. Any of these strategies, and others not identified here, would build upon this historic context to further preserve the legend of by-gone years and a cultural icon of the American landscape.

*This content is excerpted word for word from the Route 66 in Oklahoma City Historic Context Project Report (2020), prepared by Blanton and Associates for the City of Oklahoma City. The complete report is available online here: https://www.okhistory.org/shpo/docs/okcrt66.pdf. This report has been financed in part with federal funds from the U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service (NPS). The contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the reviews or policies of NPS, nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation by NPS.