Picture this: centuries ago, Native American tribes followed well-worn animal migration paths through mountains, forests, and prairies. These natural highways, trekked by countless hooves, were quickly followed by early explorers and settlers on horseback. As America grew, these paths evolved into auto trails, eventually turning into our current interstate system! We’re diving into America’s three longest highways and how they’ve come to cross the country through their own unique histories. Read on to learn how these major roadways went from wilderness trails to modern superhighways.
The third longest interstate in the country happens to be one very familiar to us Arkansas locals: I-40. Not only does it run east to west across our state, but its 2,556.6 total mileage actually starts in California’s Mojave Desert and ends in Wilmington, North Carolina. This route stretches across the southern half of the United States, with the busiest portion in Knoxville, Tennessee, thanks to an average daily traffic volume of over 210,000 vehicles. In contrast, rural areas of New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma see only about 15,000 vehicles a day.
In 1857, Edward Beale established a route along the 35th parallel north from Fort Smith, AR to Los Angeles, CA, using preexisting Native American trails that largely make up the I-40 interstate. His route was called, “Beale’s Wagon Road” and was constructed by 100 men and 22 camels, completed in 1859. Beale’s Wagon Road, considered the first federal highway in the Southwestern United States, was a significant milestone in American transportation history. Though not the subject of this blog, the famous Route 66 was replaced much in part by I-40 and plenty of historic landmarks and tourist stops can still be visited along this highway.
Our second longest interstate, I-80, is a whopping 2,900.76 miles and crosses from San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey. The way I-40 follows the same route of Beale’s Wagon Trail and the old Route 66, I-80 actually closely follows the route of the historic Lincoln Highway—the first road across the United States. More specifically, the Lincoln Highway was one of the first highways designated for automobiles, conceived in 1912 by Carl Fisher, running from Times Square in NYC to Lincoln Park in San Francisco.
When counting the original route and all of the subsequent realignment, this highway was 5,872 miles. When the U.S. Numbered Highway System was established in 1926 and the Lincoln Highway was replaced with numbered designations, the route from Pennsylvania to Wyoming turned into U.S. Route 30. With the birth of the Interstate Highway system in 1950, the still designated Lincoln Highway expanses were turned into what is now I-80. In 1998, John McPhee’s writings were collected and printed into an edition of Annals of the Former World. This collection focused on the construction of I-80 and the amount of geographical wonder discovered upon building this interstate: from the faults, hills, and mountains, having formed from animal migration routes eventually followed by humans. McPhee’s collection would win a Pulitzer Prize in 1999, describing I-80 as, “a sound experience of the big picture, of the history, the construction, the components of the continent.”
Finally, we have our longest interstate in the United States: Interstate 90. From Seattle, Washington to Boston, Massachusetts, this 3,099.7 mile interstate travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and stops in the Northweast. Established by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, I-90 replaced a number of U.S. highways that were previously local roads and auto trails.
What are auto trails? Since the first roads were largely traveled on foot, horseback, and occasionally by wagon, not all of these routes were automobile-friendly. Auto trails were an “informal network of marked routes” specifically built and marked for motorists. These trails were marked with colored bands on utility poles and maintained mostly by private individuals. (The Lincoln Highway was even once an auto trail, funded by the Lincoln Highway Association.) Counties and states would often prioritize road improvements if they were also an auto trail. By the mid-to-late 1920’s, these trails were replaced with the United States Numbered Highway System. This is how a number of roads and small highways that crossed the country were later designated as and turned into I-90.
Whether you’re crossing the country on I-90 hugging the Canadian border, traveling mid-country along I-80, the former historic Lincoln Highway, or taking in the southern charm via I-40, think about how far these interstates have come not just in distance but in decades of time. And of course, whenever you see the interstate shield on our route, remember that Interstate Signways made the signs that marked the way!
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