Is route 6 the longest road in America?

While the route retained the U.S. 395 designation between Bishop and Brown, the former segment of U.S. 6 beyond Brown became State Route 14. After the 1963 change in California, U.S. 6 became the second longest highway in the country (3,227 miles). The longest was and remains U.S. 20 (3,345 miles).



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Named US Route 6, the road stretched from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to Long Beach, California. It became one of America's first transcontinental highways. Today the road remains one of the longest highways in the nation.

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Route 66's popularity led to its downfall, with traffic swelling beyond its two-lane capacity. In 1956, legislation created the Interstate System, and over the course of three decades, five separate interstates bypassed segment after segment of Route 66.

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Major William L. Anderson, Jr., of the U.S. Army conceived the idea of designating U.S. 6 the Grand Army of the Republic Highway to honor the Union forces during the Civil War. Based on his recommendation, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War began promoting the idea in April 1934.

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Route 66 became a popular route because of the active promotion of the U.S 66 Highway Association, which advertised it as “the shortest, best and most scenic route from Chicago through St. Louis to Los Angeles.”

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In July 1986, Life magazine published an article that gave US 50 in Nevada the name The Loneliest Road in America. The article portrayed the highway, and rural Nevada, as a place devoid of civilization.

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Portions of the road have now been designated as National Scenic Byways or as “Historic Route 66” in several states including Arizona, New Mexico, Illinois, and Missouri.

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Migration and tourism shaped towns along Route 66 even before the road was officially established in 1926. But the Interstate Highway System decimated many of these communities when it circumvented Route 66 in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Today, many sections of Route 66 are completely gone.

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