Landmark celebration: Amarillo honors 'Mother Road' with water tower's new Route 66 logo
Amarillo organizations and Route 66 shops came together Wednesday morning to honor the legacy of "The Mother Road" in Amarillo in anticipation of the upcoming 100th anniversary by celebrating the newly established landmark of the freshly painted Route 66 Water Tower.
Route 66, the original highway before the establishment of Interstate 40, travels east to west across the nation, with one end in Chicago, Illinois and the other in Santa Monica. The city of Amarillo was founded along that highway, and according to Kashion Smith, executive director of the Amarillo Convention and Visitors Bureau, many Amarillo businesses and community members want to preserve those historical routes and see it continue to thrive as it reaches 100 years since its establishment, with the upcoming anniversary in 2026.
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"We are kicking off celebrations for the centennial in 2026, this year, in 2023. Our hope is to include all of the counties in the Texas Route 66 in the promotions and in the festival and upcoming events. We want to teach the travelers and (citizens) alike that Texas Route 66 is a destination, not just a pass through, so we really want to highlight everything that a visitor can do in Texas on Route 66," Smith said.
During the event, the community celebrated the repainting of the water tower landmark located on the corner of Sixth Street and Independence Street, to include the iconic Route 66 logo featuring the Amarillo Red Boots. The new logo was created by Dixie Painting and was the result of fundraising efforts by many groups and organizations, including the Amarillo Convention & Visitors Bureau, the City of Amarillo, Center City, the Historic 6th Street on Route 66 Association, the Old Route 66 Association of Texas and the San Jacinto Neighborhood Association.
Amarillo Mayor Ginger Nelson attended the event honoring the occasion. Nelson stated in a news release: “The water tower overlooks Route 66 in Amarillo, and what better way to celebrate Amarillo’s history with Route 66 than with an iconic logo that can be seen all around the entire area. ... All visitors and residents of Amarillo will have to do is look up, and they will see the city’s history with the most famous road in America.”
Following the event, attendees enjoyed refreshments with music by Andy Chase and received Route 66-related giveaways.
To kick off the centennial festivities, the Amarillo Convention and Visitors Bureau will host a 10-day celebration beginning June 1 through June 10, including other events leading up to and after the festival. The organization states that the Coors Ranch Rodeo will be the initial kick-off for the festival, representing Texas at its finest, and ending with several events to wrap up the festival with a bang.
"Our office has been planning the Texas Route 66 Festival, and that will be this year as the first big celebration to celebrate the centennial anniversary," Hope Stokes, Director of Marketing for the Amarillo Convention and Visitors Bureau said. "As the state of Texas, we want to set the tone that Texas Route 66 is all in, in keeping it thriving and alive, and hopefully the rest of the states will follow behind in celebrating the 'Mother Road' that shaped America."
For more information about the upcoming centennial festival, go online to https://www.visitamarillo.com/events/route-66/ .
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo kicks off Route 66 centennial celebration in water tower logo
