Route 66 Centennial Blog
Articles, information, and explorations of interest for and about the Route 66 Centennial
Shellee Graham: Graphic designer, photographer, author, Route 66 advocate
9/3/2025
Interview by Route 66 Centennial Staff
Shellee Graham is a graphic designer, photographer, author and Route 66 advocate. She was honored as a recipient of the John Steinbeck Award for Historic Preservation, and her work has also appeared in regional, national and international shows. In the mid-2000s, she co-authored two additional books, the award-winning Route 66 Sightings, and Secret Route 66, and in 2018, she joined the non-profit Route 66 Co-Op for a three year preservation project to save the historic and endangered Painted Desert Trading Post in Arizona. In 2023, she and her husband Jim adopted Scout, a blue heeler mix rescue dog that had been abandoned on Route 66 in Bridgeport, Oklahoma. "We are truly a Route 66 family" she said.
Q: What is your relationship with Route 66?
First, I live right on an original alignment of Route 66 in central Oklahoma. Our street was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. Every day, we observe the bicycles, motorcycles, and vehicles that are getting their kicks on Route 66. Secondly, I volunteer weekly at the iconic landmark, the Round Barn, in Arcadia. It’s an honor to greet travelers from all over the United States and around the world.
I’ve been promoting the Mother Road since the early 1990s with a touring photography exhibition that lasted over two decades, authoring a couple of books (the first in 1998). My husband Jim Ross and I were married by Michael Wallis in our backyard during a surprise wedding at a Route 66 event. As a graphic designer, I’ve been privileged to have created designs and logos for different fundraisers and Route 66 businesses.
What does Route 66 mean to you?
Route 66 is fun, friendly, and an escape from your troubles. You encounter like-minded people who are discovering the open road full of adventure. Like Mark Twain said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice.” When you get out and participate, you learn about the linear community with people and places that span all cultures and landscapes.
"I Tried Every Restaurant on Route 66:" A Conversation with Dylan Huynh
7/14/2024
By Rhys Martin
This is a pointer to a great article from the National Trust for Historic Preservation - A Route 66 Centennial Partner
YouTube content creator Dylan Huynh, of Hyper Studios, embarked on a road trip along Route 66, a journey that merged his love of food and travel. The National Trust for Historic Preservation had the opportunity to interview the 25-year-old. Dylan, realizing the need to preserve The Mother Road, took a significant step by collaborating with the National Trust
Video fom "I Tried Every Restaurant on Route 66 - Day 1
First in a five part series by Dylan Huynh exploring the restaurants along the Mother Road. Watch the rest of the series on his YouTube channel.
Learn more about this fascinating article and Dylan's journey on the Trust for Historic Preservation website.
Craig Winslow: Light Artist creator of Route 66 Centennial Light Capsules
7/3/2025
Interview by Route 66 Centennial Staff
Artist and designer Craig Winslow uses a technique called "Projection Mapping" to bring faded iconic ghost signs found along Route 66 "back to life." This vibrant, celebratory revival of the Road's glorious history is a fitting experiential celebration of the Route 66 Centennial. His "Light Capsules..." are art Installations that offer a portal through time to experience the vibrant glory of a faded past. Think "Time Capsule" using light.
Q: What is your relationship with Route 66?
Growing up in the tightly packed New England coastal towns, I developed a fascination with Route 66, known as "the Mother Road." I always wanted to see it firsthand, to understand the Americana that surrounded it truly. The impact the highway bypasses had on smaller towns was especially fascinating to me.
When I began my "Light Capsules" project, which focuses on bringing forgotten businesses and faded advertisements back to life, I immediately knew Route 66 would be a unique canvas. It's a landscape of lost and overlooked treasures, things I hope to revive and let shine again.
Q: What does Route 66 mean to you?
For me, Route 66 is the freedom of the open road, the vibrant glow of neon, and lingering sunsets. It's about discoveries, exploration, and personal stories, as well as encountering locals eager to share their passions and the historical gems of their towns. I'm drawn to the simplicity of Route 66; my thoughts aren't of bustling cities or massive attractions, but rather the humble roadside attractions and the allure of quirky, passionate projects. These are things born simply from someone's dream, and that authentic feeling of witnessing a personal vision come to life, that's what Route 66 truly means to me.
When picturing a drive along Route 66, I think of it less as a commute to a specific destination and more as the journey itself. It's about driving slowly, savoring the experience, and being thrilled to stop at anything intriguing along the way – a curious sight, a vintage drive-in, or a classic gas station – to appreciate things from a more relaxed viewpoint.
Katrina Parks: Assertion Films, "Route 66: The Untold Story of Women on the Mother Road"
7/3/2025
Interview by Route 66 Centennial Staff
Katrina Parks: Assertion Films is a director, writer, and executive producer drawn to projects that highlight strong women and enrich our culture and environment. Her latest film series, Route 66: The Untold Story of Women on the Mother Road, is being broadcast through American Public Television on PBS stations across the Nation.
Q: What is your relationship with Route 66?
Route 66 has been an inspiring muse that has driven my public history and documentary projects. My relationship with the Mother Road is rooted in storytelling—it began with filming 100 interviews, but it quickly became something deeper: an ongoing commitment to exploring and sharing the histories of the people who lived, worked, and traveled along the route. I see the highway not just as a symbol of mobility and the American Dream but as a living, evolving archive of cultural and historical memory.
Q: What does Route 66 mean to you?
Route 66 means connection—across time, geography, and culture. It’s a place where stories live stories of migration, opportunity, hardship, resilience, and reinvention. I see it as a mirror of the American experience, and it continues to reflect who we are and where we’re going.
Q: How will you celebrate 100 years of Route 66?
I plan to celebrate by continuing to amplify the stories of Route 66 through curating exhibits, my documentaries, and public programming. I’m excited to bring more multimedia and immersive elements to Route 66 storytelling and to capture more stories of people on the road. The centennial is a chance not just to look back but to envision the future!
Q: When did your passion for Route 66 begin?
My passion began while working on a documentary about the Harvey Girls. As I interviewed some of the later Harvey Girls, they shared how, when the railroad industry began to decline, many of them found new work—or created it for themselves—on the Mother Road. That shift from rail to highway was a revelation to me. It opened up a new way of understanding Route 66 as a living corridor of adaptation and resilience, and I was hooked.
Cheryl Eichar Jett : Author of ther upcoming "Aprons Away: Women's Work on Route 66
7/3/2025
Interview by Route 66 Centennial Staff
Cheryl Eichar Jett is the author of the forthcoming book "Aprons Away: Women's Work on Route 66", to be published in Spring 2026 by Reedy Press.
For the past decade, she has researched stories of women's work on the Mother Road. She is also the author or co-author of seven previous books. She has over 300 published articles (travel, Route 66, women's history) in publications ranging from Illinois newspapers to national magazines.
Cheryl is also a playwright and an award-winning short fiction writer, holding a graduate degree in history from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. In 2015, she founded the Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference, an annual event in Illinois.
Q: “What is your relationship with Route 66?“
I have lived most of my life in three great Illinois Route 66 cities: Springfield, Litchfield, and Edwardsville. I'm old enough to have driven Route 66 before it was decommissioned, and I have pleasant memories of that. For the last 16 years, my relationship with the Mother Road has deepened as a researcher, historian, writer, author, playwright, speaker, and event founder all pertaining to Route 66.
Q: “What does Route 66 mean to you? “
At this stage of my life and career, I look back on Route 66 as a microcosm of 100 years of American history and the perhaps glittery reflection in the eight states of American culture. But it also means my own personal memories, such as childhood trips north on the famous highway to visit grandparents. My view from the back seat from Illinois all the way to California. Endless magical neon along the length of Central Avenue (Route 66) through Albuquerque. Later, as a teen and young adult, playing in a rock band on one of the most famous stages in the Midwest – the Coliseum Ballroom – on Route 66 in Bend, Illinois.
Sage Scott: Travel writer, photographer and the creator of the blog, Everyday Wanderer.
5/30.2025
Route 66 Centennial Staff
Q: “What is your relationship with Route 66?”
I love a good road trip, and I've traveled sections of Route 66 over the years. I crossed an oversized item off my travel bucket list when I drove the whole route last fall with my dad.
Q: “What does Route 66 mean to you?”
America has been through a lot in the last 100 years, and there's nothing in the world like Route 66. It was an escape route for desperate people fleeing the Dust Bowl in search of a new life, and it was a fun-filled way for families to embark on a road trip. I love that it continues to receive the love and support of current generations, keeping its legacy alive.
Q: “How will you celebrate 100 years of Route 66?”
Hopefully, I get to drive the entire route from Chicago to Santa Monica again! (If that doesn't work out, I'll at least revisit as many sections as I can.)
Q: “When did your passion for Route 66 begin?”
I have explored sections of Route 66 since I was a young girl living in Arizona. My real accomplishment was finding three consecutive weeks off from my adult life to drive the entire 2,448 miles from start to finish last fall.
Joel Baker: American Giants Museum
5/30/2025
Route 66 Centennial Staff
Q: “What is your relationship with Route 66?“
I loan the giants for the American Giants Museum in Atlanta, IL. These original Muffler Men have now become a popular and unique stop on Route 66.
Q: “How will you celebrate 100 years of Route 66? “
By setting up two more giants at the AGM on Route 66!
Q: “When did your passion for Route 66 begin?”
When I visited the Hot Dog Man in Atlanta, IL, in the Summer of 2012.
Q: “Do you have a favorite location on Route 66?”
Atlanta, IL, with Tulsa a close second.
Q: “What is your hope for Route 66 during the next 100 years?”
That the memories of the past are kept alive by those whose lives have been touched by the giants of Route 66.
For more information about the American Giants Museum, visit https://www.americangiantsmuseum.com
Jim Hinckley’s America
A lifelong relationship to the Mother Road
5/29/2025
by the Rout 66 Centennial staff
Q: "What is your relationship with Route 66?"
Cue the Twilight Zone theme song.
Almost every milestone in my life has been linked to Route 66. My family made our first trip west to Arizona in 1959. We picked up Route 66 at St. Louis. In 1966, when my dad mustered out of the service in Michigan, he bought property unseen in Arizona for relocation. As it turned out, that property was along the pre-1952 alignment of Route 66 in western Arizona.
We built a house along that section of old highway west of Kingman. As there was almost no traffic, I learned to ride a bicycle on that old asphalt road. And we hauled water, so I learned to drive on that highway as well. And my first paying job was at Ed's Camp, an old Route 66 oasis. So, I rode a bicycle along Route 66.
The family moved to New Mexico and then Michigan in the mid-1970s. As soon as I finished high school, I returned to Kingman. I helped my dad move the rest of the family and experienced my first truck accident. That was along Route 66 near Gallup. And I rolled into Kingman on Route 66 Christmas Eve Day.
My John Wayne period kicked off when I went to work on ranches near Hackberry, Arizona, a Route 66 community. When I went into town, I drove Route 66 into Kingman.
For a brief period, I drove trucks from Kingman to Oklahoma City or Wichita. In those years, Route 66 was quickly being replaced by I-40.
I was working when I began dating my wife of nearly 45 years. On weekends, I drove into town on Route 66. Her family had owned a small store and auto court on Route 66 from the 1940s until it was razed in the 1970s.
On her first trip to Texas, we entered the state on the section of Route 66 between San Jon and Glenrio. Shortly after launching Jim Hinckley's America, I was hired by a tour company to speak about Route 66 at Vakantiebeurs, a holiday and tourism fair in Utrecht, Netherlands. This was our first trip to Europe. Since then, I have been asked to speak at two European Route 66 festivals.
I have been involved with each of the Route 66 Miles of Possibility conferences and was one of the organizers of the 2014 International Route 66 Festival.
Then, in 2022, Kingman Main Street in Kingman, Arizona, launched a narrated self-guided historic district walking tour that used QR code technology. The project included the creation of Depot Plaza at the historic depot along Route 66. In that plaza, Kingman commissioned a life-sized bronze statue of me and the creation of the Route 66 Walk of Fame.
Q: "What does Route 66 mean to you?"
It is the quintessential American experience. Our entire history and prehistory, our cultural diversity, and our love affair with road trips are all intertwined in this old highway.
Q: "How will you celebrate 100 years of Route 66?"
As celebrations of the centennial continue to unfold, so do mine. But I will be doing what I do best - sharing America's story and telling people where to go. Jim Hinckley's America will work to magnify the celebrations and highlight the stories of the people who are the infectious magic of the Route 66 experience.
Added to this is the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States. I can't think of a better place to celebrate that milestone on the Main Street of America.