National Parks Travel Guide
The most populous city in the United States, described as the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world, significantly influencing commerce, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, fashion, and sports, and is the most photographed city in the world
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Industrial Revolution Historic Sites
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Maine MILL
Lewiston
Interactive exhibits, historic machinery, oral histories, and cultural artifacts preserve the stories of workers, innovation, manufacturing, and community life across Maine's industrial heritage.
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Manchester Historic Association's Millyard Museum
Manchester
A museum housed in a former textile mill that chronicles the rise of one of the world's largest manufacturing centers through artifacts, interactive exhibits, and stories of the people who built an industrial city.
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Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park
Woonsocket
A network of historic mills, canal systems, worker communities, and cultural landscapes that interprets the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution.
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Springfield Armory National Historic Site
Springfield
Historic museum preserving one of the world's largest collections of military firearms, industrial artifacts, and exhibits interpreting the technological innovations that transformed American manufacturing.
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Metropolitan Waterworks Museum
Chestnut Hill
Historic pumping station museum showcasing 19th-century steam engines and the evolution of Boston’s water infrastructure.
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Sandwich Glass Museum
Sandwich
Glass museum featuring a wide range of rare glass, including glass from the local Boston & Sandwich Glass Factory
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Lowell National Historical Park
Lowell
Comprises a group of different sites in and around the city of Lowell related to the era of textile manufacturing in the city during the Industrial Revolution
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Boott Cotton Mills Museum
Lowell
Interactive exhibits, operating historic textile machinery, and preserved factory spaces showcase the people, technology, and industries that helped launch the American Industrial Revolution.
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Lawrence Heritage State Park
Lawrence
Interactive exhibits, restored industrial-era structures, and riverfront landscapes interpret the history of a planned manufacturing city and the immigrant communities that shaped its growth.
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Old New Gate Prison and Copper Mine
East Granby
Historic prison and copper mine complex featuring underground tunnels, reconstructed colonial prison buildings, archaeological exhibits, and immersive tours exploring early American criminal justice and industrial history.
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Collins Company Axe Factory
Collinsville
A preserved nineteenth-century industrial complex that illustrates the rise of American tool manufacturing and the company-built village that grew around a world-famous edge-tool producer.
Cheney Brothers Historic District
Manchester
Former silk mill complex, worker housing, civic buildings, and estates that together preserve the legacy of one of America's most influential nineteenth-century textile enterprises.
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New York Transit Museum
Brooklyn
Museum displaying historical artifacts of the New York City Subway, bus, and commuter rail systems in the greater New York City metropolitan region
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Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor
Waterford
A network of historic waterways, trails, locks, canal towns, and cultural landmarks preserving the transportation corridor that transformed commerce, migration, and industry across New York and the United States.
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West Point Foundry Preserve
Cold Spring
An outdoor industrial archaeology site featuring preserved ironworks ruins, interpretive exhibits, scenic trails, and restored natural habitats that reveal the history of a major nineteenth-century manufacturing complex.
Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park
Paterson
One of the United States' largest waterfalls, it played a significant role in the early industrial development of New Jersey starting in the earliest days of the nation
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Thomas Edison National Historical Park
West Orange
Historic site preserving the inventor’s original laboratories, estate, and artifacts from a lifetime of innovation.
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National Museum of Industrial History
Bethlehem
Museum featuring dynamic exhibits and rare artifacts that explore the evolution of American industry through stories of innovation, labor, and technology.
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Anthracite Heritage Museum
Scranton
Cultural museum preserving the history of coal mining, immigrant labor, and industrial life in northeastern Pennsylvania.
Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour
Scranton
Guided underground tour through a historic anthracite coal mine offering firsthand insight into 19th-century mining life.
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Electric City Trolley Museum
Scranton
Interactive museum showcasing vintage trolleys, railway artifacts, and offering seasonal excursions through historic rail lines.
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Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor
Easton
National Heritage Area preserving historic canals, railroads, industrial landscapes, recreational trails, and cultural resources that tell the story of America's Industrial Revolution.
Delaware Canal State Park
New Hope
Linear park featuring a historic 60-mile towpath, canal locks, and scenic trails ideal for hiking, biking, and wildlife observation.
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Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites
Bethlehem
Organization preserving historic buildings, museums, and cultural collections that interpret centuries of community development, craftsmanship, industry, and heritage.
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Fairmount Water Works
Philadelphia
Municipal waterworks nown for its architecture and its engineering innovations, it now houses a restaurant and an interpretive center that explains the waterworks' purpose and local watershed history
Duquesne Incline
Pittsburgh
Historic funicular railway offering scenic rides up Mount Washington with panoramic views of Pittsburgh.
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Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
Strasburg
Museum preserving and interpreting railroad history through historic locomotives, railcars, artifacts, and exhibits that showcase the impact of rail transportation on American life and industry.
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Senator John Heinz History Center
Pittsburgh
History museum featuring immersive exhibits, artifacts, archives, and educational programs that explore regional innovation, industry, sports, culture, and community heritage.
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Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum
Allentown
Interactive regional history museum featuring permanent and rotating exhibits on local culture, industry, and immigration with a vast archival collection.
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Haines Mill Museum
Allentown
Historic grist mill museum offering seasonal tours and demonstrations of 19th-century milling technology along Cedar Creek.
Strip District
Pittsburgh
Historic estate featuring a Victorian mansion, art museum, vintage car collection, greenhouse, café, and landscaped gardens.
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Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site
Elverson
Family theme park founded in 1906 as a leisure park for the employees of the Hershey Chocolate Company containing 76 rides and attractions, as well as a zoo
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SteelStacks
Bethlehem
Ten-acre arts and cultural campus featuring music venues, art installations, and community events set against the backdrop of historic blast furnaces.
Scranton Iron Furnaces
Scranton
Historic industrial site preserving four massive stone blast furnaces that once powered America’s iron and steel production in the 19th century.
Steamtown National Historic Site
Scranton
Extensive museum and rail yard complex featuring historic steam locomotives, interactive exhibits, and seasonal train excursions.
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Hagley Museum
Wilmington
Historic industrial site and ancestral home featuring 19th-century mills, gardens, and exhibits on early American innovation and the DuPont legacy.
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Brandywine Valley Industrial Sites
Wilmington
Historially a major fishing town where today people come for fishing, swimming, birdwatching, kayaking, sailing, and the beaches along the Delaware Bay
Baltimore Museum of Industry
Baltimore
Interactive museum featuring hands-on exhibits, working artifacts, and immersive displays that explore the evolution of industry and labor through time.
B and O Railroad Museum
Baltimore
Railroad heritage museum featuring historic locomotives, train rides, and exhibits chronicling the evolution of American railroading.
Baltimore Phoenix Shot Tower
Baltimore
Historic brick tower once used to manufacture lead shot by dropping molten metal from a great height into water.
Monocacy Aqueduct
Dickerson
Stone masonry canal aqueduct spanning the Monocacy River, showcasing 19th-century engineering along a scenic towpath.
Public Works Experience
Baltimore
civic learning center featuring hands‑on exhibits that explain how water, waste, and transportation systems operate and support daily urban life.
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
Williamsport
Historic canal corridor offering hiking, biking, boating, and interpretive experiences along a preserved 19th-century towpath.
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Lonaconing Iron Furnace
Lonaconing
A massive restored blast furnace and surrounding park preserve an important chapter in early American iron production and industrial innovation.
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Richmond Main Street Station
Richmond
Grand Beaux-Arts transportation hub featuring a soaring clock tower, restored concourse, and active rail platforms integrated into a historic urban landmark.
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American Civil War Museum
Richmond
Comprehensive history museum interpreting the causes, course, and consequences of the American Civil War through immersive exhibits, original artifacts, and multiple perspectives.
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Richmond Canal Walk
Richmond
Scenic waterfront promenade following a historic canal corridor with pedestrian paths, public art, river views, and access to downtown landmarks.
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Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine
Beckley
Historic coal mining site offering underground tours, museum exhibits, and educational programs on Appalachian mining heritage.
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J. Q. Dickinson Salt Works
Malden
Family-owned artisanal salt producer offering tours, tastings, and educational experiences centered on traditional brine evaporation methods.
Kaymoor Miners Trail
Fayetteville
Steep and strenuous trail descending historic mine routes to the river with long staircases, rugged terrain, and sweeping gorge views.
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Glade Creek Grist Mill
Clifftop
Fully functional grist mill replica of the original Cooper's Mill, which once stood on the grounds
Harpers Ferry
Harpers Ferry
Historic town district featuring preserved nineteenth-century streets, museums, exhibits, river views, and significant landmarks associated with American industry, abolition, and the Civil War.
Historic Yates Mill County Park
Raleigh
Restored 18th-century gristmill surrounded by a 174-acre nature park with trails, a pond, and educational exhibits.
Wilmington Railroad Museum
Wilmington
Historic train depot museum featuring model railroads, restored locomotives, and exhibits on regional rail history and engineering.
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Mingus Mill
Cherokee
Historic water-powered gristmill dating to 1886 that demonstrates traditional corn-grinding methods using a turbine-driven milling system.
Duke Homestead
Durham
A preserved farm, tobacco factory, and museum complex that interprets the origins of a family enterprise that helped shape the American tobacco industry and the development of modern Durham.
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Old Salem Museums and Gardens
Winston-Salem
Living history museum complex featuring restored buildings, costumed interpreters, decorative arts collections, and heirloom gardens that explore early Southern life and culture.
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Columbia Canal and Riverfront Park
Columbia
Scenic urban park featuring a historic canal, riverside trails, and green spaces ideal for walking, jogging, and community events.
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Graniteville Mill Area
Graniteville
A remarkably preserved nineteenth-century mill village featuring historic worker housing, industrial architecture, churches, canals, and community buildings that illustrate the early industrialization of the American South.
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Roswell Mill Waterfall
Roswell
Historic mill site featuring a scenic man-made waterfall, covered bridge, and wooded trails along Vickery Creek in a popular urban park setting.
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Lee and Gordons Mills
Chickamauga
Historic gristmill and event venue featuring restored 19th-century architecture, a veterans museum, and scenic grounds along a creek.
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Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking
Atlanta
Specialized museum showcasing the history, science, and art of papermaking through rare artifacts, tools, and rotating exhibitions.
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Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History
Kennesaw
Smithsonian-affiliated museum featuring Civil War-era locomotives, railroad artifacts, and interactive exhibits exploring the strategic role of railroads in American history.
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Southeastern Railway Museum
Duluth
Expansive transportation museum featuring historic trains, buses, and railroad memorabilia across a 35-acre site with interactive exhibits and train rides.
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Augusta Canal National Heritage Area
Augusta
A historic canal system, trails, and riverfront landscapes preserve a pioneering water-powered industrial corridor that helped drive textile manufacturing, transportation, and economic growth in the American South.
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National Museum of the Great Lakes
Toledo
Interactive maritime museum featuring historic ships, immersive exhibits, and artifacts that chronicle the rich history of the Great Lakes.
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Carillon Historical Park
Dayton
Expansive heritage site featuring historic buildings, transportation exhibits, and interactive displays that chronicle the region’s role in American innovation.
Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad
Peninsula
Vintage railcars offering scenic excursions through forested landscapes, historic towns, and river valleys with seasonal programs and themed rides.
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Americas Packard Museum
Dayton
Vintage automobile museum featuring a curated collection of restored Packard vehicles, historical artifacts, and period-specific automotive memorabilia.
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Crawford Auto Aviation Museum
Cleveland
Extensive collection of vintage automobiles, aircraft, and transportation artifacts that trace the evolution of mobility and innovation in American history.
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Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor
Youngstown
Museum exhibits, artifacts, photographs, and life-sized industrial scenes preserve the history of steelmaking and the workers whose labor shaped one of America's most important manufacturing regions.
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Ohio and Erie Canalway Heritage Area
Akron
A nationally designated heritage corridor of historic canals, towpaths, river valleys, industrial landmarks, museums, and communities that preserves the transportation network that helped fuel America's westward expansion and industrial growth.
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Ford Piquette Avenue Plant Museum
Detroit
Birthplace of the Model T and one of the most important automotive heritage sites in the world, preserving the dawn of modern mass production.
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Greenfield Village
Dearborn
Living‑history museum where historic buildings, working farms, costumed interpreters, and hands‑on experiences bring American innovation to life.
Keweenaw National Historical Park
Calumet
Park celebrates the life and history of the Keweenaw Peninsula and its copper mining heritage in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
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Delaware Mine
Mohawk
Mine provides tours of one of the oldest copper mines in the Keweenaw, dating back to 1847
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Calumet
Calumet
Village in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, that was once at the center of the mining industry, sitting on 2,000 miles of underground mine shafts, drifts and stopes, empty for many decades
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Automotive Hall of Fame
Dearborn
Museum dedicated to honoring innovators, designers, and leaders who shaped the global automotive industry through invention, engineering, and enterprise.
R. E. Olds Transportation Museum
Lansing
Transportation museum showcasing classic automobiles, historic buses, engines, and interactive exhibits celebrating automotive innovation and manufacturing history.
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Michigan Central
Detroit
Legendary former train station reborn as a global mobility and innovation hub, symbolizing Detroit’s resurgence and adaptive reuse.
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Detroit Historical Museum
Detroit
Interactive history museum bringing Detroit’s people, industries, and neighborhoods to life through immersive exhibits and hands‑on experiences.
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Ford Rouge Factory Tour
Dearborn
Immersive factory experience showcasing modern automotive manufacturing at the historic Rouge complex, where vehicles are still built today.
The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation
Dearborn
Smithsonian‑affiliated museum exploring America’s ideas, inventions, and innovations through immersive exhibits and iconic artifacts.
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Illinois Iron Furnace National Historic Site
Elizabethtown
Stone blast furnace ruins preserved as a monument to early industrial iron production with surrounding picnic grounds and interpretive displays.
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Caterpillar Visitors Center
Peoria
Interactive museum and exhibit space showcasing heavy machinery, engineering innovation, and the legacy of a global manufacturing leader.
Chicago Board of Trade Building
Chicago
44-story, 604-foot Art Deco skyscraper standing at the foot of the LaSalle Street canyon
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Dearborn Station
Chicago
Romanesque Revival intercity train station serving downtown Chicago, now a shopping mall housing office, retail, and entertainment spaces
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Illinois Railway Museum
Union
Expansive outdoor and indoor museum featuring historic locomotives, railcars, and interactive exhibits that bring the story of American railroading to life.
Pullman National Historical Park
Chicago
The first model, planned industrial community in the United States
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Illinois & Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor
Lockport
A historic waterway corridor featuring canal locks, towpaths, preserved towns, museums, and natural landscapes that showcase the transportation route that helped transform the Midwest and establish Chicago as a major commercial center.
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Mill Ruins Park
Minneapolis
Park in downtown Minneapolis, standing on the west side of Saint Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River, interprets the history of flour milling in Minneapolis and shows the ruins of several flour mills that were abandoned
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Stone Arch Bridge
Minneapolis
Former railroad bridge crossing the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in downtown Minneapolis is now used as a pedestrian and bicycle bridge
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Lake Superior Railroad Museum
Duluth
Railroad museum focusing on railroading in the Lake Superior region and operates the North Shore Scenic Railroad, which runs excursion trains using historic rail equipment from the museum collection
Two Harbors
Two Harbors
City along the shore of Lake Superior is the gateway city to the North Shore of Minnesota
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Mill City Museum
Minneapolis
Interactive exhibits, historic flour mill ruins, and multimedia experiences bring to life the industry that transformed Minneapolis into the flour milling capital of the world.
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Harley-Davidson Museum
Milwaukee
Museum containing more than 450 Harley-Davidson motorcycles and hundreds of thousands of artifacts from the Harley-Davidson Motor Company's 118-year history
Grohmann Museum
Milwaukee
Art museum housing the world’s most comprehensive collection devoted to the evolution of human labor, spanning more than four centuries of European and American artwork.
Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery
Milwaukee
Restored 19th‑century brewery complex featuring historic taverns, event halls, guided heritage tours, and immersive exhibits celebrating America’s once‑largest brewing empire.
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Old World Wisconsin
Eagle
Attraction featuring a complex of architecturally distinct rooms, streets, gardens, and shops designed by Alex Jordan Jr.
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Missouri Mines State Historic Site
Park Hills
Museum exhibits, historic mining structures, and preserved industrial landscapes interpret the rich lead-mining heritage that helped shape the region's economy and development.
National Museum of Transportation
St. Louis
Expansive open-air and indoor museum displaying historic trains, automobiles, aircraft, and transit vehicles that trace the evolution of human movement.
Anheuser-Busch Brewery
St. Louis
Historic brewery offering guided tours, beer-making exhibits, Clydesdale horse stables, tasting experiences, and large-scale brewing operations.
Bollinger Mill State Historic Site
Burfordville
Massive water-powered milling machinery, preserved industrial buildings, and a covered bridge showcase nineteenth-century ingenuity and the agricultural heritage of the Mississippi River region.
Dillard Mill State Historic Site
Dillard
Fully restored nineteenth-century water-powered gristmill and surrounding historic structures demonstrate traditional milling practices along a spring-fed Ozark stream.
Eads Bridge
St. Louis
A landmark steel arch bridge carrying road, rail, and pedestrian traffic while showcasing one of the greatest engineering achievements of the nineteenth century.
Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park
McCalla
Expansive historical park preserving 19th-century iron-making ruins, offering hiking trails, camping, museums, and seasonal cultural events across 1,500 wooded acres.
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Alabama Iron and Steel Museum
McCalla
Industrial heritage museum showcasing 19th-century iron-making technology, artifacts, and exhibits within a preserved historic park setting.
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Red Mountain Park
Birmingham
Expansive urban forest offering hiking trails, historic mining sites, scenic overlooks, and a dedicated off-leash dog park across 1,500 wooded acres.
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Vulcan Park and Museum
Birmingham
Hilltop park and museum featuring the world’s largest cast iron statue, panoramic city views, and exhibits on Birmingham’s industrial history.
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Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark
Birmingham
Former industrial blast furnace site transformed into a museum and cultural venue preserving Birmingham’s iron-making legacy through tours, exhibits, and events.
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Cotton Museum at Memphis Cotton Exchange
Memphis
Historic museum exploring the global impact of the cotton industry through immersive exhibits, artifacts, and educational displays in a former trading floor.
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Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum
Chattanooga
A working heritage railroad and museum offering historic train excursions, restored locomotives, passenger cars, and interactive exhibits celebrating the history of rail transportation in the American South.
Falls Mill and Museum
Belvidere
A historic water-powered mill and industrial museum featuring operating machinery, textile equipment, milling demonstrations, and exhibits that showcase nineteenth-century manufacturing and rural craftsmanship.
U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The highway ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona before terminating in Santa Monica, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km).
US 66 was a primary route for those who migrated west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and it supported the economies of the communities through which it passed. People doing business along the route became prosperous and they later fought to keep it alive in the face of the growing threat of being bypassed by the more advanced freeways of the Interstate Highway System in the 1960s and 1970s.
US 66 underwent many improvements and realignments over its lifetime, but it was officially removed from the United States Highway System in 1985 after it was entirely replaced by segments of the Interstate Highway System. Portions of the road that passed through Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona and California have been communally designated a National Scenic Byway by the name Historic Route 66, returning the name to some maps.
In John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939), the highway symbolizes escape, loss, and the hope of a new beginning; Steinbeck dubbed it the Mother Road. Other designations and nicknames include the Will Rogers Highway and the Main Street of America, the latter nickname shared with U.S. Route 40. It is also featured in the Disney/Pixar animated feature film franchise Cars.
Much of the early highway, like all the other early highways, was gravel or graded dirt. Due to the efforts of the U.S. Highway 66 Association, in 1938 US 66 became the first highway to be completely paved.
In the 1950s, US 66 became the main highway for vacationers heading to Los Angeles. The road passed through the Painted Desert and near the Grand Canyon. Meteor Crater in Arizona was another popular stop. This sharp increase in tourism in turn gave rise to a burgeoning trade in all manner of roadside attractions, including teepee-shaped motels, frozen custard stands, Indian curio shops and reptile farms. Meramec Caverns near St. Louis, began advertising on barns, billing itself as the "Jesse James hideout". The Big Texan advertised a free 72-ounce (2.0 kg) steak dinner to anyone who could consume the entire meal in one hour. It also marked the birth of the fast-food industry: Red's Giant Hamburg in Springfield, Missouri, site of the first drive-through restaurant and the first McDonald's in San Bernardino, California. Changes like these to the landscape further cemented 66's reputation as a near-perfect microcosm of the culture of America, now linked by the automobile.
The beginning of the decline for US 66 came in 1956 with the signing of the Interstate Highway Act by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. During its nearly 60-year existence, US 66 was under constant change. As highway engineering became more sophisticated, engineers constantly sought more direct routes between cities and towns. Increased traffic led to a number of major and minor realignments of US 66 through the years, particularly in the years immediately following World War II when Illinois began widening US 66 to four lanes through virtually the entire state from Chicago to the Mississippi River just east of St. Louis and included bypasses around virtually all of the towns. By the early to mid-1950s, Missouri also upgraded its sections of US 66 to four lanes complete with bypasses. Most of the newer four-lane 66 paving in both states was upgraded to freeway status in later years.
Bobby Troup wrote "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66", which was popularized by Nat King Cole with the King Cole Trio and later covered by artists ranging from Chuck Berry and Glenn Frey to The Manhattan Transfer, John Mayer and Brian Setzer, as well as the Rolling Stones.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Route 66", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
