U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 (US 66 or Route 66), also known as the Will Rogers Highway, the Main Street of America or the Mother Road, was one of the original highways in the U.S. Highway System. US 66 was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in the United States, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before ending in Santa Monica, California, near Los Angeles, covering a total of . It was recognized in popular
V (Los Angeles Railway) to Downey Road in Vernon. A branch line also ran from Vernon Avenue south on Santa Fe Avenue to Slauson Avenue. In 1920, the route was renamed "V." In 1925, plans had been drawn up to extend the Vermont line over 2 miles further north to Los Feliz Boulevard. Instead, the route was extended less than a mile north to Monroe Street and west on Monroe to Heliotrope, on what was then the campus of UCLA. Today that is the campus of Los Angeles City College. During the LATL era, the Leonis and Santa Fe branches were eliminated; instead the