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How did Route 66 impact migration during the Dust Bowl?
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Route 66
A final plan for the construction of Route 66 was approved in 1926, and it was built in segments, often discontinuous ones. Route 66 was not entirely paved until 1938. This map shows how the highway connected Chicago and Los Angeles through cities in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.
During the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, U.S. Highway 66 became a critical artery for migration. Dispossessed rural families, often referred to as "Okies," traveled westward on Route 66 in search of work and better living conditions. This exodus, famously chronicled in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, earned the highway the nickname "Mother Road". The severe drought and poor farming practices of the Dust Bowl devastated the Great Plains, forcing millions to abandon their homes and farms. Route 66 provided a direct path for these migrants, primarily heading towards California, significantly impacting the demographics and economies of the towns along its path.123