Route 66 Celebrates its Centenary
Photo Morten Andreassen / Unsplash
Route 66 will reach its most significant milestone in 2026 as it hits 100 years old.
First given its number on 30 April 1926, Route 66 was commissioned on 11 November, linking Chicago, Illinois, with Santa Monica, California, some 2,448 miles west. Along the way it passed through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, becoming much more than just a road.
John Steinbeck called it The Mother Road, in The Grapes of Wrath, while others know it as The Main Street of America, and it was route that countless thousands followed during the Depression era as they sought prosperity out west. It spawned a hit song (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66, written by Bobby Troup who travelled it from Pennsylvania to California to seek his fortune. Recorded by artists from Nat King Cole, Chuck Berry, Bing Crosby and the Rolling Stones it’s the theme of the American Dream, providing a lyrical map of the route.
An eponymous TV show aired in the 1960s, following two young men on their adventures across America in a Chevy Corvette, and it was on Route 66 that Lightning McQueen famously found the forgotten Radiator Springs in Pixar’s Cars.
2026 will be a year of celebrations across each of the eight states Route 66 passes through. It all starts in Springfield Missouri on 20 April 2026. The Official Host City of the Route 66 Centennial National Kick-Off, promising a concert, car shows and parades. In Joliet, Illionois, St Louis, Missouri, Amarilla, Texas, Albuquerque, New Mexico and Santa Monica, California there’ll also be events to mark the start of the celebrations.
There’ll be countless drives across the entire length of Route 66, plus an attempt to stage the largest classic car parade in the world in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If you haven’t already got your kicks on Route 66 then 2026 is definitely the year to go for it.
Photo E / Unsplash