Friend Susan Croce Kelly is the author of "Route 66: The Highway and Its People" and "Father of Route 66: The Story of Cy Avery." She reminds us that today is the day "66" was selected as the number for the new highway from Chicago to Los Angeles. As she explains in her books, Cy Avery and B H Piepmeier had wanted the number to be 60--but so did promoters of the present U.S. 60 which, at that time, was planned from Virginia Beach to Springfield, MO. (Eventually, 60 was routed all the way to LA, too, though now it terminates In Arizona.) On April 30, 1926, Avery and Piepmeier decided that 66--a number that was not yet assigned to a highway--would be an acceptable substitute for “60,” and the new number became irresistibly catchy. This is an old photo where 60 and 66 overlap ---around Vinita, Oklahoma, I think. (Photo from https://www.aaroads.com/shields/show.php?image=OK19260601 )
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