Route 66

For a century, two numbers have carried more meaning than almost any others on the American map. Route 66 was never the longest highway in the country or the busiest, yet no road has been more photographed, sung about, or loved. As the nation celebrates 250 years of independence, the Mother Road marks a milestone of its own: its 100th birthday. In the early 1920s, crossing the United States by automobile was a true adventure. Roads were a patchwork of local routes, many unpaved, most known by names rather than numbers. To bring order to the growing network, federal and state officials began creating a national system of numbered U.S. highways.