U.S. 52 Charleston, South Carolina, to Portal, North Dakota

by
Richard F. Weingroff
Federal Highway Administration

When the Joint Board on Interstate Highways issued its report, the proposed U.S. highway network included U.S. 52:

From Newport News, Virginia, to Richmond, Burkeville,...

U.S. 29 Maryland to Florida

When the Joint Board on Interstate Highways issued its proposal on the U.S. numbered highway system in October 1925, the report identified the main interstate highways that would be included. U.S. 29 was among them, with the route described as:

From Gastonia, North Carolina...

U.S. 22 - The William Penn Highway

When the Joint Board on Interstate Highways issued its report in October 1925, the U.S. numbered highway system included U.S. 22:

From Elizabeth, New Jersey, Phillipsburg, Reading, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, Clarks Ferry, Bellefonte, Dubois, New Castle, Youngstown, Ohio,...

U.S. 14 Chicago, Illinois, to Yellowstone National Park

by Richard F. Weingroff

In 1925, at the request of the State highway agencies, the Secretary of Agriculture appointed the Joint Board on Interstate Highways to develop a plan for marking the Nation's interstate highways. The Joint Board, which included 21 State highway...

U.S. 12 Michigan to Washington

by Richard F. Weingroff

The U.S. numbering plan was developed in the mid-1920's by the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads and the State highway agencies. The Joint Board on Interstate Highways, consisting of Federal and State highways officials, developed the numbering plan in...

U.S. 11 and I-81 Location Difficulties in Virginia

In February and March 1998, John T. Greenwood interviewed Francis C. "Frank" Turner for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' 1988 Interstate Highway Research Project. Turner, who had joined the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads in 1929, rose through the ranks to...

Bureau of Public Roads Memorandum to Mr. Rose From Mr. Mills

In the late 1920's, the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) issued a series of news releases on the major U.S. highways. The releases described the routes, including road conditions and tourist opportunities along the way. The following memorandum on U.S. 11 was prepared for the series,...

U.S. 11 - Rouses Point, New York, to New Orleans, Louisiana

by
Richard F. Weingroff
Federal Highway Administration

In October 1925, the Joint Board completed its report, which explained the new numbering system and presented the companion signs, including the U.S. shield. That initial system included U.S. 11:

U.S. 6 - The Grand Army of the Republic Highway

by Richard F. Weingroff

In October 1925, the Joint Board on Interstate Highways recommended a 75,884-mile U.S. numbered system. One of the routes in the proposal was U.S. 6:

From Provincetown, Massachusetts, to New Bedford, Fall River, Providence, Rhode...

U.S. 2: Houlton, Maine, to Everett, Washington

The Joint Board on Interstate Highways, consisting of officials of the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads and State highway agencies, created the U.S. numbered highway system in 1925. Under this system, east-west routes were given an even number; north-south routes, an odd number. The major east-west...