Congresswoman Heather Wilson, First Congressional District of New Mexico
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| Canceling the Route 66 Celebration? |
January 29, 2001 |
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ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO – Congresswoman Heather Wilson joined state and city officials today to announce statewide Diamond Jubilee Celebrations all along New Mexico’s portion of the “Mother Road.” She also announced that her office is working on selection of a design for a Route 66 postage pictorial cancellation.
“I’m looking forward to working with the community on the design of this postage cancellation to commemorate the rich history of our Route 66,” said Wilson at today’s press conference. “The 75th anniversary celebration of Rt. 66 will be a great celebration, and you’ll be able to send a postcard to your Uncle in California with a neat little cancellation honoring what John Steinbeck called the Mother Road.”
Pictorial cancellations, according to the United States Postal Service, are postmarks offered by the Postal Service to commemorate local community events. Last year, Wilson requested a pictorial cancellation to honor the Route 66 75th Anniversary celebration.
Last year, Congresswoman Wilson authored legislation, which is now law, that authorized the Interior Secretary to establish cultural resource programs through the National Park Service to preserve the Route 66 corridor. The bill directs the secretary to coordinate the preservation efforts with state, local, tribal and private institutions in preserving the highway and insuring highway safety and maintenance standards. The measure authorizes $10 million for FY 2000-2009 to allow the secretary to provide grants and technical assistance to carry out preservation efforts.
Route 66 was originally designed to connect the main streets of small towns across the Western United States. Access to the larger cities of Chicago and Los Angeles was gained and provided a continuously paved surface for automobiles and trucks. The completion of the paving in 1938 allowed the route to be used for the massive war mobilization in World War II and the unprecedented migration of Americans to the West Coast. Author John Steinbeck referred to Route 66 as the “Mother Road.”
By the 1970`s, much of the original Route 66 was replaced by modern stretches of interstate freeways. In 1985 U.S. Route 66 was officially decommissioned. |
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