Topics

Forums like this are continually bomberded by spam bot software. The reason you don't see the stuff is due to measures I've set up. However, they do keep trying to get in!

If you are in Russia, on gmail, or meltmail but are a real person who wants in the forum, just go into my web site by the American Roads link at the top of the page, and look up my Contact information. Email me, tell me your interests in this forum and in the site, and I'll let you into the forum.

There are a number of new US 80 photo galleries and virtual road trips on the Photos page:

http://www.americanroads.us/photos.html

Parsa

I've updated the forum to a newer version, and hopefully will not have problems. If you experience problems, please post to this section.

Parsa

The new El Camino Real introduction page is now online:

http://www.americanroads.us/autotrails/elcaminoreal.html

Parsa

The El Camino Real introduction page in now on the site.

http://www.americanroads.us/autotrails/elcaminoreal.html

Parsa

I've posted the first page for the Lee Highway on the web site. Enjoy.

Parsa

Recently I added a Dixie Overland Highway introduction page, and now there is a new Lee Highway page on the site. If anyone how there can contribute more information or make corrections, I'd appreciate it.

Parsa

I was shocked to see this web site on a Dell laptop at work and notice how all the colors were really hideous. I tried changing the color profile on the machine, but no dice.
The main offender was the background peach color. It really is a fairly subtle buff peach, but on the Dells it was shocking pink. Yuk!
Even the red was sort of a glowing ugly red instead of the nice all-American flag red that it's supposed to be.

If you're seeing some really awful colors, I apologize, and advise playing with the contrast and color profile to get a better view of the Internet.

Parsa

Here are some resources for Route 66 I found on the Oklahoma Dept. of Transportation web site:

Intro with legislative changes to the route:
http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/memorial/route66/index.htm

Construction history:
http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/memorial/route66/route66const-hist.htm

Route 66 maps. Not just down to the county but down to the section! These show early, middle and late alignments.
http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/memorial/route66/route66maps.htm

Route 66 photo gallery:
http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/memorial/route66/route66.htm


Parsa

I've added several more states and cities to the City Maps section of my web site, including a few more San Diego maps. I have many more I can add, but there's quite a bit of time involved in doing this work!

--> City Maps

Steve

I'm compiling a list of auto trails and "banded roads" (ones that have colored bands on telephone poles). I am primarily using roads listed from Rand McNally auto trail maps, maps from the National Highways Association, Automobile Club of America, Mohawk Hobbs Road Guides and a few other sources from the 1910s and 1920s. If anyone has ones I've overlooked, please post them in this thread. It's probably because I don't own the more detailed auto trail maps for some areas of the country. If you can give the name, that's great, but a reference to the map it's from would be preferred. Even better would be a small image showing the name and the pole marker.

Some of the trails I list may have multiple names and may appear twice. When I sort it all out, I'll collate those into single entries. Likewise, some trail names may look the same, but may actually be separate roads (Yellowstone Trail and Yellowstone Highway for instance). I've leaned toward caution by listing most with multiple entries. I'm still confused about some such as "South West Trail", Southwest Trail", "South West Trails", etc. I have to carefully look at the maps to determine if they are the same or different roads.

Future projects include the main cities for the most prominent national trails, and a complete list of color pole markers.

Here's the list I have currently.
-----------------------------------------

A-B-C Trail
Abe Lincoln Trail
Abo Pass Highway
Adeway
Agate Highway
Air Line Highway
Albany-Buffalo Highway
Albert Pike Highway
Alfalfa Trail
Alliance, Angora, Bridgeport, Sidney
Alliance, Broadwater, Oshkosh
Alliance, Hay Springs
Alliance Hemingford Crawford Hot Springs
Alliance, Scotts Bluff, Mitchell
Alton-Jacksonville Airline
Altoona-Bellefonte-Cumberland Trail
Anchor Line
Anchor Way
Anthracite Trail
Apache Trail
Appalachian Highway
Arlington Lowell
Aroostook Trail
Arrowhead Trail
Ashokan Reservoir Route
Atlantic Highway
Atlantic Pacific Highway (Atlantic & Pacific Highway, Atlantic-Pacific Highway)
Atlantic Yellowstone Pacific Hiway
Auburn-Niles Route
Ayr Line
"B" Line Highway
B.F. Blue Pole Trail
Baltimore Pike
Banff Grand Canyon Road
Bankhead Highway
Beartooth Trail
Bedford-Danbury Route
Bee Line
Bee Line Highway (same as "B" Line?)
Belleville-Carlyle Trail
Belt Line
Ben Hur Highway
Ben Hur Route
Berkshire-Burlington Way
Better Way
Big Creek-Cohocton Valley Route
Big Four Route
Billings Cody Way
Black and Yellow Trail
Black Diamond Trail
Black Hills Lake Metigoshe
Black Hills Loop Highway (Black Hills Loup Highway)
Black Hills Loop, River & Omaha Trail
Black Hills Sioux Trail
Black Hills Trail
Black Hills, Rose Bud & Omaha Scenic Highway
Black Hills-Lake Metigoshe-Highway
Black River Valley Route
Black Trail
Bloomington Way
Blue Grass Road
Blue Grass Way
Blue J Route
Blue Line
Blue Pole Highway
Blue Valley Drive
Bob Dunn Highway
Boone Way
Boston Haverhill Road
Boston Post Road
Boston Sakonnet Point Road
Boston-Wareham Road
Brewster-Danbury Route
Brewster-Middletown Route
Bridge Route
Broadway of America
Broadway-Salem Way Glastonbury East Hartford Route
Buffalo Highway
Buffalo Pittsburgh Highway
Burlington & Peoria Air Line
Burlington Highway
California-Banff Bee-Line (California Banff "B" Line)
Camp Dix Way
Canada-Kansas City-Gulf Road
Cannon Ball Route
Cannon Ball Trail
Canton-Alliance-Pittsburgh Trail
Cape May Way
Capital Route
Capitol Trail
Caterpillar Trail
Central Dixie Highway
Central Florida Highway
Central Highway
Central Michigan Pike
Central Montana Highway
Central Nebraska Highway
Central Texas Highway
Chadron Hot Springs
Chenango Valley Route
Cheshire Road
Chicago Buffalo Highway
Chicago Dubuque Trail
Chicago Iowa Trail (Chi-Iowa Trail)
Chicago Kansas City Gulf Highway
Chicago Trail
Cincinnati Lookout Mountain Air Line
Cincinnati-Parkersburg Way
Clarion Way
Cleveland-Canton Parkersburg Way
Coal-Oil-Hi-Wa
Coast Route, Oregon to San Francisco
Coast to Coast Route
Colchester Yantic, Norwich-Pawcatuck Routes
Colorado to Gulf Highway
Columbia River Highway
Connecticut River Way
Contoocook Valley Road
Cooley Highway
Corn Belt Route
Cornhusker Highway
Cotton Belt Highway
Cranberry Trail
Crawfordsville to Anderson
Cross State Trail
Custer Battlefield Hiway
Custer Battlefield Way
Custer Trail
Dahlonega Trail
Dallas-Canadian-Denver Highway
Danbury-Bridgeport Route
Daniel Boone Trail
Daniel Webster Highway
Dansville Acoco
Dansville Corning Route
Dartmouth College Route
Davis Highway
Del Rio Canadian
Denison Whitesboro Fort Worth Gulf
Denver-Black Hills Highway
Denver-Deadwood
Denver Estevan Highway
Denver-Joplin Highway
Des Moines, Kansas City and St. Joseph Interstate Trail
Detroit-Chicago Highway
Detroit-Lincoln-Denver Highway (Detroit-Lincoln-Denver)
Diagonal Trail
Diamond Trail
Dixie Bee Line (Dixie B-Line)
Dixie Highway
Dixie Highway in Indiana
Dixie Overland Highway
Dixie Route A
Duluth-Fargo Highway
Dunes Highway
East Dixie Highway
East Shore Tour
East Texas Highway
Effingham-Newton-Robinson Trail
Egyptian Trail
Electric Highway
Elmira-Cortland-Cazenovia Route
Elmira-Watkins-Flint Route
Erie Trail
Ethan Allen Trail
Ethan Allen Way
Everett Powers Highway
Evergreen National Highway
F. F. F. Highway
Farrier Highway
Fitchburg Keene Route
Flint Trail
Florida Short Route
Fort Elliott Highway
Fort Smith, Pauls Valley & Wichita Falls Highway
Fort Worth Plains Air Line
Fox River Route
French Lick Route
Fulton Chain Route
G. P. C. Highway
Galatin Trail
Galesburg-Peoria Trail
Gap Way
General Sullivan Trail
Genesee Valley Route
Geneva-Clifton Springs Route
Geneva-Lyons Route
George Wahington Highway
George Washington National Highway
Gettysburg-Baltimore-Annapolis Trail
Geysers to Glaciers Road
Glacier National Parks Highway
Glacier to Gulf Highway
Glacier Trail
Glen Falls-Lake Champlain Route
Glidden Route
Golden Belt Highway (likely the road below)
Golden Belt Road
Golden Rod Highway (Golden Rod Hi-Way)
Golden Rod Trail
Grainland Highway
Grand Central Highway
Grand Circle Tour
Grand River Road
Grant Highway
Great Plains Highway (likely the road below)
Great Plains Road (Association name)
Great Plateau Highway
Great White Way
Green Mountain Pass
Green Road
Green Trail
Gulf Plains and Canada
Gulf to Panhandle Highway
Hammond Highway
Hannibal Edina Trail
Hannibal Kirksville Trail
Harding Highway
Harrison Trail
Hartford Springfield Way
Hartford Unionville Way
Hartford-Westfield Route
Havana-Lincoln-Champaign Trail
Haverhill Newburyport
Haverhill Raymond
Hebert Hoover Highway
Highland Cut Off
Highline Highway
Hills & Lakes
Hoosic-Brattleboro Route
Hoosick River Route
Hoosier Dixie Highway
Hoosier Highway
Horatio Earl Memorial Highway
Horse Shoe Trail
Hub Highway
Hubway
Hudson-Berkshire Way
Hudson-Derry
Huntington Manitau Culver Trail
I. O. A. Short Line
Illinois Corn Belt Route
Imperial Highway
Independence-Winfield Trail
Indian Head Trail
Industrial Way
International Highway
International Pavedway
Iowa Parks Highway
Itasca Park Highway
Jackson Highway
Jefferson Davis Highway
Jefferson Davis National Highway
Jefferson Highway
Jericho Turnpike
Jersey Coast Way
Jersey Link
Jim Hogg Highway
Kansas City & Oklahoma Highway
Kansas City, Iola & Tulsa Highway
Kansas City-Ft Scott-Miami-Tulsa Short Line
Kansas-Colorado Boulevard
Kansas-Oklahoma-Texas Highway
Kansas Oklahoma Texas & Gulf Highway
Keeway Trail
Kennebec-Penobscot Trail
Keystone Trail
Keyway Trail
Kickapoo Trail
Killington Trail
King Edward Highway
King of Trails
L. T. K. Trail
Lackawanna Trail
Lake Harris Route
Lakes & River Drive
Lakes to Gulf Highway
Lakes to Sea Highway
Lawrence-Salem Way
Leather-Stocking Trail
Lee Highway
Lee-Jackson Highway
Liberty Way
Lincoln Hawkeye Pike
Lincoln Highway
Lincoln Trail
Lincoln-Crete-Dorchester Trail
Lincoln-Sterling Highway
Lincoln-Valparaiso Highway
Littleton-Salisbury
Logan-Lee Highway
Lone Star Route
Lone Star Trail
Longfellow Highway
Louisville-Lexington-Latonia Trail
Lynn-Salem Way
Mackinaw Indian Trail
Magnolia Route
Manchester Somers Route
Mandan Killdeer Mountain Highway
Marion Kenton Trail
McDavid Trail
Memorial Boulevard
Memphis-Bristol Highway
Meridian Highway
Meridian Highway (illinois)
Michigan Road
Michigan-Detroit-Chicago Highway
Mid-State Highway
Middle Buster Highway
Middletown Durham Center
Midland Trail
Midwest Trail
Military Tract Trail
Miller Trunk Line
Mineral Wells Trail
Minnesota Scenic Highway
Minute Man Route
Mississippi River Highway
Mississippi River Scenic Highway
Mississippi Scenic Route
Mississippi Valley Highway
Moberly Quincy Air Line
Mohawk Trail
Mohawk-Lake Ontario Route
Montauk Highway
Montour Falls Cayuta Route
Mount Desert Trail
Muncie Lima Fremont
Nagatuck-River Route
National Highway
National Old Trails Road
National Park to Park Highway
National Parks Highway
National Parks Pike
National Short Cut Highway
National White Way
Naugatuck-New Haven Route
Navajo Trail
Nelson Trail
New Hampshire College Road
New Haven Derby Road
New Haven Durham Center
New Haven Farmington Way
New Haven Middletown Way
New Haven Milldale
New Haven Springfield Way
New London Colchester Route
New London Colchester Glastonbury Route
New London Fitchburg Route
New London-Norwich-Stafford Route
New Santa Fe Trail
New York and Berkshire Route
New York-Albany-Montreal Route
New York-Albany-Troy Post Road
Newtown-Bridgeport Way
Niagara River Route
North and South Pike
North Hampton Pittsfield Way
North Hempstead Turnpike
North Platte Valley Highway
North Shore Trail
North Star Highway
North Star Route
North Star Trail
North Texas Highway
Northern Highway
Northern Tier Route
Northwestern Trail (North Western Trail)
Nutmeg Trail
O. A. A. Trail
O. K. Short Line
Oakdale Trail
Ocean to Ocean Highway
Ohio Indiana Michigan Way
Oil Belt Route
Oil City Route
Okaw Trail
Oklahoma City Lincoln Highway
Oklahoma-Kansas-Colorado Highway
Okoboji Trail
Old Burlington Way
Old Oregon Trail
Old Santa Fe Trail
Old Spanish Trail
Omaha-Lincoln-Denver Trail
Omaha-St. Louis Short Line
Omaha Trail
Omaha-Topeka Trail
Oregon Trail
Osage Highway
Oswego-River Route
Overland Trail
Ozark Trails
Pacific Highway
Parks Highway
Peoria-Pekin-Bloomington Way
Perry Highway
Peoria-Pekin-Havana Jack Way
Pershing Way
Pigeon Roost Route
Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway
Pittsburgh-Erie Way
Pittsburgh-Uniontown Way
Plains Air Line
Plains Mountain Highway
Platte Purchase Route
Post Road
Postal Highway
Potash Highway
Poughkeepsie-Hartford Route
Poughkeepsie-Sharon Route
Powder River Trail
Powder Way
Providence-Rice City Route
Puget Sound to Gulf Highway
Quincy Trail
Rainbow Route
Randolf Gulf Route
Range Line
Red Ball Route
Red Clover Leaf Route
Red Star Route
Red X Route
Regina Yellowstone
Resort Route
Ridge Road
River to River Road
Robertson Highway
Robby Highway
Rochester-Caledonia Route
Rochester-Canandaigua Route
Rock River Resorts Route
Rock River Valley Route
Rockingham Road
Rockville-Willington Route
Rocky Mountain Highway
Rocky Pond Road
Roger Q. Mills Highway
Rome-Oneida Route
Roosevelt Midland Highway
Roosevelt National Highway
Rose Trail
Sacandaga-Lake Pleasant Route
Sa-Ka-Ka-Wea Trail
Salt Lake Yellowstone Highway
Saranac-Lake Placid Route
Schenectady-Lake George Route
Schuylkill River Route
Scioto Trail
Sedalia Joplin Short Line
Sequoyah Trail
Seward-York-Aurora
Shabbona Trail (or Shab-Bona Trail)
Shenandoah Valley Pike
Sherman Pike
Sherman-Sheridan Highway
Shore Road
Short Cut West Highway
Sioux City, Dennison Cut Off
Skaneateles Route
South Atlantic Coastal Highway
South Bend to Knox
South Shore Trail
South Side Road
Southeastern Highway
Southern Highway
Southern Minnesota Air Line
Southern National Highway
Southern Tier Route
Southern Tier Trail
Southwest Trail (South West Trail, Southwest Trails)
Spanish Trail
St. Augustine Road
St. Lawrence River Route
Star Highway
Starved Rock Trail
Suncook Valley Road
Sunflower Trail
Sunset Trail
Sunshine Highway
Susquehanna Trail
Susquehanna Valley Route
Swastika Trail
Tamiami Trail
Tecumseh Trail
Terre Haute-Columbus-Cincinnati Trail
Terre Haute-Decatur-Springfield Trail
Texas Mexico Division (Bankhead Highway)
Texas Oklahoma Colorado Highway
Theodore Roosevelt International Highway
Thompsonville-Stafford Springs Way
Thousand Islands Trail
Three "C" Highway
Tidewater Trail (Norfolk-Washington)
Tip Top Trail
Toledo Chicago Pike
Toledo-Angola-Goshen Trail
Toledo-Cleveland-Buffalo
Toledo-Cleveland-Buffalo Route
Toledo-Cleveland-Buffalo Trail
Top of Michigan Trail
Torrington-Norwalk Route
Transit Road
Tri State Trail
Troy East Greenbush Route
Tuxedo Trail
Twin City Black Hills Cut Off
Twin City Black Hills Yellowstone Trail
Two "C" Highway
U of I Trail
Union Pacific Highway
University Trail
Utah-Idaho-Yellowstone Highway
Valley City, Minot, Green Trail
Valparaiso-Joliet
Vermont State Roads
Victory Highway
Vigilante Trail
Wabash Trail
Wahbash Way
Washington-Harrisburg Route
Washington Highway
Waterloo-Ithaca-Owego Route
Waubonsie Trail
Wayne Highway
West Michigan Pike
West Side Road
Weymouth-Bridgewater
White Horse Trail
White River Trail
White Way-7-Highway
William Penn Highway
Wonderland Way
Woodpecker Route
Woodrow Wilson Way
"X" All Highway
Yellow Trail
Yellowstone Glacier "B" Line
Yellowstone Highway
Yellowstone Trail
York Trail

This is a work in progress, but I'll post it nonetheless.

Early American Highway Timeline

1900

Chicago: Formation of the National Good Roads Association with its headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri.

1903

April 27–29, 1903 - Third Annual National Good Roads Convention in St. Louis, Missouri. (Proceedings)

1905

June 23, 1905 - Fifth Annual National Good Roads Convention in Portland, Oregon.

1910

January 1910 - The New Santa Fe Trail highway association forms in Hutchinson, Kansas.

September 18-19 - West coast motoring enthusiasts meet at the Arctic Club in Seattle, WA and form the Pacific Highway Association. The road will run from Vancouver, BC to Tijuana, Mexico. Judge J. R. Ronald of Seattle was elected the first interim president until a convention could be held the following summer.

1911

Annual races from Los Angeles to Phoenix begin. They were called the "Desert Race" or "Cactus Derby."

January 15, 1911 - William Patterson Borland (U.S. Repr., Missouri) introduces the Daughters of the American Revolution Old Trails Road Act (H. R. 2864) to Congress.

June 1911 - Delegates meet in Salina, KS to form the Meridian Road along the Chisolm Trail. The road would later become the Meridian Highway.

October 28, 1911 - Dedication of the "Missouri Cross State Highway—Old Trails Road". This was the initial section of the National Old Trails Road.

November 1911 - The Old Santa Fe Trail highway association forms in Herington, Kansas.

November 1911 - A group of motorists, lead by National Highway Association and AAA pathfinder A.L. Westgard, arrive in San Diego. Westgard proposes an all-weather, national transcontinental highway through the southern states to San Diego.

December 19, 1911 - The Old Trails Road Association of Missouri forms at a meeting in the Commercial Club Rooms in Kansas City, MO. 50 delegates take part, and elect Profesor Walter Williams president of the association. The delegates resolve to take steps necessary to form a transcontinental highway association.

December 20-21, 1911 - Ocean to Ocean Highway Association meets in Phoenix at the Tri-State Road Convention to discuss the route of a future national transcontinental highway. The California delegation is split between advocates of an LA terminus and those who favor San Diego. With several key officers living in Los Angeles, the outcome was obvious. The eight San Diego delegates form the "San Diego-Imperial-Yuma Highway Association" after the convention.


1912

April 17-18, 1912 - First National Old Trails Road convention held at the Commercial Club Rooms in Kansas City, Missouri. The delegates tentatively agree that the Ocean-to-Ocean route through Yuma would carry traffic to the western terminus in Los Angeles. This early convention marks the formation of the first east–west transcontinental highway association.

April 19, 1912 - Advocates for the building of the National Old Trails Road speak before the Committee on Agriculture of the U.S. House of Representatives regarding the National Old Trails Road Act (H.R. 17919). William Patterson Borland (U.S. Repr., Missouri), Elizabeth Gentry of the D.A.R., and several others speak.

September 10, 1912 - Carl Fisher holds a dinner party for auto industry friends in the Deutsches Haus in Indianapolis. He proposes a transcontinental highway that will become the Lincoln Highway.

September 19, 1912 - Construction begins on the first plank road east of Holtville, CA in the Imperial County sand dunes as part of the road from San Diego to Phoenix.

October 1912 - The Yellowstone Trail is organized at a planning meeting in Lemmon, South Dakota.

October 26, 1912 - The second annual Los Angeles to Phoenix race incorporates a simultaneous challenge race from San Diego to Phoenix. A pre-race competion between San Diego's Ed Fletcher and Mr. Lawrence from Los Angeles is sponsored by each city's newspaper. Ed Fletcher and a San Diego group drive his Franklin touring car across the Imperial sand dunes, cross the Colorado River and Hassayampa River on the train bridges, and arrive in Phoenix in 19-1/2 hours. The challenger from Los Angeles never made it to Phoenix. The official race on the 26th was won by Ralph Hamblin from Los Angeles, but only after Ed Fletcher helped him ford the Agua Fria River with the aid of a horse team and cable. Four out of 16 cars from Los Angeles, and 12 out of 22 cars from San Diego, finished the race.

November 2, 1912 - Construction begins on the Mountain Springs grade between San Diego and El Centro. It will be used by the early alignments of the  Southern National Highway, Broadway of America, the Bankhead Highway, the Dixie Overland Highway, the Old Spanish Trail,  the Lee Highway, and the Lone Star Trail.

1913

January 20, 1913 - Over 100 delegates from Arizona and Southern California form the San Diego-Arizona auxiliary of the Southern National Highway Association with the purpose of building a highway bridge over the Colorado River at Yuma.

February 5, 1913 - The South Carolina House and Senate enact a concurrent resolution proposing the building of the Southern National Highway.

February 12, 1913 - Conference in Asheville, NC to chose the path of the Southern National Highway, the southern route from Washington, DC to southern California. Delegates were sent by the governors of 15 southern states. The meeting was organized by Colonel Dell M. Potter of Clifton, Arizona.

March 6-7, 1913 - Second National Good Roads Federal Aid Convention sponsored by AAA and held at the Raleigh Hotel in Washington, D.C.

April 10, 1913 - Dedication of the Mountain Springs grade between San Diego and El Centro.

April 24-25, 1913 - Organizing convention of the United States Good Roads Association in Birmingham, AL. John Hollis Bankhead, the "Father of Good Roads" was named president (a rather honorary appointment). Other officers included: First Vice-president Dell M. Potter of Clifton, AZ, president of the Southern National Highway Association; Second Vice-president E. J. Watson of Columbia, SC, commissioner of agriculture for the State of South Carolina; Third Vice-president John W. O'Neill of Birmingham, vice-president of the Alabama Good Roads Association; Secretary John Asa Rountree of Birmingham, secretary of the Alabama Good Roads Association (and future founder of the Bankhead Highway); Treasurer Judge W. I. Grubb of Birmingham, a U.S. District Judge; and Managing Director Thomas L. Cannon, secretary manager of the St. Louis convention bureau.

April 29-30, 1913 - Second annual convention of the National Old Trails Road Association. In this meeting delegates decided to drop the Ocean-to-Ocean route through Yuma in favor of a route through northern Arizona, the road that would later become U.S. Highway 66.

July 1, 1913 - Lincoln Highway Association officially incorporated in Detroit, Michigan.

October 31, 1913 - Lincoln Highway dedication ceremony.

Novermber, 1913 - Mrs. Alexander B. White of Tennessee, President-General of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), introduces the idea for a coast-to-coast Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway at the UDC national convention in New Orleans.

1914

March 18, 1914 - The Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway Association is formed in St. Joseph, Missouri.

May 7-9, 1914 - Third annual conference of the National Old Trails Road Association in Indianapolis, Indiana.

July 17, 1914 - The Dixie Overland Highway Association is formed after a pathfinding trip is made across the state of Georgia from Savannah to Columbus by the Automobile Club of Savannah. The idea of an ocean to ocean transcontinental highway is quickly conceived at the first meeting in Columbus. Columbus would become the headquarters of the auto trail association.

August 20, 1914 - The Automobile Club of Southern California begins a project of signing the National Old Trails Road from Los Angeles to Kansas City. [Read a Touring Topics article on the project.]

1915

February 13, 1915 - Building begins on a new six mile plank road across the Imperial County sand dunes as part of plans for a transcontinental route to San Diego. The road is built by Colonel Ed Fletcher of San Diego with funding assistance from the citizens of El Centro and Yuma.

April 3, 1915 - Dixie Highway Association forms and meets in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

May 24, 1915 - The Yuma "Ocean-to-Ocean" bridge across the Colorado River is completed.

July 15, 1915 - Fourth annual convention of the National Old Trails Road Association held at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. The Associations slogan became, "Lift the National Old Trails Road out of the mud and DO IT NOW."

September 3, 1915 - The project of the Automobile Club of Southern California to sign the National Old Trails Road from Los Angeles to Kansas City ends when the last sign is placed in Kansas City. The project continued east toward New York after this date.

November 2, 1915 - Southern National Highway motorcade departs from San Diego's Broadway Street heading to Washington, DC. Engineer B. H. Burrell represents Office of Public Roads and Rural Engineering on the 26-day trip.

November 15-16, 1915 - First organizational meeting of the national Jefferson Highway Association was held in New Orleans, Louisiana.

November 27, 1915 - Southern National Highway motorcade arrives in Washington, D.C., having driven 3590 miles.

December 11-12, 1915 - First conference of the Old Spanish Trail Association in Mobile, AL. The goal at that time was a road from Jacksonville, FL to New Orleans, LA.

1916

February 15, 1916 - The Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway Association holds a conference in Indianapolis to decide the eastern route of the highway. A route along future US 40 and the William Penn Highway was chosen.

April 24-25 1916 - About one hundred delegates meet in Omaha, NE to organize the George Washington National Highway, which ran from Savannah, GA to Seattle, WA. Norman B. Abrams represented the Chamber of Commerce and the Seattle Automobile Club as the delegate from that city. Through his efforts Seattle was made the western terminus. Percy Albertson Wells, an Omaha attorney was elected president.

May, 1916 - National Parks Highway Association forms in Spokane, Washington.

July 11, 1916 - Federal Aid Road Act, sponsored by Senator John Hollis Bankhead of Alabama and signed by President Woodrow Wilson, provides millions of dollars of funds for states to build federal roads, with an emphasis on post roads.

September 14–15, 1916 - Fifth annual convention of the National Old Trails Road Association held in Herington, Kansas. The convention started with a parade of 400 cars, with over 700 cars later appearing in town.

October 6, 1916 - The Bankhead National Highway Association forms in Birmingham, AL.

1917

February 9, 1917 - Delegates from the towns between Childress, Texas and Lamar, Colorado meet in Canadian, Oklahoma to form the Dallas-Canadian-Denver Highway. (source: Colorado Highway Bulletin, September 1918, page 15.)

February 14, 1917 - The Dixie Overland Highway Association is incorporated in the state of Georgia for a 20 year period. The association's motto is: "The Shortest and Only Year Round Ocean-to-Ocean Highway."

July 30, 1917 - A Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway conference meets in San Francisco to decide on the California routing of the highway. The Feather River route along future CA-70 and US 50 was chosen.

August 14, 1917 - Dikinson County, Tennessee surveyors begin laying out the route of the future Broadway of America/US Highway 70.

August 16–17, 1917 - Sixth annual convention of the National Old Trails Road Association held in Pueblo, Colorado. Judge Lowe had announced that he would retire as president, but the convention overwhelmingly voted that he should continue as association president.

October 26, 1917 - Formation of the Evergreen National Highway Association in Tacoma, WA by the Interstate Highway Association of Montana, Idaho, and Washington. Officers elected: Dr. Ben F. Hill of Walla Walla, pres.; D. D. A. Outcalt of Tacoma, vice pres.; and A. J. Elrod of Pasco, secr.

1918

February 19, 1918 - The Burlington Way, the Orange and White auto trail, is incorporated.

April 17–18, 1918 - Seventh annual convention of the National Old Trails Road Association held in the convention room of the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. The main points of discussion related to funding pavement construction and the amount that each county had completed to that time.

August, 1918 - Fifth annual convention of the Dixie Overland Highway meets to discuss the western terminus of the route. The choice is between Los Angeles and San Diego. Stanley Hufflund of San Diego, the representative for California Governor Stephens, supports San Diego as the terminus. A letter from Ed Fletcher in support of a San Diego terminus is read.

1919

February 22, 1919 - A group meets in Roanoke, VA and plans a road from Gettysburg to New Orleans to be named after General Robert E. Lee. The Lee Highway was conceived by Professor D. C. Humphreys of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, and Dr. S.M. Johnson of New Mexico.

March 12, 1919 - Convention in Quincy, Illinois to organize the Mississippi River Scenic Highway Association. Officers were elected and a constitution and by-laws adopted. Truman T. Pierson was elected president. [source: Mississippi Valley Magazine, July 1919, p.45.]

May, 1919 - The Dixie Overland Highway officially choses San Diego as the western terminus of the transcontinental highway. Ed Fletcher of San Diego is elected president of the Association.

July 7, 1919 - The Motor Transport Corps of the U.S. Army begins a transcontinental convoy from Washington D.C. to Gettysburg and from there to San Francisco along the Lincoln Highway to test the feasability of moving troops across country. Dr. S.M. Johnson is their official spokesman, and Lt. Colonel Dwight David Eisenhower was part of the convoy.

Summer 1919 - O. M. Eldridge, engineer for the Bureau of Public Roads, travels 2,600 miles to San Diego by automobile to inspect the route recommended by the Dixie Overland Highway Association.

October 15, 1919 - First Annual Meeting of the Mississippi River Scenic Highway Association in Memphis, TN.  F. T. Lincoln, Secretary. Source; The Road Maker, Excavator and Grader, Vol. 13, No. 10, p. 72. October 1919.

October 19, 1919 - The Board of Trustees of the Evergreen National Highway Association meets with the Trustees of the Pacific Northwest Tourist Association in Tacoma, Washington (the ENH headquarters). A map is distributed showing the full proposed route of the Evergreen National Highway going from Vancouver, BC south to the Mexican border at Douglas, Arizona, then east past El Paso all the way to the east coast, then north all the way to Augusta, Maine.

October 22, 1919 - The Mississippi River Scenic Highway Association is incorporated. [source]

December 3, 1919 - Lee Highway Association is officially formed.

1920

February 9, 1920 - The Bankhead Highway Association finally decides on it western route from El Paso to San Diego. The route will largely follow what later became US 80.

April, 1920 - Dr. S.M. Johnson becomes General Director of the Lee Highway Association.

June 14, 1920 - The second U.S. Army Motor Convoy Expedition, lead by Colonel John F. Franklin, begins a transcontinental convoy from Washington, D.C. to San Diego along the Bankhead Highway. The convoy consisted of 32 officers and 160 enlisted men traveling in 50 trucks and automobiles. J.A. Rountree, secretary of the Bankhead Highway Association travels with the convoy to San Diego.

October 2, 1920 - The U.S. Army Motor Convoy Expedition enters San Diego, finishing its trip west along the Bankhead Highway.

1921

February 28, 1921 - A decision is made by the Lee Highway Association to turn west from Chattanooga rather than heading to New Orleans. The Association chooses the Borderland/OST route for its alignment west of El Paso.The Directors of the Lee Highway Association approve the entire transcontinental route.

September 15, 1921 - Ninth convention of the National Old Trails Road Association in the Hotel Baltimore in Kansas City. Much of the discussion revolved around the Federal Highway Act.

November 9, 1921 - The Federal Highway Act is signed into law by President Harding. The Federal Highway Act provides funds to states for interstate highways.

1922


1923

June 4, 1923 - The Zero Milestone on the Ellipse south of the White House, is dedicated with President Harding participating. The milestone was installed by Lee Highway co-founder Dr. S.M. Johnson on the route of the Lee Highway. The inscriptions on the Zero Milestone commorate the two U.S. Army transcontinental convoys down the Lincoln and Bankhead highways.

November 17, 1923 - Ed Fletcher reads a message from President Coolidge at the dedication of the Pacific (Zero) Milestone in San Diego's Horton Square (formerly Grant Park). This was on the route of the OST and the Lee Highway.

1924

March 27, 1924 - Governor Pat Neff of Texas dedicates the Zero-mile marker of the OST on the grounds of the San Antonio City Hall.

1925


1926

May 12, 1926 - Dedication of the First Pacific Terminal plaque of the Jefferson Davis Highway in San Diego. The Jefferson Davis ran from Washington, D.C. to San Diego, then up the Pacific Highway to the Canadian border.

October 20-23, 1926 - Col. Ed Fletcher heads a time-race along the Dixie Overland Highway from San Diego to Savannah, GA in a Cadillac sedan. The group later travels south to St. Augustine to begin the return journey via the Old Spanish Trail. The team in the Cadillac made the run in 71 hours 15 minutes across a distance 2535 miles.

Return motorcade led by Ed Fletcher along the Old Spanish Trail from St. Augustine to San Diego.

November 11, 1926 - The U.S. numbered highway sysyem is finally approved, creating the first federally funded U.S. highways such as U.S. 1, 30, 40, 66, 80 and 101.

1927


1928

April (15), 1928 - The Broadway of America motorcade led by Ed Fletcher from San Diego travels to the Broadway of America Convention in Memphis, TN. Broadway of America was the successor organization to the Southern National Highway group. The road would stretch from Broadway in New York to Broadway in San Diego.

1929

March 23, 1929 - OST motorcade leaves San Diego?
April 2-4, 1929 - Dedication and gala for the Zero Milestone in St. Augustine, FL at the beginning of the Old Spanish Trail.

October 1929 - Return motorcade to San Diego

1930


1931


1932


1933


1934


1935


1936


1937


1938

June 8, 1938 - President Franklin Rooselvelt signs the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1938.

July 3, 1938 - 25th anniversary of the Lincoln Highway celebrated on NBC radio.


1939


1940



Parsa

[US 80 Notes for Georgia]

I'm not sure if anyone will be able to follow this, but I'm posting my research notes on US 80 in the state of Georgia. As I aquire better maps of the area, I will be able to refine these.

US 80 Notes for Georgia

In Savannah: US 80 probably took Old Louisville Rd on the west side of town.
Stilson: Likely on Stilson Rd. Brick?
Railroad Bed Rd and Railroad street are very old railway berm, not 80.
Possible sharp bend on Joiner and Old Leefield Roads.
Statesboro: Possible track is Savannah Ave, E. Main St., N. Main or Blitch St to Parrish St. then NW.
Hopeulikit: original curve.
East of Twin City: Likely on faint trace of Old Statesboro Rd. then across on Broads Strren, and west on Old Swainsboro Road. A diagonal road appears to connect Old Swainsboro Rd with US 80.
Eagle Ave loop may be an old alignment.
Possible very old track through Norristown. A road connects Keas Old Mill Pond Road with 80.
East-west tracks on each side of Adrian are old railroad grades.
Ralph Wood Rd west of Dublin is a likely loop.
Old Macon Rd toward Jeffersonville may be old path, but the Dixie Overland did not go this way.
Haskins Crossing west of Dudley is split off of Dixie Overland to Cochran and Hawkinsville (GA 26).
Montrose: Old alignment may be on 3rd then along Montrose Allentown Rd. and into Danville.
Dry Branch: East of tracks the road curved with the RR tracks and crossed at a curving angle (see topo map).
Jeffersonville Rd is the likely old road into Macon. It is continuous with Main St.
Macon (Ft. Hawkins): Main St was likely 80 all the way along its length to the river crossing.
Macon: Original likely jog on Walnut to Broadway. 80 is now Martin Luther King Jr. Oldest road west of town was probably Montpelier, Columbus Rd, Mercer University Dr. (GA 74) and Columbus Rd. A diagonal once existed where Columbus Rd meets 80.
West of Lizella: Winding Columbus Rd was the original.
Geneva: original curve rather than right angle. See topo. For eastbound drivers used Magnolia St.
West of Geneva: several old alignments straightened when larger road built.
Old alignment west of Geneva school
Sharper curve at South Fork river (see topo).
Sharper curve at Rockmore Creek.
Sharper curve at Mt. Pilgrim Church on Old Macon Rd..
Faint curve at Baker Creek (see topo)
Curve (N side) at Crossroads school on Upatoi Lane.
Upatoi: Upatoi Lane is original 80 (see topo).
Chatsworth Road may possibly be an older alignment, but 80 (Macon Rd.) follows tracks. However, an old diagonal is visible in aerials merging into old 80 on Macon Rd.
Macon Rd (GA-22) was original alignment rather than Beaver Run Rd.
Where Chatsworth Rd merges, the topo indicates a purple realognment of GA-22. It looks like a trace exists farther north of the current road running straight through the trees.
Old Macon Rd east of Parkhill Cemetery seems to be a likely old alignment.
Macon Rd becomes Wynnton Rd. GA-22 turns onto Buena Vista/13th Ave, then turns west on 13th St.
The 13th street bridge is not on the topo, and the road west of the river is a purple realignment, so old 80 likely crossed on the 14th street bridge (stone c.1914, truss c.1909), which is smaller. 13th and 14th merge to become Crawford Rd which is old 80. A 1919 Blue Book map shows Macon rd becoming 10th street and a bridge on 10th. There is a structure there, but no sign of a road on the other side. There is a small old bridge at Dillingham St one block south however. A bridge at Dillingham, built by John Godwin and Horace King (the second one they build here), was burned by a Confederate general to prevent Ohio forces from crossing. One Columbus bridge was build by famous black bridge engineer Horace King. Old postcards show a truss bridge at 14th in 1909 and stone/concrete bridges on 14th and Dillingham in 1912.
Chatahoochee River and Alabama Line.

Parsa

I've been looking into finding the national headquarters for the various auto trail associations, and I'm posting my initial findings below:

Dixie Highway - Chattanooga, Tennessee (Patten Hotel)
Dixie Overland Highway - Columbus, Georgia
Florida Short Route - Columbus, Georgia
Lincoln Highway - Detroit, Michigan
National Old Trails Road - Kansas City, Missouri
National Park-to-Park Highway - Cody, Wyoming
National Parks Highway - Spokane, Washington
Ocean-to-Ocean Highway - Redlands, California
Old Spanish Trail - San Antonio, Texas
Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway - Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Victory Highway - Topeka, Kansas
Yellowstone Highway - Douglas, Wyoming; Cody, Wyoming
Yellowstone Trail - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Parsa

The first of the auto trail pages has been upload and it covers the Old Spanish Trail.

I plan on expanding this greatly. The driving guide will begin soon. I have completed preliminary driving directions for all of former US 290 from San Antonio to the junction with US 80 east of Kent. I have discovered not only some old sections from 1931-33, but also some 1919 era roadbed. I did this using the following resources:
"Eastern Coastal Highway and Old Spanish Trail", ACSC, 1934.
Mohawk Hobbs Grade and Surface Guide "Old Spanish Trail."
Google maps and aerial photos.
Topographic maps (1:24000, 1:100000, 1:250000) via Topozone.
NGS benchmark descriptions via Geocaching.com
I also consulted old Automobile Blue Books from the 1920s, but these were not of much help in comparison to the ACSC maps.

I still want to check the route with Terrabrowser aerial photos. I want to post some detailed aerial overlays for some of the old sections with the evidence I have to prove they were old alignments.

For OST fans, also check out my US 80 maps, photos and driving guides for California

Parsa

If material of a blatant advertising nature, or not suitable for family viewing, is posted anywhere in these forums, you will be banned permanently. Take you garbage elsewhere. It's not wanted here.

Parsa

This thread is about old emigrant and freight trails, and their relation to later auto trails and highways.

Parsa

Check out a few photos from the opening day ceremonies for California's Historic US 80 between downtown San Diego and Viejas Casino on the Viejas Reservation:

Opening day ceremonies for Historic California US 80


Parsa

Evidently if you are using certain versions of Internet Explorer on certain operating systems, there is a problem with the page length and scrolling on the site. This is not a fault with the CSS on the site. It's a software glitch in IE. I already have over half a dozen hacks in my code to accomodate Internet Explorer. All other browsers such as Firefox, Netscape, Safari, etc. seem to view things fine. Internet Explorer 7 has been reported to fix the problem.

Parsa

Welcome fans of the Broadway of America, historic US 80!

I'm a member of the Historic US 80 group here in California. The road is now officially an historic route in California! Lets work together to get the whole road designated. This is the place to discuss America's all-weather southern borderland highway.

Parsa