Products

Take a journey on the Pennsylvania Turnpike - the "superhighway" that went from one generation's tourist destination to the ridicule of another's.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike opened to traffic on October 1, 1940. Built using the right-of-way and unfinished tunnels of the never completed South Pennsylvania Railroad, it was a supreme achievement of civil engineering. The new highway immediately captured the public's imagination and proved to be an unqualified success. Motorists flocked from around the country to drive on the new "superhighway," and it became a tourist destination on its lonesome. But along with that success, the seeds were planted for its eventual fall from grace. Under-engineered, poorly maintained, and the victim of premature obsolescence, the highway became the object of public scorn in little more than a generation. Only since the turn of the 21st century were real efforts made to change that perception.

This book offers readers an opportunity to ride the historic Humboldt Wagon Road from Chico to Susanville through images that have been collected since the 1860s. Many never-before-published photographs and oral histories tell a story of people who established what has been called this "small corner of the West." In the 1850s, John Bidwell, a California pioneer, agriculturist, businessman, and politician, envisioned a freight and passenger route that would connect San Francisco, the Sacramento River, and his newly established community of Chico. He wanted it to cross the mountains to the gold and silver mines in Idaho and Nevada. Bidwell financed, constructed, and opened the road for horses, wagons, stagecoaches, and eventually trucks and automobiles. From the Civil War era until the present, the road has carried everything from lumber to tourists.

From southern Cook County to the Mississippi River, the Lincoln Highway meanders through many of Chicago's suburbs before heading west through Illinois's fertile farmland. America's first transcontinental highway once stretched nearly 3,400 miles from New York City to San Francisco. The story of the highway's role in shaping the contemporary American highway system is one that examines the interaction of technology and human spirit. Conceived by entrepreneur Carl G. Fischer in 1912 and endorsed by businessman Henry B. Joy, the idea of creating an automobile-friendly roadway spanning America would soon change the nature of travel in the 20th century. Lincoln Highway in Illinois defines and describes the role of the highway as it zigzags its way across the "Land of Lincoln" and highlights the cities, towns, and rural communities along its route.

The Lincoln Highway across Indiana explores Indiana's unique role in Lincoln Highway history and celebrates Indiana's place in early automotive and road-building history.

Once known as the "Main Street of America," the Lincoln Highway route was established across northern Indiana in 1913, linking larger cities--Fort Wayne, Elkhart, Goshen, South Bend, LaPorte, and Valparaiso--to smaller communities. Most Lincoln Highway towns renamed their main streets Lincolnway in recognition of the nation's first coast-to-coast auto road. When the Lincoln Highway Association shortened the route in 1926, the route linked Fort Wayne to Columbia City, Warsaw, and Plymouth, giving the state two Lincoln Highway routes. From Fort Wayne to the famous Ideal Section, between Dyer and Schererville, Indiana's Lincolnway towns remain proudly connected to Lincoln Highway history. Through vintage photographs, postcards, advertisements, and other historical records, this armchair tour of the highway visits sites favored by early tourists, documents the people and places that made the highway a vital corridor, and celebrates Hoosier Carl Fisher's leadership in the formation of the Lincoln Highway Association, as well as the people who work to preserve its legacy today.

Once known as the "Main Street of America," the Lincoln Highway through western Indiana and eastern Illinois became the first urban bypass on the first hard-surfaced transcontinental highway in the nation. This stretch of the highway is also home to the famous Ideal Section, which set the national standard for road construction in 1923. Through some 200 vintage photographs, this armchair tour of the highway from Schererville, Indiana, to Geneva, Illinois, visits sites that early-day tourists saw and documents the people who made the highway what it was in 1913 and the people who worked to preserve its spirit and history at the close of the century. The Lincoln Highway around Chicago defines and describes the role of the Lincoln Highway in the Chicago area from a gravel track to a miracle mile that has served local residents as well as cross-country travelers for nearly 100 years.

The Long Island Motor Parkway was constructed at a pivotal time in American history, and it often considered a precursor to the modern highway system.

A forerunner of the modern highway system, the Long Island Motor Parkway was constructed during the advent of the automobile and at a pivotal time in American history. Following a spectator death during the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race, the concept for a privately owned speedway on Long Island was developed by William K. Vanderbilt Jr. and his business associates. It would be the first highway built exclusively for the automobile. Vanderbilt's dream was to build a safe, smooth, police-free road without speed limits where he could conduct his beloved automobile races without spectators running onto the course. Features such as the use of reinforced concrete, bridges to eliminate grade crossings, banked curves, guardrails, and landscaping were all pioneered for the parkway. Reflecting its poor profitability and the availability of free state-built public parkways, the historic 48-mile Long Island Motor Parkway closed on Easter Sunday, April 17, 1938.

The 200-year-old National Road is often referred to as "The Main Street of America." It was the nation's first federally funded highway and eventually passed through more than 25 cities and towns in Maryland. The 33-mile Maryland portion of the original road was linked with privately constructed turnpikes to extend it to 170 miles in the state. In its early days, the National Road thrived as it helped to open the American West to settlement and commerce. With the rise of railroad transportation in the 1850s, the turnpike became almost obsolete and deteriorated significantly. But the road was rescued in the early 1900s as the increasing popularity of automobile travel led to its revival. In recent years, some of the original structures along the road have been restored, including restaurants, inns, and other commercial establishments. Hostelries and eateries such as the Casselman Inn in Grantsville, the South Mountain Inn between Middletown and Boonsboro, and the Vintage restaurant in New Market draw on their links to the old National Road to attract travelers. Through exhibits and lectures, local civic groups and historical societies continue to memorialize and celebrate the rich history of America's main street--the National Road.

The history of America is written over every mile of the National Road in Pennsylvania. The original National Road can be traced to Native American trails. George Washington, Gen. Edward Braddock, and James Burd converted portions of Native American trails into a roadway suitable for military purposes and westward expansion. Then came the National Road, built in the early 1800s to accommodate increased traffic traveling westward on the existing road. It was the first federally built road in the United States. Alternately called the National Pike and the Cumberland Road, the National Road was overlaid by segments of U.S. Route 40 in the 1920s. Today, the National Road is designated as a National Scenic Byway as well as an All-American Road. From Addison to West Alexander, The National Road in Pennsylvania contains images of important historic sites and towns on the ninety-mile stretch of highway. The defeat of Col. George Washington's troops at Fort Necessity spawned the French and Indian War. One of the most famous instigators of the Whiskey Rebellion, David Bradford, built his home alongside the National Road. The first cast-iron bridge in America was built on the National Road in Brownsville. The road is flanked by toll houses, coal mines, historic taverns, and automobile camps. One will find images of an S-bridge, mile markers, and memorials relating to the history of the area.

Follow the road through New Jersey, the Jersey Turnpike, the road that brings the indsutrial prosperity and businesses of the state together. A main thoroughfare through the state, don't miss the many diners along the way!

The New Jersey Turnpike chronicles the history of the highway from 1949 through the present day. With vivid images, it follows the road's progress from an ambitious vision, through construction, to opening, and into the future. Built as a utilitarian, four-lane, limited-access highway, the New Jersey Turnpike has evolved into the economic engine of New Jersey, the foundation of industrial prosperity and personal mobility. The highway traverses the entire state and is part of the Interstate 95 Corridor Coalition, which covers the East Coast from Maine to Florida. Today, more than two hundred forty million vehicles travel along the route, and many of those travelers stop at the turnpike's twelve service areas.

See how the Pennsylvania Turnpike proved the doubters wrong and came to be known as the World's Greatest Highway.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike is one of the best-known highways in the United States. Most Pennsylvania Turnpike travelers are unaware that its construction was inspired by the route of the never-completed South Pennsylvania Railroad. In the 1930s, men of great vision conceived, planned, and built the nation's first long-distance superhighway using the abandoned railroad's partially finished tunnels as its foundation.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike draws from the extensive photograph collection in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Many were taken by photographers hired by both the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and its contractors, and most have never been published previously. Originally predicted to be a financial failure, the project wound up being a tremendous success and, eventually was expanded and improved, laying the groundwork for the nation's Interstate Highway System.

The Turquoise Trail is a quirky, alternative road stretching between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Before horses trod the route, it linked three Native American pueblos. The earliest mining activity in North America took place along the trail; local Native Americans mined a huge vein of turquoise that was visible on the surface. In the age of horses and wagons, the road ran through dusty Wild West towns, mining districts, and mountains, which were once roamed by thousands of prospectors with dreams of finding the mother lode. When mining became unprofitable, the inhabitants packed whatever they could into their cars and pulled out, seeking employment elsewhere. But a time came when people realized there was still potential in these old ghost towns. The buildings that once housed miners and the businesses that supported them are now occupied by art galleries, boutiques, and modern pioneers. The route still has a flavor of the Wild West, but instead of cowboys and miners, it now attracts motorcycle enthusiasts, movie crews, and day-trippers who appreciate authenticity and local color.

The White Horse Pike may not be America's most famous road, but it is one of the most storied. Originally a migratory footpath of the Leni-Lenape, this timeless 60-mile route from the Delaware to the Atlantic has been followed by everyone from Walt Whitman to the Jersey Devil. It has served as a stagecoach highway, a toll road, and a pattern for railroads. The White Horse Pike depicts the heyday of this still popular
city-to-shore road, the most direct route from Camden to Atlantic City.

Since 1938, when the Merritt's first 7-mile section was opened to traffic, millions have shared a fascination for Connecticut's Merritt Parkway and its bridges.

A survey made in 1928 called for a two-lane macadam highway to run from Stratford to Greenwich; with $1 million of state money, construction started on the Merritt Highway in 1932. Opened for 38 miles on September 2, 1940, it became known throughout Fairfield County as the ""Queen of Parkways."" Discover the beginnings of this groundbreaking advance in American travel in Traveling the Merritt Parkway. This pictorial history preserves and pays tribute to the history of the Merritt, and explores the construction of the parkway, as well as the little-known parent highway for which the earliest bridges were constructed, including White Plains Road in the town of Trumbull.

America's Main Street, US Highway 1, Baltimore Avenue, Washington Boulevard--there are many names for the link between Baltimore City and Washington, DC. Connecting residential communities and commercial crossroads clustered along both sides of this historically important artery of transportation, this road has spanned three centuries of transportation, communication, and community development. From the earliest ships in Elkridge and Bladensburg to modern communities supporting the Washington/Baltimore region, Route 1 has been a vital part of this history.

For a century, the route of Highway 99 has been the main transportation corridor in western Washington. Forest and farm products, fish, and families have all been a part of the flow of business and recreational travel between the Canadian border at Blaine and the Columbia River at Vancouver. What is now Highway 99 originated as a loose network of muddy roads connecting early settlements. With the dawn of the automobile age and construction of good roads, travel for business and pleasure began to shift away from ships and railroads to trucks and family cars. Roadside services developed within and between towns to cater to the new type of travelers--as many as 1,300 "gas, food, and lodging" businesses lined Highway 99, ranging from primitive auto camps to luxury hotels and from simple burger stands to roadside eateries shaped like giant tepees and igloos.

The Sunset Highway works its way east to west across the 300-mile-wide expanse of Washington State from the Spokane River to its ending at Seattle on Puget Sound. Later known as Highway 10, the route traverses a landscape of big cities, small towns, and wide-open spaces; rolling hills and rugged mountains; fertile fields of grain, apple orchards, and ranches; roaring streams, deep rivers, and rock-walled coulees--now dry, but once a mighty watercourse. The Sunset Highway arose from a collection of existing wagon roads, becoming the main cross-state thoroughfare with highway improvements. As traffic increased, roadside businesses sprang up to accommodate motorists. In towns, bright neon lights attracted both locals and passers-through, while tourist courts, restaurants, burger stands, and service stations lined the highway approaches.

Centuries ago, Williamson Valley Road began as a game trail for native inhabitants. In the 1400s, ancestors of the Yavapai and Hualapai hunted along ancient footpaths. Later explorers widened these paths for horses. The 1800s brought military wagons transporting supplies between the Rawlins, Hualapai/Tollgate, and Fort Whipple camps while traders and settlers followed in stagecoaches. The fertile lands of Mint Valley, Williamson Valley, and Walnut Creek were ideal for raising stock and produce. Farmers sailed from Europe and up the Colorado River before traversing the Hardyville Toll Road. Ranchers imported the fittest stock and exported the finest meat with the expertise of Mexican ranch hands. Camp Wood timbermen met the demand for lumber. Eastern store owners set up shop as railroaders laid far-reaching plans but short-reaching rails. Residents in the early 1900s arrived at rodeos, camp meetings, concerts, and dances in their Model Ts using this road. Present-day suburbanites, schoolchildren, and contractors commute on Williamson Valley Road, which was designated as a Scenic and Historic Route in 2010.