
One hundred years ago, Route 66, the first cross-country road, was built in America. The idea was to have a way to move people and goods a long way. Revisit these Arizona stories in honor of 100 years of the Mother Road.
Nearly two centuries ago, in the 1850s, close to a dozen Middle Eastern cameleers helped ex-naval officer-turned-explorer Edward Fitzgerald Beale lead a caravan of camels through the arid American Southwest.
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The El Pueblo Motor Inn dates back to 1936; the Route 66 site was the main recruitment hub for Navajo Code Talkers during WWII. But it’s empty now and for sale.
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This November marks 100 years since the establishment of Route 66. The iconic highway ran from Chicago to California through several states, including Arizona. One Arizona town along that route helped inspire a popular Pixar film.
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The U.S. Postal Service plans to introduce a collection of Forever stamps featuring photographs of Route 66. These stamps will be issued at the National Postal Forum in Phoenix next month to commemorate the highway’s centennial.
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More than half of the 2,400 miles of Route 66 pass through Indian Country. And much of it follows ancient Native American hunting trails and trade routes.
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The funds from the National Park Service will go towards a program for supporting commercial and civic properties along rural stretches of Route 66 in Arizona.
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Next year, cities and towns across the country including here in northern Arizona will mark the 100th birthday of one of America’s most iconic highways, Route 66.
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Route 66 is known for its representation of the expansion to the West, the Mother Road, vintage cars and diners and Americana trinket shops. But, there is another, more troubling history: Route 66's atomic history.
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Nearly 100 years ago, Route 66, the first cross-country road, was built in America. Now, the upcoming centennial of the Mother Road is in 2026. But, we’re losing pieces of that history all the time today.
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Route 66 has long been a nostalgic symbol of American opportunity and Western expansion. But for many people of color who made their lives along the historic route, it was a different story.
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A documentary, "Route 66: The Untold Story of Women on the Mother Road," examines how women navigated segregation and gender discrimination to build lives for themselves along America's most famous highway.
More Arizona history stories