DNR receives grant to study Route 66

A $70,000 federal grant to the Missouri Department of Natural Re-sources will pay for the study and preservation of cultural resources along Mis-souri's historic Route 66 corridor.

According to a DNR news release, the grant is made possible by the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Act of 1999, and it is administered by the Long Distance Trails Group Office of the U.S. Depart-ment of Interior's National Park Service.

Specifically, the grant will be used to pay for completion of an unfinished study of properties associated with Route 66 in Missouri, as well as the preparation of National Register of Historic Places nominations for a number of endangered properties associated with Route 66.

Route 66 was commissioned Nov. 11, 1926, as U.S. Highway 66. It eventually stretched about 2,400 miles between Chicago and Los Angeles, going through eight states.

By 1931, Route 66 included 300 miles and 10 counties in Missouri. Beginning in St. Louis and traveling west across Missouri to Joplin, Route 66 spawned "roadside architecture," a new type of architecture aimed at serving travelers along the route.

(This item originally appeared in the Aug. 20 issue of the SBJ Daily Update, a subscriber-only service.)