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The story of America is the story of Route 66, and the story of Route 66 cannot be told without its Capital: Tulsa, Oklahoma, made official on July 1, 2024.
Tulsa’s claim as The Capital of Route 66® is as foundational to the road as the road itself is to the country. Cyrus Avery, known as “The Father of Route 66,” was a Tulsan at the time he helped chart the highway’s iconic southwest path — and today, he’s laid to rest in the very city he helped put on the map. For years, Tulsa’s 11th Street Bridge, opened in 1916, was the safest place travelers could cross the Arkansas River without a ferry, and from those beginnings, the eventual 28 miles of America’s Main Street within Tulsa’s city limits flourished.
Whether travelers come from the east or west, they are greeted by Gateway Arches at either entrance to the city. More than 70 vintage neon signs — restored/installed in part thanks to a grant from the City of Tulsa’s Route 66 Commission — line the length of the road and harken back to the days when Route 66 was the main thoroughfare through much of the country.
Tulsa’s stretch of Route 66 marries the nostalgia with the forward-thinking spirit encompassing the heart of the city. A tribute to Avery and his role in the route’s creation is found at “East Meets West,” Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza, where statues illustrating the changing travel technologies of the time sit not two miles from a wonder of modern engineering and architecture, Gathering Place, a two-time USA Today Best City Park.
Two miles to the east, travelers are greeted by a Tulsa skyline icon: The Meadow Gold sign. The 30-foot-by-30-foot neon behemoth stands as welcome to the Meadow Gold District, one of the most recognizable stretches of Route 66 in the United States.
Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curios is a quirky, only-in-Tulsa gift shop marked by Buck Atom, a 20-foot-tall “Muffler Man” space cowboy who quickly became one of Tulsa’s most beloved landmarks. In 2024, he was joined by Stella Atom and Meadow Gold Mack, with plans for more giants on the way.
Continuing east, travelers will enter the Market District, home to innovative, entrepreneurial businesses and Route 66-themed attractions, all anchored by a first-of-its-kind standout: Mother Road Market, the first and only nonprofit food hall in Oklahoma. Leaning into its name and heritage, Mother Road Market features a newly renovated Route 66-themed miniature golf course as well as a food startup and business incubator space called Kitchen 66 “dedicated to decreasing barriers to success for food entrepreneurs in Tulsa.”
Eight different districts in all make up Tulsa’s 28 miles of Route 66, with each featuring something distinctly and uniquely Tulsa. From arts, to shopping, to attractions, to history and much more, Tulsa’s stretch of the Mother Road is as integral to the city’s identity as the Route is to the nation. Tulsa’s story is America’s story; one best told in The Capital of Route 66®.
