Bethany sits on a particularly intact stretch of Historic Route 66, which runs through town along the 39th Expressway. The road's heyday lasted from the early 1930s into the 1960s, and the alignment retains a clearly readable streetscape from that period — modest brick storefronts, a former Mobil filling station, signs in mid-century neon, and a couple of motel survivors.
The most photographed spot is the 1933 Lake Overholser Bridge just west of town: a 700-metre Pratt-truss bridge of riveted steel that carried Route 66 over the North Canadian River. Pedestrian-only now, the bridge is one of the most evocative pieces of original Route 66 infrastructure in Oklahoma. A few short-distance Mother Road businesses (Hudson's Auto Service, Owl Court motel ruins) are scattered along the strip. Drive slowly.