Clinton, Oklahoma, became home to the first state-sponsored Route 66 Museum.
The Oklahoma Route 66 Museum opened in Clinton as a museum devoted to the history and culture of the Mother Road. Clinton grew along the highway as a commercial stop with restaurants, motels, filling stations, and other businesses serving travelers crossing western Oklahoma.
The city’s museum is distinct from the National Route 66 Museum and Transportation Museum in Elk City. Both are in western Oklahoma, which is why they are sometimes confused, but Clinton’s institution is operated by the Oklahoma Historical Society and is identified as the first state-sponsored Route 66 museum.
Clinton also played an important role in the postwar revival of the U.S. Highway 66 Association. After wartime fuel and rubber rationing disrupted tourism, Jack and Gladys Cutberth revived the organization there in 1947. That combination of museum history and preservation activity made Clinton one of Oklahoma’s most important Route 66 heritage stops.