Editor's note: This article originally appeared in Sun Life Magazine, an Independent Newsmedia publication.
Appearances in songs, literary works and movies are one thing. The magic allure of Route 66 took real hold, of all things, when the stretch of open road was officially no longer recognized as a federal U.S. Highway.
Arizona — still home to more than 300 miles of surviving Route 66, one of the longest continuous stretches of the historic road — and all afficionados of the 2,448-mile highway that once connected Chicago to Santa Monica this year will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its official commissioning. It all happened in November 1926 when the American Association of State Highway Officials in the adoption of the U.S. Numbered Highway System included Route 66 among hundreds of numbered routes.
