Why was "U.S Route 66" called America's Mother Road?

New Delhi: Though current maps do not include old Route 66 but it is known as the Mother Road of U.S .It also known as the Will Rogers Highway and colloquially known as the Main Street of America or the Mother Road, It is one of the original U.S. Highways. Originally it ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before ending at Los Angeles, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km). Bobby Troup wrote the song, Get Your Kicks on Route 66 in 1946. It has been performed and remixed by several musicians, including Nat King Cole, who first recorded it in 1946 scoring a major hit, the Rolling Stones, and Depeche Mode.It served as a major path for those who migrated west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and it supported the economies of the communities through which the road passed. People doing business along the route became prosperous due to the growing popularity of the highway, and those same people later fought to keep the highway alive in the face of the growing threat of being bypassed by the new Interstate Highway System.Current maps do not include old Route 66. The last stretch of the road disappeared from “official” maps in 1985.A famous national museum, nowhere near Route 66, has an exhibit that includes an actual piece of Route 66 pavement. Entitled “America On the Move,” the piece of the Mother Road is at the Smithsonian's National Museum in Washington D.C.According to most sources Route 66 is 2448 miles long (about 4000 km). However, this is a rough approximation as the road has had many different alignments through the years.It was commissioned on November 11 1926. It crosses 8 states and 3 time zones. In 1926 only 800 miles of Route 66 were paved. Only in 1937 did Route 66 get paved end-to-end.Because of a change in alignment of Route 66 in 1937, there is an intersection where Route 66 crosses itself at Central Avenue and 4th Street in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. Here, you can stand on the corner of Route 66 and Route 66.On the corner of Route 66 and First Street in Tucumcari, New Mexico is a Texaco Station that is the only service station to have operated continuously through the Route 66 era to the present.Kansas has the shortest section of the Mother Road with only 13 miles. However, three historic Route 66 towns are located on this short segment including Baxter Springs, Galena and Riverton.As a publicity stunt in 1928, promoters of Route 66 held a coast to coast foot race that included all 2448 miles of the Mother Road and then some. The race kept right on going far beyond Chicago all the way to New York City.In 1985 Route 66 was officially decommissioned as a federal highway. However, daily use of the road had been gradually replaced in earlier years by the Interstates. The road was decommissioned due to public demand for better transportation as the old road deteriorated after World War II.85% of the road is still drivable. During all of its life, Route 66 continued to evolve, leaving many abandoned stretches of concrete, still waiting to be found by the more adventurous traveler. Cyrus Stevens Avery from Tulsa, Oklahoma can be called the father of Route 66. He was the first to refer to Route 66 as “The Main Street of America” in 1927.Most of the road was replaced by five interstate highways, including I-55, I-44, I-40, I-15 and I-10, but still a surprisingly high amount of old road is waiting to be found by the more adventurous traveler.You cannot count on the road to be marked with road signs. Though some states and organizations have posted signs, these often disappear with souvenir hunters. Others are simply never posted. The last original Route 66 road sign was taken down in Chicago on January 17, 1977. John Steinbeck in his novel, Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939, was the first to refer to Route 66 as “Mother Road.”