McLean grew around a railroad well before Route 66 arrived

McLean began with a railroad well. In 1901, the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Texas Railroad dug for water and built a switch and section house. Rancher Alfred Rowe laid out a townsite around that switch the next year. By 1904, McLean had stores, a bank, wagon yards, livery stables, a lumberyard, and a newspaper.

A windmill pumped a well in the middle of Main Street, and residents carried the water home in barrels and buckets. Four telegraph operators handled the railroad's messages. McLean was already a shipping town before highway travelers entered the picture.

The 1926 Route 66 alignment followed 1st Street. A 1932 map showed eight gas stations directly on that street and a ninth at Main and Railroad, along with garages, repair shops, and tourist courts. In 1951 the highway split: 1st carried westbound traffic, while Railroad carried eastbound traffic.

The Art Deco Avalon Theater opened on March 26, 1936, with Follow the Fleet, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The National Register district remains listed across parts of 1st, 2nd, Commerce, Main, Railroad, and Rowe streets. McLean's town plan still holds the railroad town and the highway town in the same few blocks.