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[REV 25-NOV-2014]
Highwaymen: 1926
Inscription on the White House Zero Mile reads: POINT FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF DISTANCES FROM WASHINGTON ON HIGHWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES
Washington, D.C., 1926. "Cross Continent Trip -- Official Car, Lee Highway Association; White House in background." The "Cross Continent Trip" was a publicity stunt promoting a proposed "national highway" that would traverse the United States from New York to Southern California via Washington. 8x10 inch glass negative, National Photo Company Collection. View full size.
Easy ID ...
... courtesy of the telltale headlights of a Pierce-Arrow.
Pierce-Arrow
The car is a Pierce-Arrow, one of the many makes that would soon join the Lee Highway in obscurity. These were very nice autos and are very desirable now.
One spotting feature was the "bug-eye" headlamps mounted on the fenders. Considering the vibration and bumpy road conditions and the fact that the front fenders on old automobiles are often banged up, I always felt that there were many P-A owners driving around nearly blind at night.
Still, I'd love to have one and take my chances, or maybe just a nice ride on a spring day.
Of course, Robert E
The Lee Highway, which ran through the Confederacy, was of course named after Robert E. Lee, in contrast to the Lincoln Highway, which had been routed through the Northern states.
A rather odd picture composition, with the hard-to-read marker stone blocking part of the car and the men being photographed.
I wonder what the man standing off to the side was thinking about the goings-on.
The Last Hurrah
In 1926 the Lee Highway would soon be obsolete, replaced by the U.S. Highway system that the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) came up with the same year. As a trivia note, the federal government has nothing to do with the U.S. Highway system, which is still governed by AASHTO, and built, payed paid for, and maintained by each state's highway department.
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