#539 Santa Ana, California, USA

U.S. Route 66 (US 66) is a former US Highway in the U.S. state of California. It was truncated during the 1964 renumbering and its signage removed in 1974.

U.S. Route 66 was assigned by the American Association of State Highway Officials in late 1926 and signed in 1928 by the Automobile Club of Southern California; however historic US 66 shields and even present day US 66 shields remain.

US 66 continued to be signed east of Pasadena until 1974, when it was removed, and the remaining separate section became State Route 66.

In 1977, Hotel California (song) alluded to Route 66 in its opening lines, "On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair, Warm smell of colitas rising up through the air, Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light, My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim, I had to stop for the night". According to Eagles guitarist Don Felder, "Everybody had driven into Los Angeles on what used to be Route 66. And as you drive in through the desert at night, you can see the glow of Los Angeles from a hundred miles away. The closer and closer you get, you start seeing all of these images, and these things pounded into our heads: the stars on Hollywood Boulevard, movie stars, palm trees, beaches and girls in bikinis."

Nationally, Route 66 has been a decommissioned highway since 1985, with the last section through Williams, Arizona bypassed by Interstate 40 in 1984. The first efforts to return the route to maps as "Historic Route 66" date to 1987 and Angel Delgadillo's Arizona Historic Route 66 Association. This initiative was soon followed in all eight US Route 66 states, including California.

The California Historic Route 66 Association, established in December 1990 to advocate the preservation, restoration and promotion of historic Route 66 in California, is the youngest of the eight state-level Route 66 Associations.

Wikipedia.org

Date of Issue: August 19, 2011 - Send-a-Hello

Date of Issue: February 14, 2014 - Winter Flowers

Date of Issue: February 12, 2014 - Abraham Lincoln

Thank you, Kimberly !

Sent on: March 10, 2014

Received on: March 17, 2014

#119 Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA

On the Stamp: With this Arizona Statehood (Forever®) stamp, the U.S. Postal Service commemorates the 100th anniversary of one of America's last frontiers. Arizona became the 48th state in the Union on February 14, 1912. The Grand Canyon State is home to 21 Native American tribes with ancient connections to a land known for its stunning beauty and abundant natural resources.

The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the U.S. - Mexican War, resulted in the United States acquiring most of the land that makes up present-day Arizona. Although Congress made Arizona a U.S. territory in 1863, achieving statehood would take nearly 50 years. Mineral riches and large federal irrigation projects helped transform the desert region into something closer to an economic oasis. Today, more than six million people live in Arizona. Phoenix, the state capital, is the largest city with approximately 1.5 million residents, followed by Tucson, which has a population of more than a half-million residents. Approximately one quarter of the state is set aside for Indian reservations, including the Navajo Reservation, the largest in the United States. Hispanics, part of the region's ethnic makeup since the 17th century, currently comprise 30 percent of the state's population.
Issue Date: February 14, 2012

Thank you, Meeli and Katrina !

Sent on: August 8, 2012

Received on: August 14, 2012

#110 Peach Springs, Arizona, USA

U.S. Route 66 in Arizona covered 401 miles (645 km) between Needles, California and the New Mexico border as part of the historic U.S. Route 66 from Santa Monica to Chicago. The highway was decommissioned in 1985 although portions remain as Arizona State Route 66.

In 1914 the road was designated "National Old Trails Highway"; in 1926 it was re-designated as U.S. Route 66. One section just outside Oatman, Arizona (through the Black Mountains) was fraught with hairpin turns and was the steepest along the entire route, so much so that some early travellers, too frightened at the prospect of driving such a potentially dangerous road, hired locals to navigate the winding grade. The section remained as Route 66 until 1953, and is still open to traffic today as the Oatman Highway.

On October 13, 1984, Williams, Arizona was the last point on U.S. Route 66 to be bypassed by an Interstate highway. US 66 was dropped from the US Highway system in 1985; parts of the highway were either absorbed into I-40, turned over to the state (SR 66), or turned over to Yavapai County.

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Wikipedia.org

What is really interesting is that this card came from Arizona through Nevada to California. Like the other Arizona card as well.

Aitäh, Meeli !

Sent on: August 7, 2012

Received on: August 11, 2012

#109 Peach Springs, Arizona, USA

U.S. Route 66 (US 66 or Route 66), also known as the Will Rogers Highway and colloquially known as the Main Street of America or the Mother Road, was a highway within the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. Highways, Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926—with road signs erected the following year. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in America, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, before ending at Los Angeles, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km). It was recognized in popular culture by both a hit song and the Route 66 television show in the 1960s.

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Wikipedia.org

Aitäh, Katrina !

Sent on: August 7, 2012

Received on: August 11, 2012