I've just finished a road trip on Route 66 from Ludlow, California to Tulsa, Oklahoma and will start the regular postings soon. The civility papers--for my 16 week classes--will be graded beginning next week. We will also start discussing the next paper assignment--the one on Plutarch's Lives--after the next round of quizzes are over.
The development and demise of Route 66 provides an interesting case study of the impact of technology on the relationship between the national and state and local governments. It evolved slowly after each separate state and city along the route developed independent roads in response to the increase popularity of automobiles. Eventually policy entrepreneurs, Cyrus Avery among others, began to organize in order to connect these roads so that people could more easily travel west.
Technology at this point advantaged smaller towns which were able to provide services to travellers, but additional technological developments, in addition to Eisenhower's push to develop an interstate highway system, allowed these towns to be bypassed. Route 66's development evolved because the federal government was able to facilitate a cooperative relationship between the states. Its demise occurred because the federal government was able to impose itself on the states.
What remains is a fascinating time capsule of life as lived in the 30s, 40s, and 50s.
