Pine to Palm Highway #66 Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size:  (micro)
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The Jefferson Highway (Pine to Palm Highway) was an early network
of highway routes, like Route 66, the Dixie Highway, or the Lincoln
Highway, that was created in response to the motoring public's
clamor for good roads. Like those other highways, it was a
consistently marked route designed to make navigation easy for
motorists. Unlike its better-known cousins, however, the Jefferson
Highway wasn't confined to the borders of the United States.
Starting in Louisiana, it wound northward through seven states to a
terminus in Canada, making it the only international highway among
those famous routes.
The idea for this grand highway came from E. T. Meredith, a former
US Secretary of Agriculture. Meredith's intent was to create a
fully paved, north-south highway that would honor Thomas Jefferson,
third president of the United States, and his role in securing the
Louisiana Purchase. Early promotional material promised the highway
would be a year-round vacation route. Meredith and his planners met
at New Orleans in November 1915, and work began on the Jefferson
Highway soon thereafter.
Appropriately, the Jefferson Highway began in the heart of the
Louisiana Purchase itself, New Orleans. From there, as a series of
local roads it ran northwest through the bayous and parishes toward
Baton Rouge and Shreveport. Just outside Shreveport, the Jefferson
became part of US Highway 80 and turned west into Texas. At
Mineola, Texas, the highway returned to a northerly direction and
was carried on US Highway 69.
The Jefferson Highway spent about another fifty miles in the Lone
Star State, and then just north of Denison, Texas (birthplace of
34th US President Dwight D. Eisenhower), it crossed the Red River
and entered Oklahoma. Passing through the cities of McAlester and
Muskogee (immortalized in Merle Haggard's song "Okie from
Muskogee"), the Jefferson met old Route 66 and US 60 at Vinita. For
a few miles, the Jefferson Highway shared the pavement with Route
66 as it turned toward Kansas and Missouri.
Just north of Miami (the locals pronounce it "my-AM-mah"),
Oklahoma, the Jefferson Highway had the first of its two splits in
the route. The western leg followed US 69 northward into Kansas,
passing through Fort Scott on the way to Kansas City. The eastern
leg followed US 60 into Missouri, where it turned northward and
followed US Highway 71 to Kansas City. In Kansas City, the
Jefferson Highway intersected US Highway 40, the famous old
National Highway.
The Jefferson Highway briefly returned to being a single route in
Kansas City, but split once more just north of the city. It
remained split for a little over fifty miles, reuniting finally
just south of the Iowa border. The Jefferson wound across the
prairies and cornfields of Iowa toward the state capital, Des
Moines. At Ames, Iowa, the Jefferson again crossed another historic
highway: the Lincoln Highway, US Highway 30. It followed US 30
eastward for a few miles, turning north again and continuing on to
Minnesota as part of US Highway 65.
At Albert Lea, Minnesota, Interstate 35 overlies the Jefferson
Highway's old route and modern motorists are obliged to join the
Interstate until reaching the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. North of
the city, the highway left the Interstate and returned to surface
roads. The Jefferson continued on through the glacial regions of
Minnesota to St. Cloud, Wadena, and Thief River Falls until it
reached the Canadian border. The final portion of the Jefferson, in
Manitoba, was carried on route 59 to its northern terminus at the
Manitoban capital of Winnipeg.
The Jefferson Highway ultimately did indeed enjoy a vogue as one of
America's premiere vacation highways, and was popularly known as
the "From Pine to Palm" route. When the Federal government began
assigning route numbers to roads in 1926, most of the Jefferson was
incorporated into the new numbering system. The "Jefferson Highway"
designation was quickly forgotten, and only survives today as the
name of some city streets, mostly in Louisiana.
Towns in the area it passed through were Albert Lea, Mn, Geneva,
Mn, Northwood, Kensett, Manly, Freeman, Mason City, Rockwell,
Sheffield, Chapin and Hampton.
Reminats of the old highway still remain. Old buildings and signs
line the old highway along with some newer houses. Jefferson Bus
Lines in Mason City is named after the highway.
Original route of
Jefferson Highway from Minnesota state line to Hampton,
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Other information about the Jefferson Highway:
Wikipedia
Morrison County, Mn
Historic Jefferson Highway
Welcome to the Jefferson Highway(scroll
about 1/3 way down)
Jefferson Highway Map
Best to find during the day
Log only. Bring your own pencil. Initials only please.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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