Along 66, Jan. 2021: Oklahoma Rt. 66 Bicycle Route and the Alberta's Hotel in Springfield, Mo.

JANUARY 24

Lawmakers seek to designate Oklahoma Route 66 as a U.S. Bicycle Route.

This was introduced by State Representative John Talley (R-Stillwater)

The state has 375 miles of Route 66.  The U.S. Bicycle Route System is developing a national network of bicycle routes.

I know we have a long stretch of the old 66 turned into a bicycle path around Bloomington-Normal in Illinois.  Wouldn't that be great to have the whole route turned into a bicycle road.

JANUARY 25

The remarkable story of Alberta's Hotel in Springfield, Missouri.

This facility catered to Blacks in those days they were essentially not welcome on the Mother Road during the Jim Crow era.

The hotel was listed in the Green Book.  Both the hotel and the Green Book disappeared in the 1960s.

Alberta's Hotel was a former hospital  that was bought for $10,000 and made into a rooming house in what was a thriving black business district in Springfield.

--RoadDog