ILLINOIS

Birthplace of route 66

Goes the extra Mile for the Mother road’s centennial celebration

by Jeff Heilman

Cory Jobe President/CEO of the Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau & Chairperson of the Illinois Route 66 Centennial Commission

Photo: Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau

On November 11, 1926, a new highway launched an epochal new age of travel in America. Championed by Oklahoma businessman Cyrus Avery, a leading advocate for improving the nation’s roadways, Route 66 ran 2,448 miles through eight states, connecting downtown Chicago with downtown Los Angeles, later extended to Santa Monica. Christened the “Main Street of America” by Avery, and the “Mother Road” by author John Steinbeck, Route 66 profoundly impacted American history and culture with enduring global appeal.

As the highway’s starting point, the Illinois segment, running diagonally from Chicago to the Mississippi River, has a unique place in the Route 66 story. Connecting big cities and rural towns across the heart of the state, the road put Illinois in pole position for accelerated economic and tourism development, reflected today in the state’s rich collection of Route 66 Americana.

Preservation is another Illinois distinction. Long before Route 66 was decommissioned in 1985, long stretches had been rendered obsolete by major interstates. Unlike other states, however, most of the 301-mile Illinois segment, re-alignments included, is still drivable.

The last 100 miles run through the six-county Great Rivers & Routes region of southwestern Illinois, so named for its location by the confluence of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois Rivers, and along with Route 66, having a stretch of another all-American highway, the Great River Road.

With 22 years in state government, including four years as Director of the Illinois Office of Tourism, Cory Jobe is president/CEO of the Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau. In this Q&A with Passport, the Illinois native shares his passion for preserving and promoting the Mother Road, and the excitement around this year’s Route 66 Centennial celebrations.