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Celebrating our two-lane highways of yesteryear…And the joys of driving them today!

81 Years Ago - Us Road System Numbering


Larry F.
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"On January 1, 1927, “Final location of the United States’ most important roads in the country was announced today by the bureau of public roads of the department of agriculture. The system as finally selected embraces ten main transcontinental routes designated by numbers which are multiples of ten while the important north and south routes are numbers 1, 11, 21, etc.”

 

Thus reported the Chicago Tribune on January 2, 1927..."

 

Balance of this nice blog entry on the Windy City Road Warrior site is at:

 

Windy City Road Warrior

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"On January 1, 1927, “Final location of the United States’ most important roads in the country was announced today by the bureau of public roads of the department of agriculture. The system as finally selected embraces ten main transcontinental routes designated by numbers which are multiples of ten while the important north and south routes are numbers 1, 11, 21, etc.”

 

Thus reported the Chicago Tribune on January 2, 1927..."

 

Balance of this nice blog entry on the Windy City Road Warrior site is at:

 

Windy City Road Warrior

 

Larry,

 

Thanks for the report and link. No doubt whatsoever that the nation wide numbering system brought needed clarity to the designation of our main highways. But I love the old auto trail names! The names captured a sense of adventure and romance impossible with numbers. With road names like the Custer Battlefield, Trail to Sunset, Arrowhead Trail, Yellowstone, Dixie Overland, Shenandoah Valley, and Lackawana, who would want to stay home?

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

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Somehow "1.9 CAMBRIDGE * Turn right on Prospect St. with trolley." (1918 New England North - Goodrich Tour Book) does have a more advernturous feel to it, doesn't it.

 

As you follow the instructions, mile by mile, in some of these old guide books it makes you wonder what happens if that big red barn you're supposed to turn right at has been repainted!!! Or the trolley tracks have been re-routed since the guide was published. Truly did add an element of suspense to the whole project.

 

Safe traveling all.

 

Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

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Somehow "1.9 CAMBRIDGE * Turn right on Prospect St. with trolley." (1918 New England North - Goodrich Tour Book) does have a more advernturous feel to it, doesn't it.

 

As you follow the instructions, mile by mile, in some of these old guide books it makes you wonder what happens if that big red barn you're supposed to turn right at has been repainted!!! Or the trolley tracks have been re-routed since the guide was published. Truly did add an element of suspense to the whole project.

 

Safe traveling all.

 

Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

 

Alex & Larry,

 

One of the fun things to do with the old tour books (like the Automobile Blue Books) today is to follow the old directions. It can take a bit of work because so many of the landmarks have changed (They tore down that old red barn!) In the process I have almost always made some “discovery” of interest to old roadies like us.

 

The modern tools we have, like Google Earth, have made it a lot easier. Now you can easily measure distances, and see the world from above, practically down to a pebble on the ground.

 

I remember trying to figure the route of an old road across the Utah desert west of Pipe Springs. It could have been any of half a dozen traces on USGS maps, and none of the roads “went through.” Years later I revisited the quest with Google Earth and Bingo! there it was snaking down the side of a bluff, but washed out in several places so that it was not a “road” anymore on any map.

 

In regard to the named trails and US highway numbers, the character of the Automobile Blue Books dramatically change with the advent of the US numbering system. In the teens and through the mid 1920’s they give detailed turn by turn directions, less detailed as the years progress. I have 50 or 60 of them from over the years. Then in 1927 the few I have after 1926 become atlases with descriptions of sights rather than directions. Either the numbering system substantially reduced the need for turn by turn directions, or the roads were so well marked, details were unnecessary.

 

After 1926 or 1927 I feel the emphasis changes in most travel guides from directions on how to get there, to what is along the way. The Hobbs (and later Gousha) Guides give road surface, grade, and accommodation information, but little in the way of detailed directions, the ABB’s disappear, etc.

 

So I feel the numbering of the US highways also marks kind of a watershed in long distance road travel in this country. The pioneering stage is definitely over, transcontinental and other long distance road travel is no longer a novelty. Accommodations are everywhere, gumbo along the main routes is largely a thing of the past, and roads will evolve and improve, but not change dramatically until the 1950’s and the interstate system.

 

When I look back with my limited knowledge, there was a period before about 1913 when transcontinental travel by auto was only for the most intrepid, and along unmarked and often non existent roads. Then you have the Ocean the Ocean Rock Highway or Overland Trail (AKA the Lincoln Highway), the Northwest Trail (AKA the Yellowstone Trail) and the Trail to Sunset (AKA The National Old Trails Road and Route 66) in the early teens.

 

Then beginning in 1913 and continuing for the next ten or twelve years there is a proliferation of auto trails, most often the creation of a few men with commercial motivation. Practically none of the over 200 auto trails involved road building by the promoters. The Lincoln Highway and perhaps a small number of the big names offer a limited exception. Most involved selling ads and memberships, and painting a few poles.

 

Ah, but what ”fun” it must have been! We could have “created a road” if we were willing to go from town to town with our membership book, promises, and paint cans!

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

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"On January 1, 1927, “Final location of the United States’ most important roads in the country was announced today by the bureau of public roads of the department of agriculture. The system as finally selected embraces ten main transcontinental routes designated by numbers which are multiples of ten while the important north and south routes are numbers 1, 11, 21, etc.”

 

Thus reported the Chicago Tribune on January 2, 1927..."

 

Balance of this nice blog entry on the Windy City Road Warrior site is at:

 

Windy City Road Warrior

 

Hey--thanks for noticing my new blog almost before I had made it public!

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Thanks for the great info, Larry. I haven't done much formal research on the numbering system but the information you povided meshes well with my spotty and very subjective observations. I remember my dad telling me that even numbers meant east/west routes and odds referred to north/south. As a youngster the three-digit alternate routes frequently confused me. Eventually they made sense, but sometimes I still scratch my head. Until 1967 (kudos to Dave for verifying that date) we had US 410 traversing Washington east and west. I gather it bore some relationship to US 10. Similarly, we still have US 195 and 395, offshoots of US 95. Near Wallula we have a small part of US 730, perhaps an offshoot of US 30? That's what I would guess anyway.

 

I've noticed that most public modes of transportation create schedules where an eastbound movement is even numbered, while westward schedules are odd numbered. North and south are even/odd, respectively. The railroads originated that system in the 19th Century. Bus lines and even airlines use the same system.

 

The loss of the named routes was a shame, but the standardization certainly helped. As my dad or mom navigated through various towns in Washington, Idaho, and Montana I remember looking frantically for that comforting black and white shield bearing the number 10. Often the sign would say "You are heading east (or west) on US 10. Always good to know. Many states have tied their numbering systems to the Federal Interstate system. It sure beats trying to discriminate between Highway 5F, 5G, 5H like we used to do around Tacoma up until the late 1960s.

 

Drive safely.

 

Ray

 

 

e='Larry F.' date='Jan 2 2008, 08:16 PM' post='9123']

"On January 1, 1927, “Final location of the United States’ most important roads in the country was announced today by the bureau of public roads of the department of agriculture. The system as finally selected embraces ten main transcontinental routes designated by numbers which are multiples of ten while the important north and south routes are numbers 1, 11, 21, etc.”

 

Thus reported the Chicago Tribune on January 2, 1927..."

 

Balance of this nice blog entry on the Windy City Road Warrior site is at:

 

Windy City Road Warrior

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Thanks for the great info, Larry. I haven't done much formal research on the numbering system but the information you povided meshes well with my spotty and very subjective observations. I remember my dad telling me that even numbers meant east/west routes and odds referred to north/south. As a youngster the three-digit alternate routes frequently confused me. Eventually they made sense, but sometimes I still scratch my head. Until 1967 (kudos to Dave for verifying that date) we had US 410 traversing Washington east and west. I gather it bore some relationship to US 10. Similarly, we still have US 195 and 395, offshoots of US 95. Near Wallula we have a small part of US 730, perhaps an offshoot of US 30? That's what I would guess anyway.

 

I've noticed that most public modes of transportation create schedules where an eastbound movement is even numbered, while westward schedules are odd numbered. North and south are even/odd, respectively. The railroads originated that system in the 19th Century. Bus lines and even airlines use the same system.

 

The loss of the named routes was a shame, but the standardization certainly helped. As my dad or mom navigated through various towns in Washington, Idaho, and Montana I remember looking frantically for that comforting black and white shield bearing the number 10. Often the sign would say "You are heading east (or west) on US 10. Always good to know. Many states have tied their numbering systems to the Federal Interstate system. It sure beats trying to discriminate between Highway 5F, 5G, 5H like we used to do around Tacoma up until the late 1960s.

 

Drive safely.

 

Ray

e='Larry F.' date='Jan 2 2008, 08:16 PM' post='9123']

"On January 1, 1927, “Final location of the United States’ most important roads in the country was announced today by the bureau of public roads of the department of agriculture. The system as finally selected embraces ten main transcontinental routes designated by numbers which are multiples of ten while the important north and south routes are numbers 1, 11, 21, etc.”

 

Thus reported the Chicago Tribune on January 2, 1927..."

 

Balance of this nice blog entry on the Windy City Road Warrior site is at:

 

Windy City Road Warrior

 

 

Anyone ever read the story about a young Dwight Eisenhower, I believe it was, who led the first road trek across the country in a caravan? I recall he speaks of cars breaking down left and right. And the atrocious road conditions in the 20's. Certainly, in the mountain, plains and desert West, most every roadway must have been unpaved. Probably dirt and gravel in their best conditions....rutted mudholes at their worst.

 

And he had the resources of the post-WW I military at his back. It boggles the mind in this day and age, the military backing this expedition. How awesome would it be if the military footed the bill for one of our road trips? Heh, heh. Ooooooh, what we could do........ ;)

 

 

Matt Smallwood

 

 

 

 

I was mistaken, Eisenhower made the trip in 1919.....and here's some of the story via the FWHA.

 

 

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/brainia...rinterstate.htm

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That 1919 motorcade was nicely documented by Pete Davies in American Road: The Story of an Epic Transcontinental Journey at the Dawn of the Motor Age. Ike was pretty young then and didn't quite lead the show but was along the whole way. The trip is often cited as something that made a lasting impression on him.

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  • 2 weeks later...
That 1919 motorcade was nicely documented by Pete Davies in American Road: The Story of an Epic Transcontinental Journey at the Dawn of the Motor Age. Ike was pretty young then and didn't quite lead the show but was along the whole way. The trip is often cited as something that made a lasting impression on him.

 

 

Thanks, Denny......I didn't know it was contained in a book....heh, heh. I'll have to give it a read one day. :D

 

Matt

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Thanks, Denny......I didn't know it was contained in a book....heh, heh. I'll have to give it a read one day. :D

 

Matt

 

Matt,

 

It is a recommended "read" and it will disabuse you of any romanticized notions you may have of early travel on the Lincoln. They spent more time digging than driving!

 

Kep the Show on the Road

Dave

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That 1919 motorcade was nicely documented by Pete Davies in American Road: The Story of an Epic Transcontinental Journey at the Dawn of the Motor Age. Ike was pretty young then and didn't quite lead the show but was along the whole way. The trip is often cited as something that made a lasting impression on him.

 

As did his experience while commander of the Allied Forces in Europe when he saw how effecient the German Autobahn was. As a military commander movement of men and materials is everything. Easy to see how he saw the building a strong, fast road system as vital for defense and prosperity.

 

Roadhound

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