History: June 2013 Archives

Links: Auto trails and named highways

Highway history: Massive collection of links from the Federal Highway Administration
Auto trails links from AmericanRoads.us
North American Auto Trails: Lists of hundreds of trails, including single- and two-state trails

1923 map of transcontinental trails
Early Texas Trails
Old Spanish Trail
National Park-to-Park Highway map
Pikes Peak Ocean-to-Ocean Highway map segments
Lincoln Highway

From Names to Numbers: The Origins of the U.S. Numbered Highway System - Highway History - FHWA

How America went from hundreds of unofficially named auto trails (National Old Trail, Lincoln Highway, Ozark Trail, Dixie Highway, to name a few) to a national numbering system for US Highways in 1926. This article also explains how the Chicago-Los Angeles was almost numbered US 60 and why it was changed to US 66.