As you might know, Route 66 is the iconic road that took folks from Chicago to LA back in the day.
It’s now defunct (broken up into 3-4 new highways) but still immortalized in songs, movies and printed on silly T-shirts. In our world, nothing screams "Road Trip!" like putting the top down and rolling down the old dirt roads that have 66 signs plastered across them.
Victorville is a unique desert town that has a nice chunk of old Route 66 still “active,” meaning they have a bunch of old school diners, gas stations and shops that are still repping the highway’s namesake pretty hard. Amongst all of the numeric clutter is this charming museum, a blessed sanctuary to all things related to 66– The Route 66 Museum.
The museum is simple in concept: a 4500 sq. ft. storefront that houses a collection of signs, memorabilia, maps, stories and photos of the beloved road, mostly from the 1950 and 60s.
It's crammed with all kinds of random junk, and feels a bit like exploring your grandparents basement, sans the pennywhistles and moonpies.
Much to my amazement, there's also some pretty unique stuff here: a car with googly eyes (Pixar, I smell a lawsuit), a Route 66 branded outhouse and lots of vintage statues.
Everything kinda gave me that warm California feeling, which makes sense since we're in California and all.
Life is truly a highway.
HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN?
Good ol Route 66.
At its peak popularity in 1995 (who knew there was a popularity peak, but thus says so on the museum's website) a bunch of locals from Victorville decided to convert an old bank building into a contemporary exhibit hall in order to preserve the highway's spirit. With a generous donation from the California Historic Route 66 Association, building the museum and collecting/buying merchandise began immediately.
Finally opening on November 11, 1995, thousands would show up to bask in the warm glow of nostalgia, rusty roadside attractions and aluminum signs. Nowadays, the local volunteers of Victorville keep the place alive and populated for highway junkies, like me, to enjoy.
