<P> After the new federal highway system was officially created, Cyrus Avery called for the establishment of the U.S. Highway 66 Association to promote the complete paving of the highway from end to end and to promote travel down the highway . In 1927, in Tulsa, the association was officially established with John T. Woodruff of Springfield, Missouri, elected the first president . In 1928, the association made its first attempt at publicity, the "Bunion Derby," a footrace from Los Angeles to New York City, of which the path from Los Angeles to Chicago would be on US 66 . The publicity worked: several dignitaries, including Will Rogers, greeted the runners at certain points on the route . The race ended in Madison Square Garden, where the $25,000 first prize (equal to $348,692 in 2016) was awarded to Andy Hartley Payne, a Cherokee runner from Oklahoma . The U.S. Highway 66 Association also placed its first advertisement in the July 16, 1932, issue of the Saturday Evening Post . The ad invited Americans to take US 66 to the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles . A U.S. Highway 66 Association office in Oklahoma received hundreds of requests for information after the ad was published . The association went on to serve as a voice for businesses along the highway until it disbanded in 1976 . </P> <P> Traffic grew on the highway because of the geography through which it passed . Much of the highway was essentially flat and this made the highway a popular truck route . The Dust Bowl of the 1930s saw many farming families, mainly from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Texas, heading west for agricultural jobs in California . US 66 became the main road of travel for these people, often derogatorily called "Okies" or "Arkies ." During the Depression, it gave some relief to communities located on the highway . The route passed through numerous small towns and, with the growing traffic on the highway, helped create the rise of mom - and - pop businesses, such as service stations, restaurants, and motor courts, all readily accessible to passing motorists . </P> <P> Much of the early highway, like all the other early highways, was gravel or graded dirt . Due to the efforts of the U.S. Highway 66 Association, US 66 became the first highway to be completely paved in 1938 . Several places were dangerous: more than one part of the highway was nicknamed "Bloody 66" and gradually work was done to realign these segments to remove dangerous curves . However, one section through the Black Mountains outside Oatman, Arizona, was fraught with hairpin turns and was the steepest along the entire route, so much so that some early travelers, too frightened at the prospect of driving such a potentially dangerous road, hired locals to navigate the winding grade . The section remained as US 66 until 1953 and is still open to traffic today as the Oatman Highway . Despite such hazards in some areas, US 66 continued to be a popular route . </P> <P> Notable buildings include the art deco--styled U-Drop Inn, constructed in 1936 in Shamrock, in Wheeler County east of Amarillo, Texas, listed on the National Register of Historic Places . A restored Magnolia fuel station is also located in Shamrock as well as Vega, in Oldham County, west of Amarillo . </P>

Where is the beginning and end of route 66