The Longest Stretch: Route 66 in Oklahoma Exhibit

About this event

Opening Saturday, May 23

The Oklahoma History Center Museum will open The Longest Stretch: Route 66 in Oklahoma on Saturday, May 23. The exhibit explores how Oklahoma’s 400-plus miles of drivable highway shaped communities along the route and continues to draw travelers today.

Route 66 was created in 1926 and quickly became one of the most consequential roads in American history. For Oklahomans, it was an escape route during the Dust Bowl, an economic lifeline for roadside communities, and eventually a casualty of the interstate system. The Longest Stretch traces that full arc, from the road’s rise to its decline, and into its revival through preservation and tourism.

Visitors will see a 1915 Model T Roadster, a restored Taft Stadium sign, a Big Boy statue, and a 1961 Corvette on loan from the National Corvette Museum. Hands-on interactives will allow visitors to engage directly with the story of Route 66 and its evolution.

The Longest Stretch: Route 66 in Oklahoma opens on Saturday, May 23, and will remain on view in the Gaylord Special Exhibit Gallery through 2027. This exhibit was made possible with support from the Inasmuch Foundation and the Robert Glenn Rapp Foundation.