I hope you'll enjoy the fine art Route 66 pictures I've been making along the Mother Road since 1980, as well as Route 66 composites (which feature groups of those Route 66 photos.) A major goal of my site is to visually preserve the memory of Route 66 for future generations.

My first trip along Route 66 came in 1947, when as a youth I made my first trip west. I made photographs at that time which appear as small icons in the upper right part of the headings of some sections of my site. For historical reasons, a few of them may also appear in a book I'm producing on Route 66. My work reflects a melancholic response to the decaying remnants of that once grand route from Chicago to Santa Monica - it appears to me that even as they deteriorate, both the structures and roadways assert a defiant resistance to death. Nevertheless however, all things do die, and these photographs will provide an abiding tribute to Route 66’s contribution to our nation's heritage.

Although the “Route 66” emblem is now a memory, 85% of the original route can still be traveled: state, county and city corridors which were originally known as Route 66 continue to connect the hundreds of towns which dotted the Mother Road. Along that path remain many still-functioning (and mostly struggling) “Mom-and-Pop” motels, restaurants, service stations, mercantile stores, curio shops, etc. – all memorials to that quieter, friendlier, cozier time. If you decide to experience Route 66 first hand, numerous books and map sets can guide you across this wonderful ribbon to retrace history and experience a truly captivating era - of which my photographs can only hint. I hope you join in that experience.

Good luck in your travels!

Tom Ferderbar