BlueRidgeMike
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Posts posted by BlueRidgeMike
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Sweet! Funny story - your picture put this thread at the top of the list, and I hadn't seen it before. I saw that Denny was looking for routing info and a deep discussion ensued with Jim and Dave. So I dug my Clason atlases out, opened Google maps on my computer, then spent about an hour following the 1925-26 routing and plotting it on the current map. Then as I was about to respond I looked at the date and realized the discussion had taken place almost 7 years ago! Oh well, better late than never.
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Maybe it will be a nudge for that Kearney to San Francisco drive I hear you're thinking about.
Yeah, Sharon told me about a Hotel in Nevada she wants to stay in. When I asked her what brought that about, she held up your book. I think between the map on the LH website and your book we will be good to go. Maybe the northern part of the Dixie Highway this summer too.
Mike
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Denny,
Mine came yesterday. Thanks, and congratulations on a job well done! I'm also impressed by the turnaround time. I barely got mine finished for Christmas for a Route 66 trip I took with Sharon in 2011.
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Hi Denny,
Thanks for the link. I think one of the problems with the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway is that it seems to have truly existed in some states but may have been the historic equivalent of "vaporware" in others. Then these side routs like the Biloxi, MS to Fairview, KY didn't help. I recently drove the section between Hopkinsville and Fairview, KY. I didn't go up in the monument (don't even know if you still can) but back in the 1970s I was stationed nearby at Ft. Campbell, KY and this was part of US-68 at the time. We drove past here frequently and I went up to the top of the monument back then. I notice that Google has it labeled as the Jefferson Davis Road, and they call the current US-68/State Highway 80 the Jefferson Davis Highway/Russellville Road.
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Hi Dave,
Geographically speaking, North Carolina consists of the mountains in the west, the ocean in the east and the flat center. The Jefferson Davis Highway runs through the flat center. The route travels through much of the state in low population areas. All of the towns mentioned in my earlier post are small until you reach the Chapel Hill - Durham area, which combined with Raleigh, constitutes a major metropolitan area. I did notice that much of the US-15 section had a Jefferson Davis Highway sign attached to the US-15 sign posts; I didn't notice that signage on US-1.
More recently, we drove sections of the JDH through South Carolina on a trip to Augusta, Georgia. I haven't had a chance to investigate it yet, but I think the JDH and the Carolina Alignment of the Dixie Highway share some roadway along Broad Street in Augusta.
At some point we will try to drive the NC section again when the weather is a little better, giving us more opportunity to explore.
Mike
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A couple of weekends ago we took an overnight trip with Monte Carlo #2 to follow the Jefferson Davis Highway through North Carolina. Beginning at the South Carolina border we traveled north, following as much as possible the original alignment of US-1 to Sanford, then US-15 to the Virginia border. Based on a combination of a 1925 Clason's Atlas, a 1926 Rand McNally Atlas and a series of Jefferson Davis Highway monuments, the route appears to travel through the following cities:
South Carolina State Line
Rockingham
Marston
Southern Pines
Cameron
Sanford
Colon
Pittsboro
Bynum
Rigsbee
Chapel Hill
Durham (Beginning here, the atlas refers to this as the Bankhead highway heading into VA)
Northside
Creedmoor
Hester
Tar River
Oxford
Stovall
Bullock
Virginia State Line
We were intending to identify the locations of all the known JDH monuments along the route, but it was a rainy, miserable day so we only found a couple. We backtracked to Durham, where we spent the night, then followed old US-70 which was the routing of the Bankhead Highway back to Greensboro. From there we split off and headed back home. Even with the weather it was an enjoyable drive.
Mike
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Great blog as always Denny. Safe travels home.
Mike
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I was able to share the first half of the trip with Denny and some of the others, but must live vicariously through his posts for the second half.
Mike
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As a small aside, I found it sad that in the same biennium (October 1, 1922 – September 30, 1924), the State apparently shifted their naming protocol, and stripped the state established Inland Empire Highway of its title, renaming it State Road #3. The other named highways in Washington suffered the same fate. Then to add insult to injury, after communities recognized the value of named highways and reinstated the use of Inland Empire Highway, sign makers have abbreviated the name on street signs to IEH! Sounds like what I'd say if I stepped in something in a barnyard!
There is definitely something lost with the replacement of names with numbers or letters. It reminds me of a previous conversation with Cort on this forum regarding the movement away from car names to exciting monikers like MX-6 and G35. With respect to the highways I understand the reasons for the change, but I'll always prefer the Dixie Overland Highway to US-80.
Mike
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Great story, pictures and sleuthing Dave!
Mike
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Denny, if we see you on the side of the road on the LH we'll be sure to stop. Hope you'll do the same.
Mike
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Yep, that's what I'll be driving unless something drastic happens between now and then. I have been giving it a good workout in preparation for the LH tour. I drove it on a 2,200 round trip to the Jefferson Highway conference in Olathe, KS with a sidetrip through Missouri on Route 66. Then we did our loop on the sourthern Dixie Highway. Last weekend we did a 400 mile day trip to northern Georgia. The car is doing what it is supposed to, at least for now. I hope you are able to bring the Valiant.
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Denny - I look forward to seeing you on the Lincoln Highway in a couple of weeks.
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Well it took a while because I have been busy Dixie Highwayin' and other highwayin' this year, but I finally made it down to Florida to snap the 10th and possibly last of the Robert E. Lee / Dixie Highway monuments placed by the Daughters of the Confederacy. Here are the images, ordered from northernmost to southernmost. One is on the Eastern Alignment, one is on the Western Alignment, and the rest are on the Carolina Division of the highway. There may be others, but thus far no one seems to know for sure.
Franklin, Ohio - The only one of the 10 on the Eastern Alignment, and the only one in the North.
TN/NC State Line - As you drive from Newport, TN to Hot Springs, NC you will spot this monument on your left as you cross into North Carolina.
Hot Springs, NC - Just before making a sharp left and driving downhill into the town of Hot Springs you will spot the largest of the 10 monuments on your right.
Marshall, NC - Marshall used to be a one street town, bordered by rough mountain terrain on one side and the French Broad River on the other. This monument sits in front of the Madison County Courthouse in the middle of town.
Asheville, NC - In the heart of Asheville in Pack Square sits the next monument, dwarfed in the shadow of the Vance Memorial obelisk.
Fletcher, NC - The next monument can be seen on a busy commercial stretch of US-25, right in front of the Calvary Episcopal Church.
Hendersonville, NC - The next monument is hard to find if you don't know where to look because it no longer sits on the Dixie Highway. The highway ran down Main Street in Hendersonville, and the monument once stood in front of the historic Henderson County Courthouse. For a reason unknown to me, the monument was moved and rededicated in 2008 to Church Street which runs behind the courthouse. This may have been done to follow what once was the location of the re-routed US-25.
NC/SC State Line - As you leave North Carolina on Old US-25, look to your left and you will see the last monument in the state.
Greenville, SC - The last monument on the Carolina Division of the Dixie Highway can be found on Main Street in Greenville, though technically it is a block or two north of where the highway actually intersected with the street.
Bradfordville, FL - You will be driving a long way before seeing monument #10. The Dixie Highway follows the Carolina Division to its intersection with the Eastern Alignment in Waynesboro, Georgia. You will then continue on to Jacksonville, Florida where you will leave the Eastern Alignment and take a connector to Tallahassee, where you will pick up US-319 and begin heading north on the Western Alignment of the highway. As you approach the Georgia border you will make a U-turn on the divided highway, heading back south about 8/10 of a mile. A pullout on the right holds the location of the 10th monument. -
Thanks for the tips Dave. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!
Mike
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Jim - I probably have 80-90% of the road in NC pretty accurately mapped via a number of sources, and I think I know most of the rest of it. There are just a couple of places - the Asheville to Weaverville route being one of them - that I keep flip-flopping like a politician.
Dave - Thanks for the tip on the USGS maps. I have actually used them in the past for genealogical purposes like plotting land deeds, but never for this purpose. I spent some time last night looking at the maps you identified, and they are helpful. The one thing I don't know how to do is overlay them on Google Earth or Google Maps. I have seen NC maps done that way and they are amazingly useful. I have wondered about doing that for a while so maybe the holiday weekend is as good a time as any for figuring it out.
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Sometimes the sleuthing just makes you crazy, but it's still the best part of it. I spent part of this past weekend, again, trying to figure out a short section of the original Dixie Highway just north of Asheville, NC. I know the approximate route, but all of my Clason atlases, ABBs, etc. are still not definitive enough to convince me that I am in the correct location. Someday...
Mike
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I really enjoy reading your blog posts Jim. I spend time on some segment or another of the Dixie Highway (Carolina alignment) between Knoxville, TN and Greenville, SC at every opportunity. Trying to find the original routing between these points has been challenging to say the least, but every new discovery is worth the effort.
Mike
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This is great Dave! I wish that we had known about it when we made our U.S. 20 trip in 2011. We spent a good deal of time at the nearby Craters of the Moon National Monument.
Mike
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I hope so, but more importantly, I hope you get to feeling better very soon!
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Hi Cort,
You'll have to stay in the Wigwam Village #2 in Cave City to finish the trifecta. I think I'd skip the winter months though, unless you have a warm set of pajamas.
Mike
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Thanks Dave. There were several shots of the Ford, but they were all east of Amarillo. I think there are some in front of the Boots Motel, the Wagon Wheel Motel, and right under the Route 66 "Begin" sign at Adams & Michigan in downtown Chicago. I had planned to get pictures at the two 66 wigwams in Holbrook and Rialto, plus I especially wanted to get one under the Blue Swallow Motel sign in Tucumcari and in front of the Santa Monica Pier. Oh well, maybe another time or another car.
Mike
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Hi Denny,
I forget that I go by a different screen name here and that I know both you and Cort from both places. The radiator was the most expensive souvenir I ever bought, especially when you add in 8 days of renting a car, but all turned out well.
The biggest disappointment was that we had to abort our return trip along US-80 though we were able to capture a chunk of the Lee Highway. Another real high point was getting to stay in the newly restored Boots Motel in Carthage, MO. It's a must for anyone passing through there. I also got some great shots of an old abandoned section of the Jefferson Highway in Carthage that used to be North Main Street.Mike
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Unfortunately for me there were no teepees available when I passed through but it is on the list for next time.
http://www.rwphotos.com/blog/?p=904
Roadhound
On our most recent trip just completed a couple of weeks ago we stayed in all three. Cave City, KY on May 30th, June 8th in Holbrook, AZ (first time there) and June 10th in Rialto/San Bernardino, CA. They are all fun in their own way, but I can also confirm that a wigwam in Kentucky in February is mighty cold as well!
My trip blog, if you're interested is http://mecurtis.blogspot.com
Mike
L H Travelogue Published
in Lincoln Highway / U.S. 30 / U.S. 50
Posted
I'm not sure which one she was looking at. It's much more about the adventure rather than the amenities anyway. We're planning on paying a return visit to Wigwam Village #2, perhaps as soon as this weekend. Elegant it ain't, but it's definitely fun.