“Happy 100th Birthday to the Mother Road!”: A Review of Route 66: 100 Years, by Jim Hinckley (Ed.)

 

(Beverly, MA: Motorbooks, an imprint of The Quarto Group, 2025). ISBN: 978-0-7603-9148-8

This beautifully designed coffee table book, edited by Jim Hinckley (a statue of whom is a popular Route 66 tourist destination in his hometown of Kingman, Arizona), helps to further the case that the myriad books about the Mother Road that continue to be published are very much like the businesses and attractions on the route itself. Each offers a unique view of the landscape and menu. Although I have read more than twenty books and many articles about Route 66 in the past four years—including titles by Hinckley and some of his coauthors here—I found an impressive amount of new information, which I attribute to not only the authors’ varied experiences, but how those experiences shape their individual approaches to their chapters. More on that to come. No matter how educated you are on the subject matter, chances are excellent you’ll learn something new.

The photography in Route 66: 100 Years is worth the purchase price in and of itself. Drawn from a wide array of sources, including some of the authors’ own collections, the vibrant photos bring the text to life. The book also features plenty of sidebars for those who want to dive deeper into a particular location (be it a building, city, or region), historical event, or the larger personality of Route 66—including its very large individual personalities.

The book begins with a Preface and Introduction by Hinckley, paying homage to the people, like Cyrus Avery, John Steinbeck, and Michael Wallis, who created, promoted, and revived the route, respectively (an oversimplification, but sufficient for this review). The Introduction also provides a stage for Hinckley to do what he does best—contextualize the birth of the Mother Road by taking us back to the trails, rail lines, and birth of the bicycle and motor car crazes that led to the Good Roads movement, which provided the organization and, pardon the pun, drive for a national system of highways focused on paving, grading, safety, and signage.

After the introduction, the chapters unfold across the eight states comprising the Main Street of America, in the traditional east to west direction. Two author–historians who know their Route 66 home states better than anyone—Cheryl Eichar Jett and Joe Sonderman, respectively—pen the first two chapters, on Illinois and Missouri. These two chapters take as their focus the multiple realignments the route has undergone since its commissioning in 1926. I found this fascinating reading. Keeping the latest (and autographed) edition of Jerry McClanahan’s EZ 66 Guide for Travelers beside me as I read these chapters, some of the mystery of all those spiral-bound maps was solved, and just in time. I was preparing to experience Route 66 from Illinois to Oklahoma on my way to and from a two-week, 22-performance engagement portraying the Father of Route 66, Cyrus Avery.

Hickley returns as the author for a brisk but memorable drive through the 13.2 (mighty!) miles boasted by Kansas. We get a mix of state (including its bloody record in the US Civil War) and zinc and lead mining history, and a tour through the three towns on Route 66—Baxter Springs, Riverton, and Galena. There is also information on the 1923 Brush Creek “Rainbow” Bridge—a must-see as you travel through (crossing it was a highlight of my trip). From inspiration for Pixar’s cars to quaint country stores, historic service stations, and vibrant murals, there is plenty to see (and photograph) in Kansas.

Travel writer, photographer, and president of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association Rhys Martin authored the chapter on Oklahoma, which begins, as it must, with Tulsa and Cyrus Avery, “The Father of the Mother Road.” Oklahoma boasts of other celebrities as well, such as Mickey Mantle (Commerce) and Will Rogers (Claremore). Martin also pays tribute to the US Highway 66 Association and the birth of the slogan “Main Street of America,” which did so much to promote the route. There’s also an extended section on a 1933 celebration in Quapaw for completion of paving in Ottawa County that includes the translated text of a speech by Victor Griffin, the last elected chief of the Quapaw Tribe. Cyrus was there, making it was a must-stop for me. From there, Martin engages in a celebration of iconic Route 66 attractions, motels, and eateries in such memorable towns as Miami (pronounced Mia-mah), Afton, Vinita, Foyil (home of the winner of the 1928 Bunion Derby, Andy Payne), Catoosa (home of the famed Blue Whale), and more. Martin also calls attention to the Negro Motorist Green Book and the Threatt family in Luther, who owned a filling station at a time few African Americans did. There’s a nice balance of past and present in a sidebar about Arcadia, with the former represented by the Round Barn and the latter by the 66-foot-tall neon pop bottle at Pop’s, just across the street.

Gregory R.C. Hasman covers Texas and New Mexico, taking the reader on the 178-mile Texas journey from Shamrock to Glenrio with a full tank of interesting facts. From quaint small towns like Groom, Conway, and Landergin to the major city of Amarillo and the ghost town of Jericho, Hasman provides a fast-paced overview of major historical events. He also references Jack Rittenhouse’s A Guide Book to Highway 66. Color photos highlight such iconic attractions as Tower Station and U-Drop Inn, the Midpoint Café in Adrian, and the Longhorn Café and Motel in Glenrio. Crossing the border into New Mexico, Hasman provides a detailed tour of one of my favorite towns on Route 66, Tucumcari. He also focuses on the ancient landscapes of “The Land of Enchantment” and, of course, Albuquerque, Santa Rosa, Santa Fe, and smaller towns along the route, ending with Grants. Some of the photos in this chapter are spectacular.

Hailing from Kingman, Arizona, Hinckley writes with fondness and detail of his hometown, and plenty else. There’s the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest (if you haven’t driven through them at sunrise, I highly recommend it). There are Harvey houses, trading posts, and the tribute to the Eagles’ “Take it Easy” in Winslow. Speaking of songs, according to the Bobby Troup anthem, “don’t forget Winona!” Hinckley doesn’t.

Hinckley finishes out the eight-state journey with a chapter on California. Starting with Needles, which, like so many of the towns on the Mother Road, started as a railroad camp (others started as a station) in the 1880s, Hinckley touches on the National Old Trails Road, the Mojave Desert and Cajon Pass, and notable towns like Chambless, Essex, Goffs, Newberry Springs, Barstow, and Bagdad. Being that it’s California, there are numerous mentions of films, such as The Grapes of Wrath, The Jazz Singer, Citizen Kane, and those filmed at Murray’s Dude Ranch. Hinckley also mentions the challenges of driving the route from San Bernardino to Santa Monica. Along the way, there are lots of highlighted motels, restaurants, theatres, and nature and other attractions.

What truly sets this book apart from other Route 66 Centennial coffee table books is the final chapter, “The Route 66 Renaissance,” by Dries Bessels, who is Dutch. Dries is a prime example of the European (as well as Japanese and truly international) fascination with the Mother Road. International travelers continue to be a driving force in keeping the route an essential ingredient of American culture. While I was in Tulsa a few weeks ago, I was approached by a trio of twenty-something female travelers who spoke with the beautiful, hypnotic lilt of Ireland. They asked me to take their picture in front of one of the 20-foot giants in the Meadow Gold District (a photo of which Bessels also includes).

Bessels gives us a survey of the route and some of his favorite stops. A highlight is the section on “Rehabilitation Projects.” If you want to learn more about the international community’s involvement with Route 66, there is a sidebar with excellent information.

A summation of what’s next is given by Jim Hinckley in the Epilogue. This has been a key aspect of the messaging I’ve heard at conferences, events, on the route, and in meetings for the past 18 months—just as important as the Centennial is the next One Hundred Years.

I have every faith that the authors of this book, and their editor, will work hard to make sure the next century for Route 66 is off to a memorable, forward-thinking start.