National Old Trails Highway
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| Route information | |
| Existed: | 1912 – present |
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| West end: | Los Angeles, California |
| East end: | New York City, New York |
| Highway system | |
National Old Trails Road, also known as the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, was established in 1912, and became part of the National Auto Trail system in the United States. It was 3,096 miles (4,983 km) long and stretched from Baltimore, Maryland (some old maps indicate New York City was the actual eastern terminus), to California. Much of the route follows the old National Road and the Santa Fe Trail.
The National Old Trails Road Association was formed in Kansas City in April 1912 to promote improvement of a transcontinental trail from Baltimore to Los Angeles, with branches to New York City and San Francisco. The name of the road signified that it followed several of the Nation's historic trails, including the National Road and the Santa Fe Trail (much of the road, from Colorado east, became U.S. 40 in 1926).
Former Jackson County, Missouri Judge J. M. Lowe served as the Association’s president from its inception until his death in 1926. Judge Lowe had been a tireless proponent for good roads—despite the fact that, as he once told the Senate Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, "I do not even own an automobile, and would not know what the dickens to do with it if I had one." Under Judge Lowe, the association had become well respected among the groups aligned in the Good Roads Movement that had agitated since the 1890s for government involvement in improvement of the Nation's roads.
In 1926, future President Harry S. Truman was named president of the National Old Trails Road Association. As the new president of the association, Truman periodically drove the National Old Trails Road from coast to coast and met with members of the association in each State to discuss improvement of their segments. He enjoyed the travels, but he missed his wife Bess and their young daughter Margaret, as reflected in the many letters he wrote to his wife while on the road. At one point, he told Bess, "This is almost like campaigning for President, except that the people are making promises to me instead of the other way around." Truman's name would remain on the letterhead of the National Old Trails Road Association well into the late 1940s, listed as "president".
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