Route 66 Association of Oklahoma

Route 66 Association of Oklahoma
Name	Route 66 Association of Oklahoma
Type	Nonprofit
Founded	1989
Headquarters	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Mission	Preservation and promotion of U.S. Route 66 in Oklahoma

Route 66 Association of Oklahoma is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, promoting, and celebrating the historic U.S. Route 66 corridor across Oklahoma. The association engages with preservationists, municipal governments, federal agencies, heritage tourism groups, and cultural institutions to safeguard landmarks, document historic resources, and foster community-based economic development. It operates within a network of national and international Route 66 organizations, historic preservation bodies, transportation departments, and tourism bureaus.

History

The association was founded amid a late-20th-century revitalization movement that included stakeholders from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, National Park Service, Oklahoma Historical Society, Smithsonian Institution, and regional museums. Early founders included civic leaders connected to Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Clinton, Elk City, and Tahlequah who worked with consultants from University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University to document alignments, bridges, and neon signage. The group coordinated with federal programs like the Historic Preservation Fund and regional initiatives such as the Mid-America Regional Council to nominate properties for the National Register of Historic Places and to obtain grants from entities like the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities. Over decades the association partnered with transportation agencies including the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, and regional metropolitan planning organizations to influence signage policies, designations, and roadway maintenance programs. The association’s archives have been used by scholars from University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, Arizona State University, and University of California, Los Angeles studying roadside architecture, tourism history, and American mobility.

Mission and Activities

The association’s mission aligns with preservation standards advocated by the Secretary of the Interior and frameworks used by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for cultural heritage. Activities include documentation consistent with guidelines from the Historic American Buildings Survey and the Historic American Engineering Record, collaboration with the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, and advocacy in coordination with the American Association for State and Local History. The group produces inventories drawing on methodologies used by the Library of Congress and curates oral histories in partnership with institutions such as Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology and the University of Tulsa. It advises municipal planning commissions in places like Shamrock-adjacent communities and liaises with chambers of commerce including the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce and the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce.

Membership and Organization

Membership comprises volunteers, business owners, historians, preservationists, and municipal representatives from counties along the corridor such as Custer County, Beckham County, Roger Mills County, Caddo County, and Muskogee County. Governance follows nonprofit practices similar to boards of trustees at institutions like the National Trust for Historic Preservation and nonprofit guidance from Independent Sector. The association communicates with partners including the American Automobile Association, the National Scenic Byways Program, and the National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program while coordinating events with tourism bureaus such as Visit Tulsa and TravelOK. Volunteers include members affiliated with cultural institutions like the Gilcrease Museum, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, and the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.

Preservation and Restoration Projects

Projects have ranged from neon-sign restoration to stabilization of historic bridges and rehabilitation of motels and gas stations, undertaken in collaboration with engineering firms, the Federal Highway Administration, and preservation architects trained at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Notable technical partnerships have involved the Historic American Buildings Survey documentation, masonry conservation guided by specialists associated with the Getty Conservation Institute, and façade preservation modeled after projects at the Preservation Society of Newport County. Grants and matching funds have come from the National Trust Preservation Fund, the Oklahoma Main Street Center, and local community development corporations. Work on roadway segments has required consultation with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality and logistical coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency during extreme-weather events.

Education and Outreach

Educational initiatives include school programming aligned with curriculum developers at the Oklahoma State Department of Education, lecture series featuring historians from Rutgers University and University of Michigan, and walking tours hosted with local historical societies such as the Clinton Historical Society and the Elk City Museum. The association produces interpretive signage following guidance from the United States Forest Service interpretive planning, oral-history collections housed in repositories like the Oklahoma Historical Center, and digital exhibits informed by best practices from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. Workshops for business owners draw on marketing programs administered by the United States Small Business Administration and tourism training curated with the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department.

Events and Annual Programs

Annual programs include convoy escorts, heritage festivals, neon nights, and speaker series that partner with organizations such as the International Route 66 Festival, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Route 66 Associations in California, Route 66 Associations in Illinois, Route 66 Associations in Missouri, and Route 66 Associations in New Mexico. Events often coincide with municipal celebrations in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Clinton, Oklahoma, and Weatherford, Oklahoma, and they engage community groups like the Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of the USA. The association also coordinates commemoration events tied to transportation milestones recognized by the Federal Highway Administration and cultural anniversaries promoted by the Library of Congress.

Notable Landmarks and Partnerships

The association has worked to preserve landmarks including the Lucille’s Historic Gas Station, motels reminiscent of the Blue Swallow Motel model, neon signs similar to those preserved at the U-Drop Inn, and service stations whose forms are cataloged alongside examples in the Historic American Engineering Record. Partnerships extend to museums and heritage centers like the Route 66 Museum (Clinton, Oklahoma), the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum, the National Route 66 Museum (Elk City), and cultural institutions such as the Philbrook Museum of Art and the Gilcrease Museum. Collaborative preservation initiatives have included alliances with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, state agencies like the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, and international Route 66 groups active in Japan, Germany, and Australia.

Category:Historic preservation organizations in the United States Category:Organizations based in Oklahoma