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HISTORIC ROUTE 66

Keeping America’s iconic, 2000-mile Main Street, once a symbol of adventure, from vanishing into the past.

HISTORIC ROUTE 66
Chicago, IL, to Los Angeles, CA, United States
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BACKGROUND

Route 66, once the primary highway from America’s interior to the West Coast, has played a now-legendary role in U.S. history since its designation in 1926. (...)

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HOW WE HELPED

Route 66 was listed on the 2008 World Monuments Watch to draw attention to the complex challenges of preserving not only an iconic cultural landscape, but a historic American experience. Protecting the many sites along the route depends on generating new tourism and economic opportunities for the eight states and countless communities through which it passes. (...)

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WHY IT MATTERS

Starting in the 1960s, drivers largely abandoned Route 66 in favor of newer interstate highways. Today, its surviving businesses are struggling, and its roadside architecture—a tapestry of 20th-century Americana—is deteriorating. Some places are threatened by development. (...)

RELATED LINKS

The National Park Service’s Discover Our Shared Heritage Route 66 travel Itinerary brings the history of Route 66 to life. Today, more than 85% of the original Route 66 is drivable. Read essays, see photos, download maps, itineraries, and more. Developed n partnership with the American Express® and World Monuments Fund Sustainable Tourism Initiative and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers.

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IN THE MEDIA
Help save endangered sites
Los Angeles Times, Thursday, May 14, 2009
15 Must-See Endangered Cultural Treasures
Smithsonian Magazine, Sunday, March 1, 2009
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Route 66 Itinerary
Download: Get Your Kicks on the New, National Park Service, Route 66 Travel Itinerary