I recently was directed to this terrific site, the Broer Map Library, that has high-quality scans of maps from all over the world from different eras.

This includes the eight states that carried Route 66, which can be found at an index here. The Broer collection is a great resource for highway researchers. You can see how roads evolved. And the zoom feature works very well.

For instance, in this 1895 map of Illinois, you’ll notice that few of the roads are named. It looks like a bunch of lines, with little to differentiate one road from another. No wonder people got lost.

In this 1926 map of Oklahoma (an excerpt is at right), you’ll notice that the road that became U.S. 66 is listed as U.S. 60. That’s because the map was published before the designated numbers for national highways became final. The Chicago-to-Los Angeles highway boosters wanted U.S. 60, but highways officials in Kentucky objected. The designation of U.S. 66 was a compromise.

In the 1926 maps, you’ll also see that the future U.S. 66 was laid over existing roads, such as Postal Road, Ozark Trails, Lone Star Route, National Old Trails Road. You’ll also see a few towns that don’t exist anymore, like Boise, Texas; Pinevet, Ariz.; and Bannock, Calif.

Don’t be surprised if you blow an afternoon on this site.

There is a historic, two-jail in the small Route 66 town of Gardner, Ill. The stone jail was built in 1906. It never was much of a lockup; it was more of a drunk tank and cool-your-heels joint. It’s similar to the equally Spartan old jail in Texola, Okla.

Naturally, anything that small had better have directions so tourists can find it. So a custom-made sign helped direct travelers to the long-shuttered Gardner jail — until recently. The Joliet Herald-News reports that the sign has been stolen.

Illinois Route 66 experts John and Lenore Weiss aren’t happy about this development, but they’re taking a somewhat lighthearted approach in their pleas for the sign’s return.

“If you see this sign or know who may be holding it for ransom or personal gain, shame the culprit into returning it to this little Route 66 town,” Lenore Weiss said. “Our community has been robbed.”

If the couple had their way, the crime would be punishable by an overnight lockup in the little jail.

Anyone with information leading to the return of the sign should call Lenore and John Weiss at (815) 458-6616.

“They will automatically be rewarded with Route 66 hero status, which is priceless,” Lenore Weiss said.

I’m sure the Weisses are sincere in their disappointment about the sign being stolen. But they aren’t dumb. They likely figure this story and the publicity it’s generating will induce curious people to visit Gardner and, subsequently, add travelers to the Mother Road.

And if they get the sign back, that’s good, too.

In the meantime, I would monitor eBay’s auctions.