USPS Releases Route 66 Centennial Stamps

The U.S. Postal Service released eight stamps on Tuesday commemorating the centennial of Route 66, the iconic highway that stretches 2,448 miles across eight states from Illinois to California. The stamps feature photographs by David J. Schwartz, who documented the route during 42 trips over two decades.

Schwartz, a retired retail manager who studied photography later in life, proposed the stamp idea about a decade ago and was selected for the project in 2023. His images capture preserved diners, gas stations, motels, and vast landscapes along the Mother Road, which opened in 1926 and was decommissioned from the federal highway system in 1985. Vast stretches remain in use today, drawing tourists and road enthusiasts.

The stamps represent each host state: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. A ninth image by Schwartz adorns the selvage, or surrounding border, of the stamp sheet, depicting an empty highway near Seligman, Arizona, taken during a long-delayed trip with his high school friend in 2023.

Greg Breeding, a Postal Service art director for stamp design, discovered Schwartz's work while mapping the route. "They were beautifully...