On Nov. 11, 2026, the Mother Road celebrates its 100th birthday. With more drivable miles of Route 66 than any other state, Oklahoma has been investing in the road and the businesses along it.
"You want to preserve as much as you can, but you also don't want things stuck in the past," said Rhys Martin, president of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association. "Because then once the people are gone that remember that, how are you going to connect with it if it wasn't a part of your life?"
Since 2024, Oklahoma has offered a Route 66 Revitalization Grant. Each year, the program offers $6.6 million in grants to municipalities and nonprofits that want to revamp their part of the road.
Martin says it's resulted in projects including the new visitor center at the Blue Whale of Catoosa, a park around the Rock Creek Bridge in Sapulpa and more.
Reporter Graycen Wheeler's mother, Christy, grew up along Route 66 in Wellston. To reflect on the past and ponder the future, Graycen took her mother on a trip down the Mother Road. She had some motherly advice.
"Everybody has some like ideal of that—whether it's really based in fact or not—but those warm, fuzzy feelings of the old days," Christy Wheeler said. "But you just have, you have to figure out how to carry that into the future with you."
You can hear about their trip above.