State highway officials approve a plan to give the nation's roads numbers instead of names
For years, a driver crossing the country followed roads marked by private auto trail associations, and the system was haphazard. On November 11, 1926, the American Association of State Highway Officials approved the plan for the United States Numbered Highway System. The plan came after six regional meetings in 1925 and a flood of complaints. Local fights broke out over which of two parallel roads deserved a number. Thirty-two states were already marking their routes by then…
