Банкхед Хайвей: История первой автомобильной дороги Америки

Auto trail

The Bankhead Highway was a United States cross country automobile highway connecting Washington, D. C., and San Diego. The Bankhead Highway's beginnings can be traced back to 1916 when the Bankhead Highway Association was organized to promote the highway's development. It was part of the National Auto Trail system. The road was named for Alabama politician John H. Bankhead, a leader in the early national road building movement. In later years, several stretches of U. S. Route 78 in northwest Alabama were renamed for Bankhead's son, former U. S. Representative and Speaker of the House William B. Bankhead.

As was common with early auto trails, the Bankhead Highway had several different routes. The main and branch routes below are considered to be the primary configurations of the highway.

In Arizona, the route followed what is Interstate 8 today from the California state line. Continuing as former US 80, it followed through Gila Bend and smaller towns on the west side of Phoenix. It then went through Phoenix on Van Buren Street then Tempe and Mesa. It then followed US 60 and then Arizona State Route 79 to Arizona State Route 77 to Tucson.

(For details on the branch routes in New Mexico, see branch route and third route entries for Texas/New Mexico). In New Mexico, the Bankhead route followed the former US 80 (now I 10 from Arizona and then through Las Cruces.

Bankhead's route entered Tennessee followed US 70 from Arkansas to Memphis. In Memphis, the route followed US 78.

The highway took the route of US 78 eastward from Mississippi and through Birmingham, and into Georgia.

The Bankhead Highway followed present day US 29, which traverses the northern half of Georgia on mostly its original alignment until it reaches Athens, where major highway construction in the 1960s re routed the route of US 29 around the Athens loop highway. Along this stretch there are numerous "Old US 29" segments that pull off the main roadway. The Bankhead Highway then pulled off the current route of US 29 at Danielsville Road, and followed it until it became North Avenue, and followed North Avenue onto West Dougherty Street. It followed West Dougherty Street, turning South onto Pulaski St, and then turning West onto Broad Street, which eventually turns into Atlanta Highway. While US 29 now follows the route of State Route 316 (University Parkway) for much of the distance between Athens and Lawrenceville, the Bankhead route followed Atlanta Highway to the present US 29 Business (Winder Highway out of Lawrenceville and Atlanta Highway out of Athens) and went through the smaller towns of Bogart and Winder until joining back up with current US 29 outside of Lawrenceville, where it followed the current alignment of US 29 through Lawrenceville and on to Decatur. The Bankhead Highway (older US 29 alignment) veered onto Church Street (Georgia SR 8) and following it until it intersected Ponce De Leon Avenue. The route then headed west and followed Ponce De Leon Avenue into Atlanta to the intersection with Peachtree Street, where the route turned South one block to North Avenue, then followed North Avenue to Marietta Street. Following Marietta Street, it veered off to the west where a bridge (now closed but still standing) carried the highway over Georgia Southern Railroad tracks to the present Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway. From the intersection of Northside Drive and Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway west, the route roughly followed US 78 to Villa Rica, Georgia, then followed Highway 61 to Carrollton, Georgia, then followed 166 to Alabama state line. Many Georgia cities along the original route have streets named Bankhead which mark the actual route. One notable exception to this rule is the Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway in the Bankhead neighborhood of Atlanta. This section was renamed in an effort to revitalize, or mask the social stigma attached to this high crime section of the city. The same was done in the adjacent section west of the Chattahoochee River by the Cobb county commission, which named it Veterans Memorial Parkway through Mableton and Austell.

US 29 passed through the city of Greenville on Wade Hampton Boulevard and Church Street.

The route entered North Carolina on US 29 through Charlotte. It then went through Greensboro on US 70 before going into Durham on US 15.

In Virginia, the route followed US 15 through Clarksville and then onto US 58 heading into South Hill. The route then went through Richmond and then Fredericksburg on US 1 before entering Washington D. C.

The route followed US 1 from Virginia and terminated here.

The Bankhead Highway was marked by a pole marker that was white with yellow stripes on the top and bottom and the letters "BH" in black.