Sign In

Early Cross-Country Auto Road Atlas

With Contemporary Annotations Regarding Road Conditions in the West

Rare possibly unrecorded edition of this early cross country automobile road atlas issued by the Touring Department of the Automobile Club of Southern California. The earliest edition of this road atlas described in OCLC is dated 1925 and has 139 pages with 60 numbered maps. The present undated version has 137 pages and shows no evidence that a final leaf or page has been removed. It stands to reason that our example predates the standard 1925 edition, and given the extensive annotations it may have been a proof copy issued for test drivers. In any event it is certainly not later than 1925 as the printed dedication reads, in part, "Dedicated to the Trans-Continental motorists who travel this great American Highway, to Judge J. M. Lowe, President of the National Old Trails Association..." By 1926 Judge Lowe had died and Harry S. Truman had become president of the National Old Trails Association. 

The maps outline the National Old Trail or Cumberland Road, one of the main transcontinental automobile routes extending from New York City to Los Angeles. Each map is accompanied on the facing page with a concise description and history of the area, including mention of Native American tribes in the Southwest. At the back of the atlas are four pages of mileage tables; information about registering non-resident cars and applying for a six-month visitor's permit; a list of Automobile Club of Southern California offices in the Los Angeles area; and four blank "Memorandum" pages for the motorist's notes.

What makes the example in hand of special interest are the numerous marginal notes about road conditions, evidence of actual use by an early motorist, who seems to have started the auto trip near Indianapolis.  A record of road conditions at this early date is notable because before 1926 portions of the road in the west remained very difficult to drive on, as much of it remained unpaved.  By the late 1920s most of the road that traversed the California desert was widened and "oiled".  The names of hotels and motels are often noted by the unidentified traveler as well.

Selections from the annotations, which begin in Indianapolis:

• Pavement all the way except very bad roads thru all towns [Indianapolis to Terre Haute, Indiana]
• From Jeff. City to St. Louis good except for bad detour of 45 miles. 
• From Topeka to Kansas City all pavement.
• New pavement: Excellent [section from Garden City to Pierceville, Kansas outlined in red]
• Very rough all the way [La Junta west to Delhi, Colorado]
• First 28 miles terrible - rough & [st--?] rest only fair [Delhi west to Trinidad, Colorado]
• Fair under construction [Santa Fe]
• Las Cruces to Albuquerque very good / Franciscan Hotel - grand
• Fine to Navajo & fine road from Navajo to Gallup but rain made roads almost unpassable - slippery & dangerous
• Rain all the way - sand storm lunch very poor [Hackberry] awful storm [Peach Springs to Kingman, Arizona]
• Terrible roads rocks & ruts [Amboy west to Ludlow, California]
• Took Mohave road [the traveler seems to have detoured at Barstow, taking the Mohave route, modern day route 58 toward Bakersfield]

One of the First Cross Country Automobile Routes

The National Old Trails Road, also known in part as the Cumberland Road, was a key early transcontinental automobile route that connected the eastern and western United States in the early 20th century. Following portions of historic pathways like the National Road (begun in 1811) and the Santa Fe Trail, it offered one of the first continuous routes for motorists, stretching from New York City to Los Angeles. The Lincoln Highway, another cross-country auto route which ran from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, was actually dedicated some months after the National Old Trails Road. The National Old Trails Road played a crucial role in promoting long-distance auto travel, boosting infrastructure improvements, and laying groundwork for future federal highway development. The portion west of Las Vegas, New Mexico would eventually be integrated into the famous U.S. Route 66.

Rarity

Very rare in the market. The present version is apparently unrecorded. OCLC notes the 1925-dated variant with 139 pages as held by 3 libraries: UCLA, California State Library and University of Michigan.