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MAJOR UNITED STATES RESEARCH TRIPS SERIES

RESEARCH TRIP ~ HISTORIC ROUTE 66

Friday, March 16, 2007 - Sunday, April 22, 2007

A HISTORY OF THE VITRIFIED BRICK ROAD

THE MOTHER ROAD (2249.1 Miles)

History of the Vitrified Brick Road

 Route 66 employed a variety of materials. One was brick.

• ROUTE 66: A HISTORY OF THE VITRIFIED BRICK ROAD, by Eric Krause, 2007

History of the Mother Road

Dedicated on November 11, 1926, was U.S. Highway 66. Originally a two-lane highway, it ran from Chicago to Los Angeles passing through many towns and cities. It was the "Mother Road" dubbed in John Steinbeck's novel, "The Grapes of Wrath", (1939) as such. Through the 1960's, now in an accelerated and large way, route 66 by-passes rerouted traffic off that portion of Route 66 that passed through congested urban centres. Shortly, the Interstate Highway System (begun 1956) entirely by-passed Route 66 itself. On June 27, 1985, U.S. Highway 66 was decertified.

Route 66 was 2249.1 miles long.

 History of Our Investigative Trip of the Mother Road

On Friday, March 16, 2007, at 1:30 P.M., Eric and Lynda Krause arrived at the Santa Monica Pier, Los Angeles, California, the unofficial western terminus of  Route 66 (U.S. 66). Here we began our investigation of Route 66 through 8 states. On Monday, March 19, we crossed the Colorado River into Arizona. On April 1 (Sunday), we crossed into New Mexico. On April 5 (Thursday), Texas; April 10 (Tuesday), Oklahoma; April 14 (Saturday), Kansas; April 14 (Saturday), Missouri; and on April 18 (Wednesday), Illinois. In Chicago, on Sunday, April 22, on Jackson Blvd, at Lakeshore Blvd (fronting Lake Michigan), we met up with the official beginning of Route 66. The total distance traveled on Route 66 was 2,249.1 miles (3,619.575 km).

During the trip Lynda acted as research assistant  and maintained a detailed journal and took photographs.

Journal and Photographs of the Mother Road

Based on the Journal and Accompanying Photographs of Lynda Krause, "Route 66", Tour 2007

The Mother Road Crosses Eight States

Extracts from Lynda's Photographic Record - The Road

• California (314.8 Miles)

• Arizona (385.7 Miles)

• New Mexico (376 Miles)

• Texas (178 Miles)

• Oklahoma (376.4 Miles)

• Kansas (13.2 Miles)

• Missouri (317 Miles)

• Illinois (288 Miles)

Extracts from Lynda's Written Journal

• Lynda's Journal (2,249.1 Miles or 3,619.575 Kilometers)

[Report Assembly/Rapport de l'assemblée © Krause House Info-Research Solutions]