View image in fullscreenA 1964 map illustrating Route 66, the ‘main street of America’Photograph: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/AlamyShare View image in fullscreenSquare Deal Garage and Cafe on Route 66, Winslow, Arizona, 1928Photograph: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/AlamyShare View image in fullscreenHighway 66 through Waynesville, Missouri, 1931Photograph: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/AlamyShare View image in fullscreenA woman poses by a cactus opposite a service station on Route 66 in Arizona, circa 1939Photograph: Jim Heimann Collection/Getty ImagesShare View image in fullscreenA stretch of Route 66 in New Mexico, circa 1940Photograph: FPG/Archive Photos/Getty ImagesShare View image in fullscreenMain Street on 66, Baxter Springs, Kansas, 1946Photograph: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/AlamyShare View image in fullscreenRoyce Cafe diner in Edmond, Oklahoma, 1949Photograph: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/AlamyShare View image in fullscreenRoute 66, west of Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1951Photograph: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/AlamyShare View image in fullscreenCars and people pass police headquarters along Route 66 during the Democratic national convention in Chicago, Illinois, August 1968. Protesting and riots broke out during the convention over the Vietnam warPhotograph: Donaldson Collection/Getty ImagesShare View image in fullscreenRoute 66 traffic in the streets of Albuquerque, New Mexico, after a heavy downpour, 1969Photograph: Ernst Haas/Getty ImagesShare View image in fullscreenMcDonald’s signage on Route 66, Azusa, California, circa 1979Photograph: Hum Images/AlamyShare View image in fullscreenBill Clinton addresses crowds of people at the intersection of 5th Street and Central, Old Route 66, in Albuquerque while campaigning on 13 October 1996Photograph: Gary Cameron/ReutersShare View image in fullscreenRoute 66 Casino just off the Interstate I-40 freeway, near Albuquerque, during the Guardian’s Grapes of Wrath revisited road trip from Oklahoma to California, August 2009Photograph: David Levene/The GuardianShare View image in fullscreenOatman Post Office, Oatman, Arizona, during the Route 66 Grapes of Wrath road trip, August 2009Photograph: David Levene/The GuardianShare View image in fullscreenAngel Delgadillo crosses the Route 66 on his bicycle as dusk sets in Seligman, Arizona, May 2011Photograph: Matt York/APShare View image in fullscreenMotorists cross the Colorado Street Bridge, a Route 66 landmark in Pasadena, California, November 2025Photograph: Jae C Hong/APShare View image in fullscreenThe Lumi the Pie Lady, a 19ft (5.8-metre) Uniroyal Gal statue on Route 66 in Atlanta, Illinois, March 2025Photograph: Eddie Rodriquez/AlamyShare View image in fullscreenMain Street in the historic mining town of Oatman, north-west Arizona, May 2026Photograph: James Schwabel/AlamyShare View image in fullscreenThe Route 66 roadside attraction at Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curios in Tulsa, Oklahoma, January 2025Photograph: Eddie Rodriquez/AlamyShare View image in fullscreenVintage neon lights at sunset at the Blue Swallow motel in Tucumcari, New Mexico, November 2025Photograph: Chuck Bigger/AlamyShare View image in fullscreenTerry and Christie Partee visit Route 66 Neon Park inside George M Reed Roadside Park in St Robert, Missouri, November 2025Photograph: Jeff Roberson/APShare