Happy 100th birthday to the U.S. highway system

On this date in 1926, the U.S. highway system came to be. During the first quarter of the 20th century, the automobile became wildly popular. In 1916 alone, about one million automobiles were sold1. The United States very much took to the wheel. Motorists wanted to go places, but found two real challenges. First was the condition of the available roads. A 1904 government road inventory showed that 93 percent of the nation’s roads were made of dirt2. They were impassable in wet weather. Second was finding one’s way. We take for granted our well-marked road network today, but then, especially beyond city boundaries there were few markings. Directions were given by landmark: “turn left at the giant oak tree, and then right at the school.” It was very easy to get lost. From a 1916 guide that provided city-to-city directions around the Midwest. Note the description of the road at the beginning, and note some of the landmark-based directions. Grassroots organizations made the earliest…

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