The Jefferson Highway was an automobile highway stretching through the central United States from New Orleans , Louisiana , to Winnipeg , Manitoba in Canada. The Jefferson Highway was replaced with the new numbered US Highway system in the late 1920s. Portions of the highway are still named Jefferson Highway, including the portions that run through Jefferson Parish, Louisiana ; East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana ; Lee's Summit, Missouri ; Osseo, Minnesota ; and Wadena, Minnesota .
5-581: It was built in the 1910s as part of the National Auto Trail system. Named for President Thomas Jefferson , inspired by the east–west Lincoln Highway , it was nicknamed the "Palm to Pine Highway", for the varying types of trees found at either end. The southern terminus of the Jefferson Highway was in New Orleans, Louisiana at the intersection of St. Charles Avenue and Common Street. It
10-594: Is marked by a six-foot tall Georgia granite obelisk donated by the New Orleans chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution . The obelisk was installed on April 15, 1918, and it was formally dedicated the following January. The original route (finalized in December 1916) on today's roads is as follows: When Louisiana numbered its state highways in 1921, the entire length of the Jefferson Highway through Louisiana
15-528: The Lincoln Highway , maintained by the Lincoln Highway Association, were well-known and well-organized, while others were the work of fly-by-night promoters, to the point that anyone with enough paint and the will to do so could set up a trail. Trails were not usually linked to road improvements, although counties and states often prioritized road improvements because they were on trails. In
20-600: Was designated as State Route 1. This route was in effect until the 1955 Louisiana Highway renumbering . When the U.S. Highway System was designated in 1926, the Jefferson Highway was split into four U.S. Highways in Louisiana: US 61 from New Orleans to Baton Rouge (before it was re-routed onto the Airline Highway), US 71 from Baton Rouge to Clarence, US 171 from Mansfield to Shreveport, and US 80 from Shreveport west into Texas. The section between Natchitoches and Mansfield
25-532: Was not included in the U.S. Highway System. National Auto Trail The system of auto trails was an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada in the early part of the 20th century. Marked with colored bands on utility poles , the trails were intended to help travellers in the early days of the automobile . Auto trails were usually marked and sometimes maintained by organizations of private individuals. Some, such as
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