The Santa Monica (Calif.) Daily Press has a preview story today about the ceremony Wednesday morning that will name the Santa Monica Pier as the official western end of Route 66.
The actual endings of U.S. 66 was in downtown Los Angeles, then later at Olympic and Lincoln boulevards in Santa Monica (about a mile from the pier).
But both endings were rather uninspiring, and many Route 66 travelers continued westward to Santa Monica Boulevard to Ocean Avenue, then a couple of blocks south to the Santa Monica Pier and the Pacific Ocean.
“There has been a question over the years, especially foreign tourists, as to where to end [their] trip. [They ask,] ‘Where do I go?’ ” said Jim Conkle, chairman of the Route 66 Alliance and one of the planned speakers at Wednesday’s event.
Conkle feels that the new official end is solely for the benefit and convenience of the tourists.
“We aren’t trying to rewrite the history books. The accepted end or beginning is going to be the Santa Monica Pier; it gives a tourist and tour groups a place to start and finish,” said Conkle. […]
Conkle feels the new ending will allow tourists a more scenic and fulfilling end to their 2,500 mile journey across the highway.
“If you go to Olympic and Lincoln, would you not go a mile away and see the Pacific Ocean?” said Conkle.
There is some historical precedent with the Santa Monica and Ocean intersection; it was for many years the site of an albeit unofficial “End of 66” sign there — one that will be re-created at the Pier on Wednesday. It was believed that the sign originally was a prop for a movie shoot during the 1930s that was left there by local boosters.
And since U.S. 66 was decommissioned decades ago, there’s no problem with having a new “official” end point.
UPDATE: More media previews of the event …
From the L.A. Now blog of the Los Angeles Times.
From NBC Los Angeles.
From KABC-TV in Los Angeles.
From the LAist.
I noted that Glen Duncan of the California Route 66 Preservation Foundation called the Santa Monica Pier the “spiritual end of Route 66.” That’s got a nice ring to it.