The father of Route 66

I found him. And appropriately enough, he’s buried in a cemetery just yards from the Mother Road.

The deceased person I’m referring to is Cyrus S. Avery. He’s acknowledged as “the Father of Route 66.” A Pennsylvania native, Avery moved to Oklahoma as a teenager. He became a successful businessman and grew especially involved with improving the nation’s roads. As a major player in regional and national highway associations, he essentially laid out where U.S. 66 would go when it was certified in 1926. This Wikipedia entry encapsulates this history well.

Avery died in 1963, having lived into his 90s. Avery now is held in enough esteem that the annual National Historic Route 66 Federation‘s banquet had a preservation award named for him. The historic art deco 11th Street Bridge in Tulsa also was renamed for Avery.

However, when a reader a few weeks ago asked me where Avery was buried, I was stumped. The two biggest Oklahoma Route 66 authorities I knew, Michael Wallis and Jim Ross, weren’t sure. But I knew where I could find out. Through a third party, Avery’s granddaughter Joy informed me where he was buried.

Cyrus Avery is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, the second-oldest cemetery in Tulsa and one of the largest. Avery’s grave site is rock-throwing distance from Admiral Place, which is the earliest alignment of Route 66 in Tulsa County.

Cyrus’ final resting place is marked by a modest, ground-level stone in a plot with about 10 other Averys. It looks a lot like the other stones in the vicinity, but this one had a couple of toadstools growing out of the ground. It’s almost like Cyrus knew we were coming and signaled in his own way, “Here I am!”

Avery is in the southwest portion of the cemetery, called Graceland. He’s close to one of the car paths, and there’s a large tombstone for another Avery nearby. if you look directly south from there, you’ll see Dong’s Gun and Archery store on Admiral Place.

However, I wouldn’t look for Avery’s grave without assistance. Rose Hill Cemetery is huge; more than 35,000 people are buried there. Instead, walk into the Rose Hill Funeral Home and Memorial Park office at the cemetery’s main entrance. During regular business hours, the staff there will help you find the approximate area of the grave and give you helpful maps. Give Avery’s grave location as Graceland-75-9; this will help them narrow it down.

So if you’re passing through Tulsa on a Mother Road trip, you now can make a pilgrimage to the road’s founder. It’s also a nice excuse to cruise and visit one of the cool restaurants on the Admiral Place alignment, including Hank’s Hamburgers, Ike’s Chili House, and Wing’s Hamburgers & Brother Arthur’s Bilalian Fish.