Cyrus Stevens Avery | |
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| Born | (1871-08-31)August 31, 1871 |
| Died | July 2, 1963(1963-07-02) (aged 91) |
| Resting place | Rose Hill Cemetery, Tulsa 36°09′43″N95°55′30″W / 36.162°N 95.925°W /36.162; -95.925 |
| Monuments | Avery Drive,Cyrus Avery Route 66 Memorial Bridge andCyrus Avery Centennial Plaza in Tulsa |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater | William Jewell College inLiberty, Missouri |
| Occupation(s) | Businessperson, oilman, highway commissioner |
| Known for | U.S. Route 66 and theU.S. Highway 66 Association |
| Spouse | Essie McClelland |
| Children | 3 |
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Cyrus Stevens Avery (1871–1963) was a businessperson, oilman, and highway commissioner. He created theU.S. Route 66 while being a member of the federal board appointed to create theFederal Highway System, then pushed for the establishment of theU.S. Highway 66 Association to pave and promote the highway. As such, he is known as the "Father of Route 66".
He was born inStevensville, Pennsylvania on August 31, 1871. He and his parents, Alexander James Avery and Ruie Stevens Avery moved toMissouri in 1881.[2] In 1890, the family moved toNoel, Missouri, where Cyrus received a certificate to teach in public schools. In 1893, he enrolled inWilliam Jewell College inLiberty, Missouri, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1897.[1][3] He married Essie McClelland after graduation,[4] then moved toOklahoma City to be an insurance agent. In 1904, he moved toVinita inIndian Territory, where he expanded into real estate loans and invested in theoil industry, establishing the Avery Oil & Gas Company.[2] In 1907, he moved again toTulsa. He bought a farm near Tulsa in 1908, where he raised Holstein and Ayshire cattle, Druoc hogs, Shopshire sheep, and Percheron horses. In the following year, he established a 1,400 acres (570 ha) farm northeast of Tulsa for diversified agriculture.[1] Cyrus had three children with Essie: sons Gordon Avery and Leighton Avery, and daughter Helen Avery Berghell.[5]
Shortly after WWI, Avery opened a proto-motel outside Tulsa. Avery soon realized that an interstate system of highways would help his adopted city and state prosper.[6]: 7
Impressed with Missouri'sGood Roads Movement, Avery joined the Oklahoma Good Roads Association. He also served as president of theAlbert Pike Highway Association from 1917 to 1927.[2] He was elected chairman of the Tulsa County Commission, serving from 1913 to 1916, and is considered responsible for the construction of theEleventh Street Bridge,[a] which replaced an older wooden bridge across the Arkansas River.[7] He also began pushing for a statewide improvement of roads. He eventually became involved in the creation of theOzarks Trails, a system of roads connectingSt. Louis andAmarillo,Texas. After working with creating more roads, he was elected president of the Associated Highway Associations of America. In 1923, he was appointed to the Oklahoma State Highway Commission, where he implemented a gasoline tax to fund the highway department.[2]
He became instrumental in pushing for a federal level of good roads. In 1925, theUnited States Secretary of Agriculture appointed him to the Joint Board of Interstate Highways, which was to designate the new federal highways and mark them.[2]
One of the routes requested byCongress was a road running fromVirginia Beach, Virginia toLos Angeles, California. This road would follow what is nowU.S. Highway 60 from Virginia Beach toSpringfield, Missouri, continue west toJoplin, across southernKansas,Colorado,Utah, turning south toLas Vegas, Nevada, then further south and west to Los Angeles. Avery successfully argued that to avoid the high peaks of theRocky Mountains, the road should turn south through Tulsa and Oklahoma City, continue west across theTexas Panhandle,New Mexico,Arizona, and southernCalifornia. His suggestion that this highway should go east from Springfield to St. Louis andChicago, Illinois, as commerce naturally continued in that direction, was also adopted.
After the highways were routed, the group decided not to name the highways (as had been done by many non-profit groups which were currently connecting various state routes into longer multi-state and transcontinental routes), but instead to follow the pattern of numbering the highways, as established inWisconsin andMissouri.[citation needed] The current east-west routes would be even numbers, and the north-south would be odd. Major routes would be one- or two-digit numbers ending in either "1" or "0" depending on the route.[6]: 8 To avoid a "U.S. 0",U.S. Highway 2 was treated as a "0" highway andU.S. Route 101 would be treated as a two-digit highway to expand the number of available routes north-south. Avery, arguing that the Chicago to Los Angeles route would be a major highway, numbered the highway US 60, began production of roadside signs. However, political trouble was brewing.[6]: 8
The Virginia Beach–Springfield route had been designated as U.S. 62 and actually terminated south ofGalloway, Missouri atU.S. Highway 65. Kentucky would be the only state without a "0" highway. They countered Avery's US route by pushing for US 60 to run between Virginia Beach and Los Angeles; the Springfield to Chicago section could be "U.S. 60 North". Avery returned with "U.S. 60 South" for the Springfield–Virginia Beach alignment. Kentucky threatened to walk completely out of the new highway system (individual states could not be forced to participate in it). Finally, Kentucky offered a compromise: connect their highway with Avery's in Springfield and give their highway the number 60. Avery could have his Chicago–Los Angeles highway if he would accept the number 62 which was originally assigned to their road. Avery disliked the number 62, found out 66 was not used, and designated the Chicago–Los Angeles highway as U.S. 66. In 1926, the Federal Highway System was approved by Congress. With this done, Congress also de-certified all the old "association" highways.
In 1927, Avery pushed for the creation of theU.S. Highway 66 Association to promote paving U.S. 66 and promote travel on the highway. He was elected vice president in 1929,[1] and recruitedLon Scott for to promote the new highway.[6]: 11 He got a business connection in Springfield, Missouri appointed as president. In the 1930s, Avery would attempt to have himself elected president of the organization, but he never succeeded.
Essie Avery died in October 1962.[1] Cyrus Avery died in Los Angeles, California on July 2, 1963,[1][2] and was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Tulsa.[8] Avery Drive, a street in southwest Tulsa, was named for him.[3]
In 1997, the National Historic Route 66 Federation established a Cyrus Avery Award, which has been presented variously to individuals for outstanding creativity in depicting Route 66,[1][9] and to organizations for noteworthy preservation projects.[1][10]
In 2004, the City ofTulsa, Oklahoma renamed theEleventh Street Bridge (which carried US 66 over theArkansas River), theCyrus Avery Route 66 Memorial Bridge in his honor.[1]
In late 2012, artistRobert Summers unveiledEast Meets West, a sculpture inCyrus Avery Centennial Plaza at Southwest Boulevard at Riverside Drive in Tulsa.[11] The detailed 135%-scale bronze depicts Avery stopping his Ford on the 11th Street Bridge as the vehicle frightened two horses pulling a wagon laden with oil barrels.[12]
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