SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – The world’s most famous highway might never have earned its name or become a legend without an early road warrior.
Cyrus Avery spent his early years crossing from Oklahoma into Missouri and then back. On his travels, he had to deal with terrible, muddy and rutted roads. So he joined the Good Roads movement in the 1910s. The state’s governor eventually appointed Avery to the Oklahoma State Highway Commission.
On April 30, 1926, Avery met the chief engineer of the Missouri Highway Department in an impromptu meeting. Springfieldian John Woodruff likely set up the meeting. Avery played a key role in naming the new road Route 66…