2015 cost-share grants for Route 66 announced

The Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program announced four cost-share grants totaling more than $97,000 for 2015. Boots Court architectural neon restoration, Carthage, Missouri, $20,000 grant, $20,565 match: Built in 1939, the Boots Court Motel is an outstanding example of a mom-and-pop motor court built in the Streamline Moderne style. Once threatened with demolition, the owners … Continue reading 2015 cost-share grants for Route 66 announced

Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program launches new, improved website

The Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, under the auspices of the National Park Service, on Monday announced the launch of a new website with a lot more features. Among the new goodies on the site: --- A new National Park Service Route 66 map you can download in PDF form. The webmasters promise an interactive map is coming … Continue reading Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program launches new, improved website

Best Western Route 66 program pays dividends

Longtime readers of this website may remember Best Western hotels launching The Kicks on Route 66 Tour campaign. In short, the campaign provided an interactive list of attractions along Route 66 and encouraged participation using social media and geocaches. I recently wondered how well this campaign worked for Best Western. Then this video popped up a … Continue reading Best Western Route 66 program pays dividends

Next Exit History app needs more work

The Next Exit History app sounds like a good idea but needs plenty of extra work and refinement before I can recommend it to Route 66 fans and other roadies. Next Exit History was developed by the University of West Florida and Historical Research Associates. It's designed to help users with iPhone and Android devices to … Continue reading Next Exit History app needs more work

Excuse our mess

Things may look a little strange on Route 66 News over the next few days. That's because we're going to do housecleaning on the site, testing and a full face-lift. A couple of readers have emailed about the website loading poorly or the comments field not working since moving to Dreamhost. After Dreamhost's technical gurus … Continue reading Excuse our mess

We’re back

Route 66 News is back after a nearly five-day outage. In short, I encountered grave and unexpected troubles last week with the site's hosting service and decided to move to a new host. The website went back up partially -- mostly on mobile -- on Saturday, and returned to its full power about noon Sunday. … Continue reading We’re back

Website needs more data on New Deal projects

The good news is someone has put together an interactive map of New Deal sites that were built beginning in the 1930s and are still standing. The bad news is the listings on the map are incomplete. Carthage, Missouri, for instance, has a few such sites that aren't listed. However, you can offer listings to … Continue reading Website needs more data on New Deal projects

Evidence of criminal activity in Cuervo?

A man whose hobby is exploring abandoned buildings found evidence in the Route 66 ghost town of Cuervo, New Mexico, that someone might be engaging in sex crimes. As it turns out, that evidence turned up at another site off Route 66 several miles west at another abandoned structure. According to a special report by … Continue reading Evidence of criminal activity in Cuervo?

We’re back

Route 66 News suffered about a nine-hour outage because of problems with its host, HostGator. We get hosting services from longtime roadie Guy Randall, who is a reseller for HostGator. He did nothing wrong, but apparently something went awry during the wee hours Wednesday, according to HostGator: At this time the issues have been identified … Continue reading We’re back

A chat with Rich Dinkela

KC Keefer, the guy behind the ongoing Genuine Route 66 Life video series, produced a new clip about "Roamin' Rich" Dinkela. The interview occurred at the closed MacArthur Bridge in St. Louis. https://youtu.be/6nKAsjC2kJg For a seven-minute clip, it nicely encompasses Dinkela's approach and his many activities on the Mother Road. You can follow Dinkela at … Continue reading A chat with Rich Dinkela