Which historic Route 66 nickname honored entertainer and road advocate Will Rogers?

One historic nickname for U.S. Route 66 was the “Will Rogers Highway.”

The name honored Will Rogers, the Oklahoma-born humorist, actor, writer, and public figure whose popularity made him a fitting symbol for the highway. The route passed through Oklahoma, a state strongly associated with Rogers’s life and career.

The nickname was promoted during the 1930s, and signs using the name appeared along parts of Route 66. It reflected the era’s practice of attaching famous personalities to highways and civic projects to encourage travel and public recognition.

The name is sometimes confused with “Will Rogers Turnpike,” a separate Oklahoma toll road. The turnpike is not the historic Route 66 designation, even though both use Rogers’s name.