Tuesday, January 6, 2026

US-66 (Route 66), US-20 and US-40 (National Road) Overviews

I went to add the following US-20 overview to the US-66 overview, but then I discovered that I don't have an overview for Route 66. (I do have an overview for US-30 (Lincoln Highway). So I'm writing this one. These are works in progress because I add features the route lists when I come across them.


US-66 Overview


Route 66 is also called the Mother Road.
route66-map

The alignments are color coded:
Red = oldest alignments. 20’s – 30’s
Brown = 30’s – 40’s
Green = 40’s – 50’s
"The last alignments were Interstates and are not drawn on the map."

The route66-map is interactive. For example:
Digitally Zoomed

"Route 66 had its official beginnings in 1926 when the Bureau of Public Roads launched the nation’s first Federal highway system....Five new interstates (I-55, I-44, I-40, I-15, and I-10) incrementally replaced U.S. 66 over the next three decades [1960-89]. Interstate construction coincided with the powerful forces of economic consolidation as evidenced by the growth of branded gasoline stations, motels, and restaurant chains. The 1984 bypassing of the last section of U.S. 66 by I-40 led to the official decommissioning of the highway in 1985, impacting countless businesses and communities along the road." [nps]

Features along US-66 that I have noted, ordered from east to west, then oldest to newest.
Illinois has a lot of tourist information concerning the route. The have brochures in German, Mandarin and Japanese as well as English. This is a page from their maps pdf.
pdf, p2 via IllinoisRoute66

This is an excerpt from the English brochure.
IllinoisRoute66_english

nps_000
[The nps has a lot of information. Unfortunately, I started getting "can't be reached" error messages before I could look at most of the webpages. I could still access any non-nps webpage.]

Route 66 posted
Route 66 full map 🥰❤️🚗

The Lincoln Highway's first mile was paved in 1913. I wonder when that highway was completely paved.
Facebook Reel

Mar 2026:
Illinois Department of Transportation posted
Get ready to hit the road! The new Illinois Route 66 Map is here, just in time for the iconic highway’s 100th birthday. 🥳
This map is your ultimate guide to America’s favorite road, featuring must-see sights, a historical timeline, and highlights of its cultural impact. It’s printed on recycled paper with eco-friendly inks. Want a free copy? Visit idot.click/map-request or pick one up at interstate rest areas.

I knew that Route 66 used to use Joliet Road through some of the western suburbs of Chicago. But I didn't know how it got from Ogden down to Joliet Road. I see that Google Maps now labels the route. I added a red line to mark that part of Joliet Road that has been closed because the McCook Quarry undermined the road.
Satellite plus Paint

More about that abandoned section of the Joliet Road. It was closed in 1998.
11:14 video @ 5:10

Exploring Historic Route 20 posted
Did you know that U.S. Route 66 and U.S. Route 20 were both officially established on the same day—November 11, 1926?
That date marked the birth of the United States Numbered Highway System, a major federal effort to create a uniform network of marked roads across the country. The process began in earnest with the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921, which funded improvements to key routes. Planning ramped up in 1925 through the Joint Board on Interstate Highways, involving all states in selecting and designating important roads to receive federal support for paving and maintenance.
While Route 20 had been discussed and preliminarily mapped as early as November 1925, and Route 66’s numerical designation was finalized in April 1926 (after some debate over other numbers like 60 or 62), both highways became official when the American Association of State Highway Officials approved the full system and map on November 11, 1926. Road signs started appearing on Route 20 in the Spring of 1926 and Route 66 the following year.
Originally, Routes 20 and 66 intersected in downtown Chicago. A realignment of Route 20 in the early 1930s shifted their crossing point westward to the area around Countryside and Hodgkins, Illinois (near what is now the junction involving Joliet Road and LaGrange Road).
[LaGrange carries US-12,-20 and -45 through here.]
Today, you can still stand where the Mother Road (Route 66) meets America’s Longest Highway (Route 20) and “get your kicks” on historic alignments. 
Route 66 was fully decommissioned on June 27, 1985 (with the last segments bypassed by Interstates like I-40, I-55, and others), but its legacy lives on through preserved sections, motels, diners, and roadside attractions.
Fun fact: Many of the classic sites, stories, vintage motels, diners, and abandoned alignments that draw travelers to Route 66 have parallels—or even direct counterparts—along Route 20. Both highways capture that quintessential American road-trip spirit, connecting small towns, scenic stretches, and slices of mid-20th-century history.
Gary Westefer: US 20 only became the longest highway in the US in 1964 when California decommissioned both US 66 and much of US 6. US 6 at 3652 miles was the longest highway until 1964. California decommissioned many of the old US highways. To follow US 6 to its original terminus in Long Beach you have to continue on US 395, CA 14.
Stephen Boatman: Today US 20 still remains the longest highway in the United States while I-90 remains the longest Interstate Highway, but 2nd longest behind US 20.
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US-20


Exploring Historic Route 20 posted
Happy New Year!!  Historic Route 20 is a 3365 mile highway that stretches from Boston, Massachusetts to Newport, Oregon.
Is considered the longest federal highway in the United States.
Route 20 is not continuous, however, as some social media posts claim.  There is a break in Yellowstone National Park from its east entrance to its west entrance.  
The 3365 mile reference was calculated way back in 1989 and has not sufficiently been updated since this time.  It took into account alternate routes, such US 20A in New York and Ohio. 
However, our calculations have determined that if you were to drive continuously from Boston to Oregon and through Yellowstone National Park, this number is pretty accurate.
Route 20 travels through 12 states and is the longest highway in several of those states.
Route 20 was officially announced in November 19 25 and became official in November 1926.  It is the same date as other famous highways such as Route 66.
While the entire route could be seen in under one week of travel, two weeks of sufficient to see many of the sites - yet 20 days gets you more. 
This image is our first ever postcard image that we ever made of the highway back in 2012 when we began the organization.

Exploring Historic Route 20 posted
Did you know that six US Presidents lived on or in Route 20 communities. 
Millard Fillmore had a home in East Aurora, NY (this is the original alignment)
Ulysses Grant was gifted a home in Galena, IL after his service in the Civil War.
James Garfield enhanced a simple farmhouse on Route 20 in Mentor, OH - called Lawnfield
Rutherford Hayes' home is in Fremont, OH
John F Kennedy was born in Brookline, MA which is 6 blocks off of Route 20.
Barack Obama has a home in Chicago, but not near Route 20 - but included because of the city 
Also, we include Washington who took command of the Continental Army in Cambridge and took Route 20 from Springfield to Watertown.  
Lincoln visited many Route 20 locations including Galena, Freeport, Chicago, Westfield, NY.
Jon Collins: Martin Van Buren's home is only 13 miles away from US-20 in Kinderhook, NY, some say his Old Kinderhook nickname became our "OK"
Scott McClure: The Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont, Ohio is actually on Hayes Avenue which was US Route 6 before the Fremont Bypass routed both US 20 and US6 around the center of the city.

Features along US-20 that I have noted, ordered from east to west, then oldest to newest.
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US-40 (National Road)


nps_national
"The National Road was the first highway built entirely with federal funds. The road was authorized by Congress in 1806 during the Jefferson Administration. Construction began in Cumberland, Maryland in 1811. The route closely paralleled the military road opened by George Washington and General Braddock in 1754-55.  By 1818 the road had been completed to the Ohio River at Wheeling, which was then in Virginia. Eventually the road was pushed through central Ohio and Indiana reaching Vandalia, Illinois in the 1830's where construction ceased due to a lack of funds. The National Road opened the Ohio River Valley and the Midwest for settlement and commerce."

The National Road was also called the Cumberland Road and the National Pike. [highways]

Beech Grove Independent posted
On this day, March 29, 1806, the Great National Pike, also known as the Cumberland Road, became the first highway funded by the national treasury. Built between 1806 and 1840, the Great National Pike stretched from Cumberland, Maryland, to Vandalia, Illinois. 
On this day the first appropriation of $30,000 was made by congressional act. Eventually over $6 million was appropriated for the highway. When improved in the 1830's, it became the second U.S. road surfaced with the macadam process pioneered by Scotsman John Loudon McAdam.
In 1856, control over the road was turned over to the states through which it ran. Roads would be left to the devices of the states almost exclusively until the dawn of the automobile. 
Henry Ford and other leaders of the automotive industry were instrumental in encouraging the federal funding of national highways.
Image attribution: FHWA

Features along US-40 that I have noted, ordered from east to west, then oldest to newest.

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