Route 66 Tow Truck, Tucumcari, New Mexico Poster

"Route 66 Tow Truck in Tucumcari, New Mexico" by Catherine Sherman. An old Route 66 tow truck, weathered, dented and rusting, sits on a patch of overgrown grass by the side of the road in Tucumcari, New Mexico. Its tow arm and chain are still intact, though the paint is peeling and nature seems to be reclaiming it. U.S. Route 66 (US 66 or Route 66), also known as the Will Rogers Highway and as the Main Street of America or the Mother Road, was one of the original highways within the U.S. Highway System. Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in America, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before ending at Santa Monica, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km). It was recognized in popular culture by both the hit song (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66 and the Route 66 television show in the 1960s. Route 66 was the main road for those who migrated west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. People doing business along the route became prosperous due to the growing popularity of the highway, and those same people later fought to keep the highway alive in the face of the growing threat of being bypassed by the new Interstate Highway System. Route 66 underwent many improvements and realignments over its lifetime, and it was officially removed from the United States Highway System on June 27, 1985, after it had been completely replaced by the Interstate Highway System. Portions of the road that passed through Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, and Arizona have been designated a National Scenic Byway of the name Historic Route 66, which is returning to some maps. Several states have adopted significant bypassed sections of the former US 66 into the state road network as State Route 66.