The Spatial Legacy of the United States Numbered Highway System : Tracing the Changing Geography of America’s Highways

This U.S. Numbered Highway System, of which the former U.S. 66 (the ‘Route 66’ of song and television fame) is the best known, included a geographic logic behind its route numbering system that has become embedded in countless other networks.

This book discusses the origins and evolution of the U.S. Numbered Highway System. In 1926, a nationwide automobile highway network was created for the United States. For the first time, a set of numbered roads would span the country, ensuring that any driver could find their way beyond their own town or county by following a number. This U.S. Numbered Highway System, of which the former U.S. 66 (the ‘Route 66’ of song and television fame) is the best known, included a geographic logic behind its route numbering system that has become embedded in countless other networks. A hundred years after its creation, this book investigates the geographical origins of the U.S. Numbered Highway System, how it evolved within a rapidly changing country, and the ways in which it helped shape the changing geography of the United States.