65. Cyrus Stevens Avery: Father of Route 66

To celebrate the centennial of Route 66 in 2026, the very first episode of the year features the life of the Father of Route 66- Cyrus Stevens Avery. Join Route 66 Podcast host Anthony Arno as he talks with Susan Croce Kelly, author of Father of Route 66: Cy Avery. More than establishing Route 66, Avery was a proponent of the Good Roads Movement and advocated for paved roads at the introduction of the automobile in America. Highlights from the show include: • Teaming up with Quinta Scott in 1990 to write Route 66: The Highway and Its People • Searching for Route 66 • Avery's childhood • Avery travels west in a covered wagon at age 13 • Awareness of road conditions as a young pioneer • Populariity of bicycles in establishing paved roads

• Avery pulls America out of the mud • What did Avery get right? • Replacing named roads with numbered roads • Road construction and technology • Need for proper signage with road travel • Rapid growth of automobiles with Model T introduction • Railroad perspective regarding paved roads • Avery reluctantly accepts the number "66" for his road • Secretary of Agriculture in charge of road construction • What did Route 66 get right that the other highways of the day missed out on? • US Highway 66 Association established to promote the road • Proposing a 3400 mile coast to coast footrace along Route 66 • The Bunion Derby puts Route 66 on the world map • The Great Depression years • Running for governor of Oklahoma • Providing clean drinking water to Tulsa • Avery's biggest achievement (not Route 66) • Modernizing the Tulsa airport • Reflection • Importance of trip west for Avery in a covered wagon • Replacing Route 66 with the Interstate Highway • 1969 Highway Beautification Act removes local billboards • Route 66 as a tourist attraction today •

• Centennial Plaza in Tulsa honors Avery Newspaper Women of the Ozarks • book