Route 66, The Mother Road
a.k.a. Main Street America

Historic Route 66 is "The Mother Road",
symbolizing America's first great "Road to Opportunity".

Often referred to as the “Main Street of America” US route 66 made a significant contribution to our nation and its importance to America cannot be overstated.

Historic route 66 stretched for over 2400 miles, connecting numerous under-populated rural towns and communities across eight states and three time zones, linking them to major city centers like Chicago and Los Angeles.

The mother road became the main street of America for our growing trucking industry, played a substantial role in transporting the military during America’s wartime efforts and helped to mobilize a nation of tourists during the post-war years.

American author John Steinbeck is credited with naming route 66 the “mother road” in his 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath. During the great depression, it is estimated that over 210,000 people migrated from the dust bowl of Middle America to California, prompting Steinbeck to write that route 66 was the "path of a people in flight, refugees from dust and shrinking land the mother road, the road of flight."

Indeed the 2-lane, US route 66 highway served as the main arterial route across America from 1926 to the mid 1950's until the mother road was gradually replaced by faster, more direct 4-lane interstate expressways.

Unlike the current interstate system, historic route 66, the most legendary road in American history, did not dominate the surrounding landscape. Instead route 66, the mother road, America’s most famous and beloved highway, co-existed with its surroundings.

Route 66, the mother road, the "long concrete path across the country, waving gently up and down on the map ... over the red lands and the gray lands, twisting up into the mountains, crossing the Divide and down into the bright and terrible desert, and across the desert to the mountains again, and into the rich California valleys".

This is the mother road that Steinbeck wrote about.

Today route 66, America’s main street, is enjoying an unprecedented revival. Renewed public interest in the romance and freedom of road travel is contributing greatly to route 66 tourism. People are seeking out the forgotten mom & pop diners, drive-ins, gas stations and motels in the small towns along historic route 66, the most famous road in all of America.

Authentic Mother Road Highway Signs
Crossroads Sign Company is family owned and operated and offers authentic, deep embossed route 66 “mother road” shield signs. Own a piece of American history. Historic route 66 metal signs are made using the very same dies and sign-fabricating equipment that created the famous US route 66 road signs of the 1930's and 40's.

Crossroads also carries route 66 clothing plus heavy steel stock street signs and parking signs. We can even custom make personalized steel signs and personalized aluminum signs.