1926: Edmond’s Route 66 Era Begins 

A century ago, Edmond was ringing in the New Year of 1926. According to the front-page editorial by A.D. Dailey of The Edmond Sun, Edmond’s previous year had been a prosperous one. The town was expanding, with 50 new houses, another cotton gin, the expansion of Eagle Milling Company, and a new auditorium at Central State Teachers College. 

World War I was over, and the economy had rebounded. Still an agricultural town with a population of only 2,500, Edmond was largely independent of Oklahoma City, which was miles away across the prairie. 

Stores in downtown Edmond carried all the basic necessities. It cost 10¢ to buy a can of soup, $10 for a shotgun, $25 for a Philco tabletop radio, and $590 for a Ford sedan. Officials urged citizens to shop locally when possible, as a neighborly courtesy to Edmond business owners. 

Edmond’s Moral Standards 

The people of Edmond had high moral standards, befitting a college town focused on training future educators. Many students rented spare rooms or boarding houses in the community, so Edmondites felt integrally involved with campus life. 

Without the hint of a speakeasy, “roaring twenties” entertainment in Edmond meant that nearly every adult held membership in a variety of community service and social clubs. Ladies met in the homes of individuals to quilt, arrange flowers, or plan charitable events, while the men met at lodges to improve their speaking skills, discuss politics, or raise money for various causes. One initiative on everyone’s mind going into 1926 was the need for improved roads. 

Paving the Way 

Edmond’s rutted dirt roads, shared by both cars and horse-drawn buggies, became problematic anytime it rained. The challenge of being stuck in the mud was not unique to Edmond. By the early 1920s, one in every 13 Americans owned a car, but Oklahoma had less than 300 miles of hard-surfaced roads. Edmond only had eight. Good Road clubs popped up across the country. Everyone wanted paved roads, but “who was going to pay for it?” 

In the mid-1920s, citizens pooled their money to gravel the roads along Edmond’s main streets. In 1925, Cyrus Avery, highway commissioner and “Father of Route 66,” found a helpful solution when his idea for a 3.5¢ gas tax passed the legislature, meaning that people who drove cars helped pay for better roads. As Oklahoma communities approved bonds to pave portions of their streets, they could also apply for federal matching funds allotted for towns along the newly created highway system. 

One of those highways would run right through Edmond! Once Route 66 was initiated in 1926, paving efforts ramped up as towns along the new highway began competing for federal dollars and bragging rights to see which towns would be paved first. The highway plan was applauded by most, but it would take about three years to completely hard-surface Edmond’s section of Highway 66. 

Traffic Woes 

Edmond soon began experiencing the growing pains that came with having a major thoroughfare routed through town, and not everyone was thrilled with the influx of traffic. Citizens complained about drivers ignoring the “stop stripes” at intersections and racing down 2nd street at up to 50 miles per hour, although local roads still had a speed limit of 15 mph, and the highway speed was 35! 

Welcoming Tourists 

Aspiring entrepreneurs in Edmond saw their chance to escape farming and industrial life by opening services along 2nd street to accommodate motorists, including gas stations, repair garages, and diners. In 1924, Edmond had approximately five garages and eight grocery stores, and those numbers would triple by the end of the decade. 

New car owners suddenly had the freedom to “see the country” as never before, and families found pleasure in ambling across the country, stopping to camp alongside the road at night. Edmond established a free tourist camp off 2nd street with access to water, stoves, and picnic benches. By 1928, entrepreneurs had opened camp sites with cabins for rent, and since most tourists would pay a few dollars for a room, the free site, the future Fink Park, was shut down to overnighters. 

A Changed Town 

By the end of the 1920s, Edmond looked completely different. The advancement of paved roads — hardly imaginable in the early 1920s — became a reality. Dirt roads were largely a thing of the past, and a wide range of businesses had cropped up along the highway. 

Other things had drastically changed in Edmond, too. The town had gained an additional 1,000 people, bringing the population to 3,500, and enrollment at Central State had reached 4,000 in response to a teacher shortage. Edmond was starting to outgrow its “farm town” label. 

From 1926 until 1929, newspaper editor A.D. Dailey, had given Edmondites a steady diet of tangible reasons to support the highway through town. His predictions of economic benefit, personal advantage, and town growth all came to fruition. 

Route 66 was the game changer that literally put Edmond “on the map.” Americans were unaware of the looming Great Depression, but the diversity of work opportunities made possible by the highway helped Edmond weather the coming storm better than most towns. Without Route 66, Edmond might not have become the thriving city it is today. 

Visit Edmondhistory.org/Edmond-Route66 for a more extensive version of this article.