Popular Culture Review Vol. 13, No. 1, January 2002 | Page 127

Uncovering the Northernmost
Named Trail: The Theodore Roosevelt
International Highway^
When the United States entered the twentieth century, its transportation
system was confined largely to waterways and railroads. Roads, where they existed
at all, were in most instances quite primitive. Often, especially in the West, they
consisted of dust, or worse, mud.
The automobile developed rapidly and brought a demand for roads that
were adequate to bring out the potential of this marvelous machine. The first attempt
at a transcontinental route came as the Lincoln Highway in 1913. The intent, never
fully realized until the Interstate system began in the 1950s, was to connect New
York City and San Francisco. Other highways soon followed.
The frenzy of road building as the century got underway served to unite
the country as never before. Transp ܝ][ۈ[