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- When US 66 was first commissioned, it was known as “The Great Diagonal Way.” It earned this name to its unique diagonal path connecting Chicago to Oklahoma City stretch, which ran northeast to southwest.
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Over the years, US 66 received numerous nicknames. Right after US 66 was commissioned, it was known as "The Great Diagonal Way" because the Chicago-to-Oklahoma City stretch ran northeast to southwest. Later, US 66 was advertised by the U.S. Highway 66 Association as "The Main Street of America".
Sep 6, 2023 · The Great Diagonal Way. When US 66 was first commissioned, it was known as “The Great Diagonal Way.” It earned this name to its unique diagonal path connecting Chicago to Oklahoma City stretch, which ran northeast to southwest.
Apr 23, 2024 · Route 66, one of the first national highways for motor vehicles in the United States and one that became an icon in American popular culture. It ran from Chicago to Santa Monica, California, and served numerous cities along the route.
Aug 3, 2022 · Unlike the straight Lincoln Highway, Route 66 did not follow a linear course. Its diagonal course linked hundreds of rural communities from Chicago to Kansas and on to Los Angeles, enabling farmers to transport grain and produce. By the 1930s the trucking industry was using Route 66.
Termed "The Mother Road" by John Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath, Route 66 was also known as "Main Street of America," "The Great Diagonal Way," and Will Rogers Highway. A slight alteration in 1937 resulted in an intersection in Albuquerque, N.M., at which Route 66 crosses itself. A full 85 percent of the original route is still drivable.
The diagonal configuration of Route 66 was particularly significant to the trucking industry, which by 1930 had come to rival the railroad for preeminence in the American shipping industry. The abbreviated route between Chicago and the Pacific coast traversed essentially flat prairie lands and enjoyed a more temperate climate than northern ...
Route 66's popularity was memorialized in a hit song recorded by the Nat King Cole Trio in 1946. It was also the subject of the popular Route 66 television show. Over the years, it became known by several nicknames, including the Great Diagonal Way, the Main Street of America, the Will Rogers Highway, and the Most Famous Road in the World.
