Trail Associations
In the early days of the automobile, getting places was an adventure. You quickly learned which of your local roads were suitable. Long distance journeys were more complicated. The best method of the day was to buy an expensive tour book and have someone to read out the turn-by-turn directions, much like the modern electronic devices. Road maps, another option, still required a navigator.
A better system for identifying good routes for travel was needed.
Trail associations were born.
Trail Associations were public / private partnerships. Their membership included state road boards, automobile booster clubs (like AAA), hotels, construction companies, and civic organizations like the UDC. Trail organizations collected dues to improve and promote a specific path connecting two or more destinations. Each trail association came up with a name and a marker. Notable men from the War Between the States were frequently honored in this manner. Often these roads were sectional, northern and southern roads keeping to their own regions.
The road we call the Dixie Highway started out as a plan to connect Chicago to Jacksonville, crossing the north – south divide. In the “Southern Good Roads” magazine published in December 1914, it was reported that W.S. Gilbreath of Indianapolis was promoting such a trail to be called the “Cotton Belt Route” at the fourth annual American Road Congress on November 9th. He was interviewed by the Atlanta Constitution and stated, “It is not at all impossible … to put one direct road from Louisville to Jacksonville … and be ready by next fall for the thousands of tourists who would gladly flock to the south.”
Source: Whatever Happened to the Dixie Highway?
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