BabyBoomerBob Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 A few years back, I was intrigued to find an image of an old map on the net showing US 37 leading out of Chattanooga and headed for Kentucky through Sequatchie Valley. After more web searching I discovered Robert D. Vroz's web page listing all the US highways, past and present. And there was US 37! (A big tip of the BabyBoomer bucket hat to you, sir!) A search on Wikipedia revealed a bit of its history. The highway was proposed by AASHO sometime between 1934 and 1944, with the idea to eliminate the split in US 31 between Louisville and Nashville. US 31E would have been decommissioned. The routing was developed, but for some reason, political, I suspect, it was never approved. So it became something of a "phantom" highway. I couldn't help but think that such a route, so close to me bore exploring. Especially since I was familiar with the southernmost part. So a few weeks back, Susan and I spent a day driving from Valdeau, TN, near Chattanooga, to Crossville, seeking out what would have been the ill fated US 37. Once again, my pictures are at http://community.webshots.com/user/babyboomerbob The route *presumably* began at the intersection of Dayton Boulevard and Signal Mountain Road (aka William Howard Taft Highway). <Valdeau 01, 02> This was a major Dixie Highway intersection in the 20's, the DHW heading west towards Jasper and the Tennessee Connector heading north toward Dayton and Knoxville. We drove out Signal Mountain Road which became US 127 after the interchange with the US 27 bypass, then went left on Suck creek Road (TN 27). As we drove along the Tennessee River, I noticed smoke on Elder Mountain. The weather had been dry, and forest fires were a problem. I stopped to take a picture <Fire on the mountain>, then noticed an old bridge across Shoal Creek nearby.<Old Shoal Creek Bridge> I missed it last time we were here:) Something else I missed earlier was a massive piece of rock that had separated from the side of Suck Creek Canyon. Nasty looking:) <Landslide area> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Reese Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 Could you post the link to Robert D. Vroz's web page listing all the US highways, past and present. I would be most interested in getting a chance to look that over. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabyBoomerBob Posted March 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2007 Could you post the link to Robert D. Vroz's web page listing all the US highways, past and present. I would be most interested in getting a chance to look that over. Thanks. Sure thing! http://www.us-highways.com/ And here's his Dixie Highway page... http://www.us-highways.com/dixiehwy.htm PS, sorry about the mess ups on this post. I didn't mean to post the incomplete version. Wonder how I can delete it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Reese Posted March 31, 2007 Report Share Posted March 31, 2007 Bob, Thanks, what a great resouce. Once we plan our vacations, I will be poring over the site to find the most enjoyable routes rather than the shorterst or fastest that I get from mapquest. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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