Narratives of the Mother Road: Geographic Themes Along Route 66

Abstract

One of the most culturally significant roads in the world, U.S. Highway 66 (commonly referred to as Route 66) has connected Chicago and Los Angeles since 1926. In order to explore what heritage themes Route 66 sites convey to tourists, we assessed the information presented to visitors at nearly four‐dozen museums and interpretive sites astride the road using the qualitative software Nvivo 10. Five themes dominate interpretation. Route 66 thematically flows east to west with Chicago as the beginning and Los Angeles as the end of the road. Mobility and personal freedom of movement via the automobile are encapsulated in the history of the road. In addition, Route 66 highlights nostalgia for the 1950s with classic American automobiles, music of the era, and neon lights representing this golden age of the highway. Economic decline, and often the economic continuity of communities, is frequently found in interpretive materials. Finally, Route 66 museums are repositories of community memory as oral histories preserve the narratives of individuals and families who owned businesses on and lived near the road for multiple decades. We conclude with several observations about interpretative themes that are overlooked as well as regional differences in the geography of memory along Route 66.

• commemorative landscapes
• geography of memory
• heritage tourism
• Route 66

Notes

1. Widely available Route 66 guidebooks that focus on the entire highway transect include McClanahan (2008) and Knowles (2011). State Route 66 associations typically create guides and/or web resources for travelers as well. The most thorough and updated state‐focused Route 66 resource is Ross (2011).

2. We traveled to each interpretive site once during the study period. Several research trips were necessary to complete the fieldwork. Illinois and Missouri locations were visited in May 2012, Kansas and eastern Oklahoma in August 2012, central Oklahoma in September 2012, western Oklahoma in October 2012, Texas and New Mexico in March 2013, and Arizona and California in July 2013. Visitor center videos and audio recordings presenting original interpretation were purchased or recorded with permission and transcribed at a later date.