my live from the home of george washington with the ceo. it is the start of museum weight, highlighting washington museums with exhibits exploit american stories. watch american history tv and be sure to watch museum week, next week, on american history tv on c-span3. the c-span cities tour is exploring the american story, taking book tv and american history tv on the road every third weekend of the anyh.to watch videos from of the places we have been, go itiestour and/c follow us on twitter. established in 1926, route 66 was one of the original highways in the u.s. highway system, carrying motorists over 2400

miles from chicago, illinois to santa monica, california. in the book, "a matter of time," a photographer and historian nick gerlich capture scenes along the route that speak to its past. in amarillo, we rode along with nick gerlich, following the path of the old highway. >> why do you think this highway is still popular today, even after decades after it was decommissioned? nick: it has a lot to do with nostalgia today. people want to revisit places that may be they experienced as a child. that is a huge part of the nostalgia. but there is another kind of nostalgia as well. visit a place to in the past that you never experienced. so for younger americans, and

for international tourists of all ages for whom route 66 was only something they had heard by carcoming to route 66 or motorcycle or bicycle today is getting to visit a distant past that they have only seen in books. when route 66 came through town in 1926, our airport, at least the modern airport, was not here. they, you can drive in northeast and you run into a fence that is now protecting the modern airport. but the road kept going. numeral is one of three cities along route 66 in which the road is now buried by the modern airport. amarillo, santa rosa into mexico and st. louis, missouri. so up ahead is where the fence and gate are. if you get high enough on a

ladder, you can see a bit of concrete from the 1920's that was built and left here. it exists beyond the outer road of the airport and runs up to one of the current runways. i just saw a plane take off. it literally crossed over route 66. it is still there. hardly anybody knows about this little fragment of road that is hiding in plain sight, but right behind that gate is where the old road was and still is. where did the idea for this book start or come about? nick: ellen and i met on facebook. it sounds cliche, but we did. in several facebook groups for route 66. she and her husband in germany had been wanting to pursue a

book project, as they had been over to america a couple times prior and had done a lot of photography on the road. and they wanted to partner with someone from america who knew the route and was prepared to write about it. so we kind of had a blind date in may of 2015. they asked me via facebook if i would meet them for dinner in downtown amarillo. i said come of course. and we all fell in love with each other. from that point forward, we started working on the book, where we wanted it to go, what kind of shot, what kind of narrations we wanted. and her husband, udo, who was already an accomplished author, had decided he was going to be our manager and he kept us on task through all of that. so we began our joint efforts in

on one ofof 2015 their subsequent trips. we traveled extensively the next three years, visiting many sites all along route 66. whatat i could experience ellen was experiencing and more specifically what she was seeing through the lens of her camera. and that had a big part in the naming of our book, "a matter of time- route 66 through the lens it was not just clever wordplay, it was truly what we were doing. we wanted to chronicle change. and that is a reoccurring theme in the classes i teach as well. i think it is important to know your history, how it all began. and then it is important to take

note of where you are today. because the only way to plan for the future is to know your past and present. that is what we wanted to do with the book. in those photos, we were able to chronicle the decay of many things that were once prospering along route 66. but also the emergence of new businesses along route 66, as well as the evolution of older businesses. because route 66 is not dead yet. i do not think it will ever be dead. parts of it are, but other parts are very much alive. we wanted to focus on how things have changed. some things didn't change for the best. but other things did change very well. people have evolved, businesses have evolved, and they are still out there meeting the needs of tourists today.

ok, we are coming into downtown amarillo on pierce street. we will stop and look at the herring hotel, which was built in 1926 in five and a half months. absolutelybuilding, amazing some but it could do that in five and a half months. they cannot even build an overpass into years, much less a 13 story hotel. it was situated just feet off route 66. it had a soft opening on december 15, 1926, which was only a month and four days after the birth of route 66. and then they had a big gala on new year's eve of 1926. and they where in business for a good, and then they were in business for good. abandoned forel, many years.

money and aot of lot of tlc, but it could be something again today. this had 600 rooms. it also had people that lived at it. it had condos before condos were a thing. folks had apartments on the upper floors. this is where the movers and shakers stated. wheresement had a club oilmen and cattle barons could hang out and do business. it had on the second floor a coffee shop. there was also a ballroom on the second floor. this was the premier establishment in amarillo. six, routeouthwest 66 going through town. we have the courthouse and

library on the right juxtaposed structures with reflecting surfaces. the first banks southwest building a couple of th blocks down the road, the the first banks southwest tallest building between fort worth in denver at 31 stories. buildinghe barfield undergoing renovations right now. it will be open in 2020 as the marriott autograph hotel. is the experience of amarillo, being able to see the old amid the new. ellen is a really good photographer. she has been influenced by some reallyamarillo, being able to se old amid the new. good street photographers

over the years. she could really see the juxtaposition of the old and the new, the skyscraper, the old sign and the old streets. we are in the far western region of the texas panhandle, unfortunately driving a bit on interstate right now, but only because route 66 was obliterated in the 1970's. we are going to visit one of the coolest ghost towns along route rio.glenn we are going to cross the freeway and get onto the old strand of route 66, the last strand in texas going west and the first going east. we are going to stop at the first last motel, which is right on the state line. the name implies, it

was the first or last thing you saw depending on which way you were going. we are standing inside the longhorn cafe, which was built in 1951. this is where everyone had their first or last meal in texas. it was an exceptionally busy and successful cafe because it was conveniently located in the middle of nowhere. people could pull up their bellies, there cars, and if they were tired they could get a room at the motel in the back. town rio was a happening in the 1950's. we had a lot of fun photographing this. i had a lot of fun writing about it. this was truly a busy place along route 66.

it is hard to imagine that cars five truly be stacked up and six at the gas station, especially since it is so quiet today. all we have to do is look at the freeway a quarter-mile north, and that is where everyone is. >> our cities tour staff recently traveled to amarillo, texas, to learn about its rich history. to learn more about amarillo and other stops on our tour, visit c-span.org/citiestour. you are watching american history tv all weekend every weekend on c-span3. >> next, history and environmental studies professor ryan black tells how world war i led to a dramatic increase in the production and use of fossil fuels, especially petroleum. professor black discusses the

experiences of a young u.s. army colonel dwight eisenhower and how it influenced his support for a national highway system. museumional world war i and memorial cohosted this event with the dwight d. eisenhower museum and library. >> brian black is one of the faculty who spearheaded the creation of an environmental studies major at penn state altoona, where he currently serves as the head of the arts and humanities division. his research emphasizes on the landscape and environmental history of north america, particularly in relation to the application and use of technology. his first book used the pennsylvania oil boom of the