Our guide, Mike McMains, opened the trolly tour with a surprising truth: Route 66 didn’t originally begin in downtown Chicago. It started in Cicero, along the old SBI 4.

Route 66 travelers from all over the world make a pilgrimage to Seligman to see him. More often than not these days, they see a life-sized cardboard cutout of his likeness instead.

Illinois has invested millions over the last few years on Route 66 redevelopment and promotion, said Eric Wagner with the state tourism office. “Route 66 is huge for us,” he said.

The brightly lighted, flashing signs had become ubiquitous at the height of popularity for the highway in the 1950s and 1960s ...

If you don’t feel like taking the train or hiring a car, there are also tour operators such as Get Your Guide who offer a 15-hour Route 66 and Grand Canyon tour with lunch for £148.97.

Known as “The Mother Road,” Route 66 was established on Nov. 11, 1926, initially stretching over 2,400 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica.

Michael Wallis, a Route 66 author and historian, leads a tour of the historic highway for TCC international students and their local-student companions Friday in west Tulsa. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World ...