Historic Context and Reconnaissance Report: Oklahoma County Route 66 Survey Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Gullett, Poppie

From the Introduction: "Route 66 has been an important focal point in historic preservation nationwide. As historic Route 66 winds through Oklahoma, the road transitions from a densely populated midwestern thoroughfare to an open country road. The road was developed in 1926, originally winding through the state via dirt roads and carrying many Dust Bowl emigrants from their Oklahoma homes to agricultural sites further west. Communities outside of Oklahoma City were connected to each other and the outside world in a self-directed way that the railroads were not able to offer. Over the next few decades Route 66 was realigned again and again, removing detours that provided economic stimulus for small communities and speeding traffic through the state. Route 66 had taken on its best-known configuration by 1951, and by that time was associated strongly with post-World War II recreation and tourism rather than the hardship of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression of the 1920s and 1930s. Yet even as the alignment of the road was taking its best-known shape, it was being replaced by an even more streamlined series of interstate highways and turnpikes. In Oklahoma, Route 66 is part of the National Scenic Byways program and intact built features related to the "Mother Road" are becoming increasingly rare. Although appreciation for the road is widespread and its historical significance is well-documented, many of the once advantageously situated businesses on Route 66 now find themselves bypassed. Other resources along the route changed uses to better suit community needs or were simply demolished. To better ascertain the remaining Route 66 related resources extant in Oklahoma County, the Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office (OKSHPO) contracted with Pinyon Environmental, Inc. (Pinyon), to survey up to 150 buildings around Oklahoma County historically associated with Route 66." Project funding was provided in part by a Historic Preservation Fund grant to the State Historic Preservation Office, Oklahoma Historical Society, administered by the State, Tribal, Local Plans and Grants division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior (grant number P20AF00041).

Historic Context and Reconnaissance Report: Oklahoma County Route 66 Survey Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

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