The Route 66 Reference Guide

A fact-checked 11-page guide to US Route 66, from the 1926 number to the 1985 retirement and the 2026 centenary, with credited public-domain photographs of the roadside by Carol M. Highsmith. This is a history pack, not a live driving guide.

What’s inside:

- How to use this guide, and the official facts

- A number on a map, then a name in the language

- Eight states, east to west — I

- Eight states, east to west — II

- The roadside that served the traffic

- Dust, convoys and a song

- Replaced, then officially retired

- The 2026 centenary, and a few careful myths

- A two-lane stop in Arizona

- Sources and credits

Pages: 11 (A4) / 11 (US Letter). Formats: A4 (210 × 297 mm) and US Letter (8.5 × 11 in), both PDFs included in one zip.

Printing: Print at 100% / actual size on A4 or US Letter. Most inside pages use light backgrounds and print well in black and white; the cover is dark, so print that in colour or skip it to save ink.

Every fact is written in our own words and checked on 15 November 2026 against the National Park Service pages “Route 66: National” and the Route 66 history overview, a Federal Highway Administration fact sheet, the Bureau of Land Management’s California Route 66 map and guide, and the Illinois Digital Heritage Hub page “Historic Route 66 in Illinois: Legacy”; the sources are listed on the credits page.

All photographs in this pack are by Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress, and are in the public domain, resized with no other changes.

This pack is a history of the highway, not a live driving guide. It is independent and is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the National Park Service, the Federal Highway Administration, the Bureau of Land Management, or the Illinois Digital Heritage Hub.

Licence: personal use. Print as many copies as you need for yourself and your household. Please don’t resell, re-upload or share it publicly. For club, school or commercial use, please email info@reallybyte.com.

Made by REALLYBYTE, the team behind route-66.motoring.im. Questions: info@reallybyte.com

No pop-ups. No intrusive advertising. Just interesting stuff.

This is a digital download: no physical item will be shipped.

Price: $5.99 USD.