Route 66’s centennial is now showing up in postage stamps: the U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday released eight commemorative stamps representing the states the historic highway runs through, drawing on photography by David J. Schwartz. The designs, USPS officials and Schwartz said, are meant to capture the road’s landscapes and roadside landmarks in a way that feels immersive rather than like a typical tourist snapshot.
Schwartz’s involvement grew out of his long relationship with the route. He made 42 trips along Route 66 over two decades, and the stamps project drew on the images from those travels, the Associated Press reported. In USPS creative work, Schwartz’s photographs were discovered by art director Greg Breeding while Breeding was working on a graphic map of the road and looking through Schwartz’s portfolio, according to the report.
The USPS release comes as Route 66 marks its century, reflecting a highway that began in 1926 and was decommissioned in 1985. The AP account described Route 66 as a route that moved from its early role in American hardship-era travel to later wartime and mid-century uses, and then into a symbolic “time capsule” of Americana after retirement from the federal highway system.
In a conversation in Springfield, Illinois, Schwartz described how Route 66 changes as it runs west. He said: “So much to explore. You start here in Illinois on 66 and you’re cruising through prairie land.” He added that by the time travelers reach the west, they move through desert or mountains, saying, “It’s just an incredible journey and you just get such a beautiful slice of America going through it.”
USPS said the stamp plate is made up of 16 stamps, with two stamps for each state represented in the eight-stamp set. The plate also includes a ninth photo that functions as selvage, or the surrounding image around the stamp block, according to the report. The ninth image is described as the scene of an empty Arizona highway shot in 2023 near Seligman, Arizona, during a trip Schwartz had been planning for decades.
Breeding and Schwartz also discussed the visual approach behind the designs. Breeding said the photos read as if the viewer is actually on the road, explaining that the images are “as if you were there,” and said that quality makes them useful for stamps. He and Schwartz also steered away from the highway’s most popular landmarks, in part because permissions for those spots can be more difficult, and because they wanted to offer a “fresh look,” Breeding said.
The stamps are designed to focus on roadside scenes and relics tied to the route’s commerce and travel culture. The AP story cited examples including the Conoco Tower Station and U-Drop Inn in Shamrock, Texas, and Schwartz’s photographed “Motel” sign in Yucca, Arizona. It also pointed to an Illinois entry featuring Schwartz’s friend’s 1929 Model A Ford in Auburn, just south of Springfield, on the remaining stretch of Route 66 built with hand-laid brick.
To create the intended sense of place, Breeding said the stamp set was developed with a goal of making images feel colorful and reflective of Route 66’s history across time. He said, “We wanted to show it to be colorful. We wanted to show the quirkiness. We wanted to show the age,” adding: “It’s like a sort of show, the idea that Route 66 is a living history of the United States, from the past to the present.”
Schwartz said he was surprised the stamps based on his work would reach people across the country through the mail. He said he is amazed the stamps will “travel all over the United States and end up in people’s mailboxes,” and he added: “I hope they really inspire people to get out there and travel the road and support the Mom and Pop businesses and keep Route 66 alive for another 100 years.”