This is the first weekly roundup from the Route 66 Journal, and the timing is good: four weeks from tomorrow, on Wednesday, November 11, the road turns 100. In this issue I look at how Tulsa and Springfield, Illinois, will spend that day, a Tulsa landmark that just made the National Register, the last weeks of the Russell's museum collection in New Mexico, a neon sign that found a new home in Missouri, and the festivals worth planning around between now and the birthday.
Centennial countdown
Tulsa sets its November 11 birthday party, and the Cain's Ballroom show is already sold out
At a press event on September 22 at The Canopy, organizers laid out the Oklahoma Route 66 Centennial Celebration, presented by Cherokee Nation Businesses, for Wednesday, November 11, in downtown Tulsa and the arts district. Because the date is also Veterans Day, the day opens with Tulsa's Veterans Day Parade, sponsored by the Oklahoma Route 66 Centennial Commission.
After the parade there are eight free art activations at Greenwood Rising, 101 Archer, 108 Contemporary, the Bob Dylan Center, the Woody Guthrie Center, the Thomas McKeon Center for Creativity, Living Arts and Guthrie Green. In the evening a street party runs between OKPOP and Cain's Ballroom, with the King Cabbage brass band, Inspyral Circus and a centennial birthday cake. The Wilderado concert inside Cain's is sold out, and the Texas Playboys play Guthrie Green. If you are driving in for the day, my advice is to park once near the arts district and walk: every venue on that list sits within a few blocks of the others. My Oklahoma stops guide covers the rest of the Tulsa stretch. Source: News On 6
Springfield, Illinois, pairs a statewide conference with an evening celebration
The Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway has booked Route 66 Motorheads Bar and Grill, Museum and Entertainment Complex at 600 Toronto Road in Springfield for its own November 11 event. The morning is a statewide conference on preservation and economic development with a celebrity keynote, followed by a ticketed awards luncheon and then a celebration in the Motordome with live music, special guests and classic cars. Capacity is listed at 500 and both parts are ticketed, with discounts for Byway members, so this one is worth booking now rather than showing up. Springfield is an easy base for the Illinois stretch. Source: Route 66 Centennial Commission event calendar
For the full list of birthday events in all eight states, including Albuquerque and Santa Monica, see my running Route 66 centennial events calendar.
On the road: work zones and a record
The Amboy bridge replacement is still on the calendar through April 2027
This one is not new, but if you are planning a fall or winter drive through the Mojave it belongs in front of you. Last October, Route 66 News reported that Granite Construction would replace 10 bridges on Route 66 near Amboy, California, in a job worth about $24 million paid through San Bernardino County. The schedule ran from December 2025 to April 2027, because the old bridges no longer meet modern load standards. I have not found a current public detour notice, so before you count on the Amboy and Roy's segment, check San Bernardino County Public Works the week you go. My California stops guide has the alternatives along I-40. Source: Route 66 News
A 67-year-old Irish cyclist's Route 66 ride is now a Guinness record
Joe Barr of Ireland rode the full 2,448 miles of Route 66 earlier this year in 10 days, 6 hours and 27 minutes, an average of 9.7 mph at age 67, and Guinness World Records has now recognized the ride. If you meet cyclists on the two-lane stretches this fall, give them room: plenty of people are riding the road for the centennial. Source: Route 66 News
Openings, closings and restorations
Tulsa's Hawks Dairies building joins the National Register
The Art Deco Hawks Dairies building at 2415 E. 11th St. in Tulsa was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, effective October 5, according to the National Park Service. It was built in 1948 to a design by Kansas City architect Gerard W. Wolf, and the dairy closed in the early 1960s. A developer announced last year that it would become a boutique hotel with retail and a restaurant, but that plan fell through a few months later, so for now it is a building to look at, not to visit. It sits on the 11th Street alignment directly across from Mother Road Market, which makes it an easy stop if you are eating there. Source: Route 66 News
Russell's museum collection near Endee goes to auction
The museum at Russell's Truck and Travel Center, on I-40 near Endee, New Mexico, is being sold off by Assiter Auctioneers of Canyon, Texas. The first online auction, with dozens of classic cars and pickups, motorcycles, gas pumps and neon and porcelain signs, closed on the morning of October 10. The second, with vintage Coca-Cola machines, jukeboxes, dentist chairs and other collectibles, is online and on site and closes October 20, and two more auctions are planned. TravelCenters of America bought Russell's in 2023 when founders Emory and Barbara Russell, both in their 80s, wanted to retire. The museum opened in 2010 on a former restaurant site beside the 1952-1980 alignment. If you liked stopping there, plan on the truck stop staying and the collection going. More on the stretch in my New Mexico stops guide. Source: Route 66 News
A 12-foot neon bowling pin is back up, this time in Lebanon, Missouri
A 12-foot neon pin that once stood on All Star Lanes in Salina, Kansas, which closed around 2019, has been restored by Garrett Jackson of SixOne Arts in Camdenton, Missouri, and installed at Bowlmor Lanes RT 66, 1331 E. U.S. Route 66 in Lebanon. The alley dates to about 1950 and was once Starlite Lanes. It sits across the road from the Munger Moss Motel sign, so you now get two pieces of neon in one stop after dark. Source: Route 66 News
For the rest of the Ozarks stretch, see my Missouri stops guide.
Amboy Roy's guide returns in print
Fundamental Media has published "Amboy Roy's Guide to Route 66: Food, Lodging and Photo-Stops," bringing back a print format last offered in 2015. If you like a paper list in the glove box next to your map, it is one more option. Source: Route 66 News
Events in the next few weeks
Kingman Route 66 Fest, October 16-17
Kingman's festival fills Lewis Kingman Park at Andy Devine Avenue (Route 66) and Fairgrounds Avenue with live bands, a craft beer garden, a classic car show, a Hot Neon Nights tuner show, a vintage trailer show, a pin-up contest and children's activities. Admission and parking are free. Kingman is also the start of the Oatman road, so it pairs well with a morning on the Arizona stretch. Source: Route 66 Centennial Commission event calendar
Here is what else is on the calendar from now to mid-November. Fall is a good time to drive, as I explain in Route 66 in the fall and the best time to drive Route 66, but confirm each event with its organizer before you build a day around it.
| Date | Event | Town, state |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 16-17 | Kingman Route 66 Fest | Kingman, AZ |
| Oct. 17 | Round Barn Round-Up (Oklahoma Route 66 Association) | Arcadia, OK |
| Oct. 17 | Route 66 West Fest | Albuquerque, NM |
| Oct. 17 | Street Rods Forever 35th Annual Car Show | Monrovia, CA |
| Oct. 18 | Main Street Block Party and Day of the Dog Festival | Santa Monica, CA |
| Oct. 20 | Second Russell's museum auction closes | Endee, NM |
| Oct. 24 | Route 66 Fall Festival and Car Show | Depew, OK |
| Oct. 24 | Route 66 Trunk or Treat Cruise In | Lebanon, MO |
| Oct. 24 | Eve of Haunted Destruction | Joliet, IL |
| Oct. 29-31 | PhotoCon OKC | Oklahoma City, OK |
| Nov. 7 | Community Fall Festival, Celebrate Rt 66 | Needles, CA |
| Nov. 7 | Chrome and Neon at 100 | Albuquerque, NM |
| Nov. 10 | Route 66 Centennial Speaker Series | Lebanon, MO |
| Nov. 11 | Oklahoma Route 66 Centennial Celebration | Tulsa, OK |
| Nov. 11 | Illinois Route 66 conference and centennial celebration | Springfield, IL |
| Nov. 14-16 | Route 66 UltraRun | Arizona |
Sources: Route 66 Centennial Commission event calendar, Route 66 News, News On 6
That is the week. If you hear about a closure, an opening or an event I missed, it may well end up in next Tuesday's issue.
