Route 66 has a 100-year legacy of American road trips and expansion, but the Mother Road had its problems too
Imperfect Paradise
LAist Studios
4.5 • 535 Ratings
🗓️ 6 March 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As Route 66 celebrates its centennial anniversary, we look back at its enduring impact as an iconic road that stretched from Illinois to California — and some of its darker past. It wasn’t just a mode of transportation for family road trips. The historic route was also a primary path for Black Americans to escape the South during the Jim Crow era, all while navigating around sundown towns. L.A. Explained Reporter Cato Hernandez joins Imperfect Paradise to discuss the significance of Route 66, its influence on California and its effect on Black migration to the West.
Read more of Cato’s reporting at LAist.com.
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Transcript
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| 0:33.9 | This is in Perfect Paradise. |
| 0:35.5 | I'm your host, Nereida Moreno. |
| 0:39.4 | This year marks the centennial anniversary of one of America's most iconic roads, Route 66. |
| 0:45.5 | Dubbed the Mother Road by author John Steinbeck, nicknamed the Main Street of America. |
| 0:55.1 | It's synonymous with Americana. of America. Get your kicks on Route 66. |
| 1:02.3 | It's synonymous with Americana, the road trip, driving west with the sun in your face. |
| 1:08.0 | It's memorialized in what become this famous road anthem first sung by Nat King Cole. |
| 1:24.5 | The historic route was a primary path that extended from the American Midwest to the Pacific Ocean. |
| 1:27.9 | Its original build stretched from Illinois to California. |
| 1:32.5 | The Roots fame is also documented in ads from the past. |
| 1:39.6 | This is the Route, 66 heading west. Tonight, Chevrolet takes you to the Western frontier. |
| 1:44.7 | Cruise the nation's biggest stretch of Route 66 in Oklahoma. |
| 1:48.8 | To contemporary films like cars. |
| 1:51.2 | Stop it flows V8 Cathay. |
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