Preservation group seeks memories of Route 66 -- past and present

Feb. 9—Think honeymoon road trip, a family tradition of dining at a decades-old restaurant along Route 66, or the crumbling of a family business off the iconic highway.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has invited travelers, business owners, historians and ordinary people to compile their memories, stories and photos of Route 66 in a massive online scrapbook.

The historic preservation nonprofit launched its "Preserve Route 66: Share Your Story" campaign last month and hopes to gather at least 2,026 submissions before the national celebration of Route 66's centennial in 2026. The nonprofit will use submissions to create an interactive online map, through which people can virtually explore America's "Mother Road."

The campaign provides a chance to reflect on landmarks along Route 66 that no longer exist as well as celebrate new ones, National Historic Trust for Preservation Senior Policy Director Jim Lindberg said.

It also may "lift up stories that haven't been told before," such as elements of Native American, Mexican-American, veterans' and women's history along Route 66 in New Mexico, he said, adding, "it's a great way to expand our understanding of what the route means."

Lindberg hopes the campaign leads people to consider, "What are we losing? What might we want to rally to save? This can call attention to some of the opportunities to keep the Route as vital as it can be."

Route 66, over 2,400 miles long, opened in 1926, about the time cars were first becoming commonplace, Lindberg said. The original route ran through Santa Fe until a reconfiguration in the 1930s, which shortened the route by 107 miles. But it remained vibrant in places like Santa Rosa and Tucumcari and Gallup.

The highway, sometimes known as "The Mother Road" and stretching from Chicago to Santa Monica, Calif., served travelers through the 1980s, when it was officially decommissioned because it was replaced by an expanding system of interstate highways. Forty years later, that shift has left remnants of the road in a range of conditions. Some sections have been abandoned and are no longer drivable. In some places, bridges are no longer in service; in other places, Route 66 makes up the bustling main streets of towns.

"While much of [Route] 66 is barely hanging on, Old Town Albuquerque is more vibrant with various eateries and a great walkable Old Town environment," an anonymous Route 66 traveler wrote in a submission to the Share Your Story campaign, praising Albuquerque's Casa de Sueños Old Town Historic Inn.

In another anonymous submission, an Albuquerque resident reminisced about staying at the Western Skies hotel.

"For whatever reason one summer in the early seventies we did not have a vacation destination. ... A family of 11 total ended up at the Western [Skies] for a week even though we were natives to the city," the person wrote. "It had seen better times, but you could tell that in its prime it was one of the stars of ALB."

The luxury hotel, which opened in 1959, was demolished in 1988 after several changes in ownership — but in its prime had indeed been a destination for celebrities and politicians, including President John F. Kennedy. The hotel boasted a "massive" spiral staircase in the lobby, 72 crystal chandeliers, a towering stone fireplace, an 80-foot heated swimming pool, Southwestern decor and top-of-the-line chefs, the Albuquerque Journal reported in 1988.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has been raising attention to the threats to historic motels along Route 66 since at least the early 2000s and continues to push for designation of the route as a National Historic Trail, Lindberg said.

Centennial celebrations will likely help raise awareness of the road. Route 66 centennial groups created by President Joe Biden and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, among others, are also planning ways to honor the roadway in 2026.