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History Day |
Route 66: Just another highway? | |
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Early History
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Early
History
Throughout the 1800’s, thousands of small cart and horse trails crisscrossed the country and the West. These small paths became tracks for lumbering steam locomotives. Soon, however, people began to hate train travel, and the government decided it was time for a national highway system. Route 66 was the government’s ambitious highway idea. It was to be a cross-country thoroughfare, linking small towns that had previously had no access to a major highway. Route 66, also known as America’s Main Street, the Mother Road, and just plain old 66, was fully paved from Chicago to Los Angeles in 1937. Many events encouraged people to use the Mother Road. The first was the Dust Bowl. The dust storms of 1934-1936 caused many farmers to move west; to the "land of opportunity." Not only did 66 bring business to the impoverished Southwest; it provided new ways of earning a living for thousands of people living along side it. Another event caused a migration via America’s Main Street. In 1942, World War II began. Car production was halted, gasoline was rationed, and tires became as hard to find as diamonds in your backyard. California housed huge numbers of war industry jobs, and thousands traversed 66 to get to California each day. The highway was also the main transportation for military traffic of all sorts. Also, the road was too narrow for post-war car designs. Yet another event that brought people surging over the Mother Road was the idea that began in the 1940’s and flourished in the 1950’s: the family vacation. After WWII ended, many people went out to the West to visit family and friends. They usually took Route 66 round trip. In the 50’s, there was a boom in the number of families taking vacations. Many took trips to the West to see what it was like. They often took 66; not only for it’s convenience, but also for it’s excellent scenery. |
