Maybe All Roads Lead Here Now

When I arrived at Navy Pier last week the entrance was lined with motorcycles. There was nothing to indicate why they were there but there are often different things going on at the Pier so I snapped a photo and I thought I’d ask the person at the information desk why they were there. But there was no one at the desk and there were no signs or flyers or any other way of knowing what was happening that day – a pet peeve of mine that could be the subject of a whole other post.

After awhile I asked my coworker in the art studio if she knew what the story with the motorcycles was. They must be part of the Route 66 sign unveiling she said. The what? While I was only vaguely aware of Route 66 when I moved to Chicago, I was excited but a bit confused when I saw my first Route 66 sign.

This sign is in a small fenced park on Adams and Wabash one block west of Michigan and Adams and it seemed like an odd place for a road to begin.

Later I saw this sign which actually looks like an official highway sign on the corner of Michigan and Adams which made more sense since Adams actually begins there. It doesn’t exactly look that important though so I guess that’s why a new sign appeared two years ago right on Michigan Avenue at street level where way more people would notice it.

While there is some dispute about whether Route 66 begins or ends in Chicago and all the original official signs were removed when the route was decommissioned as the new interstates were built, I think it is pretty clear that Route 66 does not begin at Navy Pier.

I said as much to my coworker and she said that since there was a decision to have the road end at the Santa Monica Pier a few years ago they had now decided to have it start at Navy Pier. But that makes no sense I indignantly insisted. She didn’t seem to see the problem, it’s a Pier to Pier thing she explained and then she told me what she found far more interesting – there were going to be alpacas at the unveiling.

I left the museum without going to look at the sign or the alpacas and did some googling to find out what on earth was going on and found this on the Route 66 news website:

In celebration of Route 66’s centennial, the City of Chicago will formally recognize Navy Pier as the symbolic starting point of the highway.

The designation was approved through a resolution introduced by Alderman Brendan Reilly and adopted by the Chicago City Council in recognition of Route 66’s centennial and Chicago’s historic role as the route’s eastern anchor.

“Route 66 has always been about dreams and possibility,” said 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly. “Designating Navy Pier as the eastern terminus honors Chicago’s historic role while creating a powerful Pier-to-Pier connection that captures the true spirit of the American journey.”

Navy Pier is about one mile northeast from Route 66’s actual eastern terminus of East Adams Street and South Michigan Avenue.

In 2009, the symbolic endpoint of Route 66 (in California) was moved one mile west from the actual western terminus at Olympic and Lincoln boulevards — a once-nondescript intersection — to the gaudier Santa Monica Pier.

The symbolic move culminated with the erection of the “Route 66: End of the Trail” sign, though multitudes of Route 66 travelers already had ended their journeys at the pier for many years.

A new Route 66 sign will be installed at Navy Pier, marking it as the “Beginning of the Trail.”

The Pier-to-Pier connection creates a symbolic bookend to one of America’s most storied highways, linking Lake Michigan to the Pacific Ocean and reinforcing Chicago’s role as a historic origin point and a modern gateway for exploration.

“Route 66 has long represented connection and possibility, and we’re proud that its journey now begins at Navy Pier,” said Marilynn Gardner, CEO of Navy Pier. “As Chicago’s front porch and a gateway to the city, Navy Pier is a fitting starting point to honor 100 years of the American journey.”

Still in disbelief I went to check out the sign  the next time I was at the Pier and as you can see the sign is in front of Harry Caray’s restaurant. More research reveals that the CEO of Harry Caray’s was instrumental in the city’s decision to make Navy Pier the starting point. “Harry Caray’s life perfectly embodied the spirit of Route 66…” Sure, I think the Tribune got it right this morning in their editorial “Get your kicks… on Navy Pier?”

“As far as we can tell, the reason for the cheeky change to the terminus/beginning of the Mother Road was that Navy Pier and its benefactors at the city of Chicago just decided it would be thus, so as to snag more business during this 100th anniversary year for Route 66.”

I was glad to see that at least one of my museum co-workers  was not blasé about the change. Think of the commercial possibilities if almost roads began or ended at Navy Pier!