Old Route 66 Scenes!
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Image Details
- Source:
- The Newberry Library
- Collection:
- James R. Powell Route 66 Postcard Collection
- Date:
- 1990s
- Region:
- California
- Description:
- Postcard illustration of a bridge crossing the Colorado River and an inset map showing the region around Needles, CA. The postcard artist tells the history of the bridge as well as Route 66. Route 66 crossed the Colorado River on this graceful bridge, built in 1916, & the first to carry auto traffic over the river in the area. The bridge - painted white - now carries a gas pipeline. There is a parking area at the foot of the bridge, on the Arizona side, which affords a close look. The Colorado River Basin, like an emerald strand, winds through the desert, between low, jagged ranges, are home to dense, lush thickets of willows, tamarisks, cottonwoods, & reeds, providing a valuable habitat for many species. The Colorado River is an important migratory flyway for two great deserts """"interface"""" here: the Sonoran & the Mohave. The """"Needles,"""" viewed from Topock, Arizona (Alt. 510 ft.) - facing South, across a bend in the Colorado River, this cluster of volcanic spires represents magma that cooled & hardened in the conduits of now-eroded volcanoes. Long an important landmark, for indigenous peoples, & more recent surveyors & travellers. Needles, California was named for this jagged range. The 1940 film """"The Grapes of Wrath"""" shows autos crossing this bridge, with the needles looming on the Horizon. This is a low, hot desert range, within the Basin & Range Province, which encompasses much of the arid southwestern U.S. & most of Mexico. Back of card: Route 66 was certified in 1926 when the nation adopted a numbered system of cross-country, inter-state roads. Fully paved by 1936, Route 66 became an important - & legendary - highway, """"immortalized"""" in literature, music, & on television. Gradually """"replaced"""" by huge, homogeneous """"interstates,"""" 66 was decertified in 1985, ceasing to exist """"officially."""" But well over 80% of the old road is still driveable - so, travel back in time, & leave the stress behind - on the interstates?and then, you tool will say: """"I still get my kicks, on old route 66!"""" Small is beautiful - old is beautiful - slow is beautiful - safe is beautiful! Publisher: R. Waldmire, Rochester IL Place: California; California--No Specific Location Subjects: Artists; Maps; Roads; Signatures (Writing); United States Highway 66
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- License:
- No known copyright restrictions
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