Mother Road Pictures
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This is a view of a two rusty classic cars (1946 Kaiser Sedan and 1959 Ford Station Wagon) found in Rolla, Missouri on Route 66. The original photo was taken by Jonas Hansson, a very good Swedish friend of mine, on his trip with his father Hans in 2006 (via their vintage Volvo PV convertible) across the USA on Route 66. With Jonas' permission, I've been selecting some of my favorite photos of their road trip along the "Mother Road" and doing some post processing... enhancing, cropping, tone mapping, special effects, etc. The original photo for this shot was not great. I used Photoshop to crop and enhance the photo and then filter "Fractalius" to turn it into a digital drawing.
Below is a link to Hans and Jonas' blog about their historic trip:
hanssonroute66.blogspot.com/2006/07/information-in-englis...
INFORMATION ON ROUTE 66 AND MISSOURI:
A Brief History of U.S. Highway 66 and The Route 66 Association of Missouri
by James R. Powell. (Excerpts)
Route 66 was never an ordinary road. On February 4, 1927, the U.S. 66 Highway Association was formed in Tulsa, OK, and the road's lifetime name -- “The Main Street of America” -- was born. It was known over the years by many other names, such as “The Way West”, “The Will Rogers Highway” and “The Mother Road.” It came to be known as the most magical road in all the world. Even architect Frank Lloyd Wright once remarked, “Route 66 is a giant chute down which everything loose in this country is sliding into southern California.
Route 66 was commissioned on November 11, 1926, and was originally 2,448 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles. (The longest recorded length was 2,499 miles in 1929.) On June 17, 1935, it was extended from downtown Los Angeles to its famous termination point with Alt. U.S. 101, overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica. On the same date, 66 was rerouted over the Chain of Rocks Bridge in north St. Louis. And on September 26, 1937, it was rerouted directly west from Santa Rosa to Albuquerque, NM, bypassing Santa Fe.
Missouri was the third state to completely pave its portion of Route 66, following Illinois and Kansas. On January 5, 1931, the last mile (FAP 176C – 20' Portland Concrete Cement) of original Route 66 is paved in Phelps County just east of the Pulaski County line near Arlington. The work crew tosses coins into the wet cement to celebrate the completion. The last section of paving on U.S. 66 between Rolla and Lebanon, which had been closed for a year during construction, is formally opened to traffic ten days later.
Then, on March 15, 1931, 8,000 people attend a celebration in Rolla of the completion of the paving of Route 66 in Missouri. By mid-1938, Paving is completed on the last unpaved section of Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica in Oldham County, TX between Adrian and Glenrio.
Or Bobby Troup's 1946 hit, “Get Your Kicks on Route 66” (don't forget Winona), and the 1946 book by Jack Rittenhouse, “A Guide Book to Highway 66” which mile-by-mile describes gas stations, diners and places to see. Then, in the early 60s, another generation learned about Route 66 when Buz and Tod spent 116 TV episodes traveling America in their Corvette.
Route 66 became a destination unto itself. With its caverns and caves, scenic mountains, beautiful canyons and sparkling deserts being heavily promoted by the U.S. 66 Highway Association, Route 66 became the ultimate road trip. This spawned trading posts, alligator farms, full-service gas stations, grills with fried chicken, “blue plate specials” and home-made pie, “mom and pop” motor courts, Native American festivals and every other type of tourist traps known to man.
Unfortunately, with the advent of the interstate system, Route 66 became a victim of its own success. The road was decommissioned piecemeal by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) as interstate construction progressed.
And 66 was completely decertified - the last 1,162 miles - on June 27, 1985, following the by-passing of the last section of old 66 - 5.7 miles through Williams, Arizona - upon the completion of I-40 on October 13, 1984. The route was "replaced" by Interstates 55, 44, 40, 15 and 10.
As a side note, in December 1962, Missouri petitioned AASHTO, on behalf of all the Route 66 states, to have the interstates renumbered as I-66 from Chicago to Los Angeles. Needless to say, the request was refused.
Route 66, however, like a stubborn maverick, refused to die. The old road is still with us today, and now is the time for another generation to learn about and experience this great highway.
To spearhead this effort, Route 66 Associations have been established and are active in all 8 Route 66 states, with a stated mission “to preserve, promote and develop old Route 66 - The Main Street of America”.
In Missouri, the Route 66 Association of Missouri originated from the efforts of dedicated volunteers who, in the fall of 1989, realized old 66 deserved recognition and preservation. The Association is a qualified 501(c)(3) non-profit Missouri corporation, started on January 13, 1990.
Source:
www.missouri66.org/history.html
By: Scandblue Copyright © All Rights Reserved
Taken: March 3, 2009
Uploaded: March 3, 2009
By: Scandblue Copyright © All Rights Reserved
Taken: March 3, 2009
Uploaded: March 3, 2009
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