Highway building in the first decade of the 20th century was seen as a purely local and economic issue, and a matter of local civic pride (and jobs) as well. In the absence of national standards of construction, each city or county built what it could afford. For this reason, some early highway roadways were not more than 6 or 7 feet wide, especially in the countryside. Such narrow roads required one car to pull off the road completely so a car coming the other way could pass, leading to stuck vehicles and early road rage arguments over who should give way (and get stuck).
The US Highway system was born in 1926, trying to being order, standards, and rules to a growing national highway grid that was a hodge-podge of pavement types, widths, routes, and grades. One result was the installation of a numbering and designation system for US highways, which standardized a patchwork system of names, numbers, and letters.
This waymarked segment of road was paved in 1922, before the official designation of US Route 66, before national standards for pavement and constructions were implemented, and before OK highway officials adopted standards for US 66 and all other US highways in OK.
This waymarked section of US Route 66 was the last section of the old 9-foot road to be realigned, widened, and paved to those 1930 standards. Here, where the road was bypassed in favor of a realigned segment a short distance away, travelers can still see the original 9-foot-wide road, with its original paving from 1922.
The significance of this segment is explained by the historic marker that stands along this historic part if the Morher road, which reads as follows:
"In 1922 a new 9 foot wide roadway was completed between Miami & Afton OK. Because no standards existed & so few roads were paved, it's width was not unusual for the era. It consisted of a concrete base& edges of rock asphalt in 1926 the sidewalk highway was adopted by US 66.
RT 66 was paved piecemeal from 1926 -1937 since the Miami to Afton section was paved it became the last segment upgraded to the standards established in 1930. it was also re aligned& included a new bridge on the Neosho river.
On Sept 11 1937 the opening of the bridge completed the last segment of RT 66 paving in Oklahoma. The Sidewalk thus became one of the early stretches of Mother road paving to be bypassed, and today is the only RT 66 roadway of its type in existence.
'Columbus discovered the New World, but the Tin Lizzie has made us discover America.' - Will Rogers
Monument/Marker - Erected 2010 by the Oklahoma RT 66 Assoc."
From the Legends of America Website: (
visit link)
"This section of the road predates Route 66, having been built in the early 1920's. Legend has it that when the road was built, Oklahoma's budget was tight, so rather than covering half the mileage, they covered half the width. This remarkable piece of vintage pavement zigzags for 13 miles between Miami and Afton. Amazingly this original stretch of pavement is in extremely good shape for its age, but take care along this stretch for oncoming vehicles. If you plan to travel this short stretch of the Mother Road, use caution if it’s been raining or if you have an oversized vehicle."
Read more here about early road construction on US 66 on the History of Route 66 website: (
visit link)
"The Beginning
Although entrepreneurs Cyrus Avery of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and John Woodruff of Springfield, Missouri deserve most of the credit for promoting the idea of an interregional link between Chicago and Los Angeles, their lobbying efforts were not realized until their dreams merged with the national program of highway and road development.
While legislation for public highways first appeared in 1916, with revisions in 1921, it was not until Congress enacted an even more comprehensive version of the act in 1925 that the government executed its plan for national highway construction.
Officially, the numerical designation 66 was assigned to the Chicago-to-Los Angeles route in the summer of 1926. With that designation came its acknowledgment as one of the nation’s principal east-west arteries.
From the outset, public road planners intended U.S. 66 to connect the main streets of rural and urban communities along its course for the most practical of reasons: most small towns had no prior access to a major national thoroughfare.
The Formative Years
Route 66 was a highway spawned by the demands of a rapidly changing America. Contrasted with the Lincoln, the Dixie, and other highways of its day, route 66 did not follow a traditionally linear course. Its diagonal course linked hundreds of predominantly rural communities in Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas to Chicago; thus enabling farmers to transport grain and produce for redistribution. The diagonal configuration of Route 66 was particularly significant to the trucking industry, which by 1930 had come to rival the railroad for preeminence in the American shipping industry. The abbreviated route between Chicago and the Pacific coast traversed essentially flat prairie lands and enjoyed a more temperate climate than northern highways, which made it especially appealing to truckers.
Thanks to veritas vita for supplying photos and for placing this unfinished waymark into Uncategorized for me to assist with.