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Illinois & Kansas was the 1st & 2nd State completely paved. Missouri was the 3rd to Finish its
portion of Route 66 and they completed this state
on January 5, 1931.
Route 66 helped to start the single greatest
wartime mobilization of manpower in our history.
Between 1941 and 1945 our government invested
approximately $70 billion in Federal Highway projects throughout California, and a large portion of
the southwest.
Also the southwest was selected to be home
for several military bases which were in the Los Angeles, area and other areas of the southwest. This
large amount of tax dollars served to start entirely
new industries that created thousands of civilian
jobs through out the U.S.
After the war, Americans were more mobile than
ever before. Thousands of former military personal
who received military training in Arizona, California,
New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas moved to these
areas to avoid the cold winters of the northeast
for the warm dry weather of the Southwest. Route
66 provided an easy way to complete their move.
Businessmen of this era recognized early on that
travelers of Route 66 would need food, auto repair
and place to stay. Most Americans who traveled
“The Mother Road” did not stay in hotels in most
cases. They stayed at motels which came from auto
camps and the tourist homes. Auto camps and
tourist homes gave way to motor courts which then
became the Motel that we know today. Later they
added restaurants, souvenir shops and even some
with swimming pools.
After World War II our economy was booming
and th R7G&