National Route 66 Museum

The National Route 66 Museum is actually a complex of several buildings, each covering a different aspect of life along the Mother Road and in western Oklahoma. The main Route 66 museum traces the highway's history from its designation in 1926 through its decommissioning in 1985, with vintage cars, road signs, diner furniture, and photographs that capture the highway's role in American migration, commerce, and popular culture.

The supporting museums are equally worthwhile: the Old Town Museum recreates a turn-of-the-century Oklahoma main street with period storefronts; the Farm and Ranch Museum covers the agricultural history of the region; the Transportation Museum has a collection of vintage vehicles; and the Blacksmithing Museum documents a trade that was central to pre-industrial frontier life. Together they give a rounded picture of what life in this part of Oklahoma looked like before and after the highway arrived. Allow 2-3 hours for the full complex.

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A story
The giant kachina figure outside the museum — 'Mammoth Mike,' as locals call him — was erected in 1990 as a roadside attraction to draw in passing motorists, a tradition that goes back to the earliest days of Route 66 when any town that could put up a large enough oddity stood a better chance of getting travellers to stop and spend money.

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