Postcard US-9919222

U.S. 66, also known as Route 66, the Mother Road, the Main Street of America, and the Will Rogers Highway, was officially named "U.S. 66," via telegram at a meeting of highway officials in Springfield, Missouri on April 30, 1926.
Cyrus Avery, a Tulsa businessman, championed the establishment of the highway and helped promote it, earning him the nickname "Father of Route 66." He was instrumental in the plotting of the southern route which ran (conveniently) through Tulsa and beside his gas station and hotel.
Cyrus Avery is credited with calling it the "Main Street of America", while John Steinbeck gave it the moniker of "Mother Road" in his novel, "The Grapes of Wrath."
Will Rogers was born in Indian Territory near Claremore, Oklahoma in 1879 and would later become known as "Oklahoma's Favorite Son."