THE PIKES PEAK OCEAN TO OCEAN HIGHWAY

THE APPIAN WAY OF AMERICA

By

Richard F. Weingroff

This is the story of a highway that couldn’t make up its mind --the Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean 

Highway (PPOO), one of the early transcontinental highways of the named trail era (about 1910-

1926). 

Starting a Highway

Formal organization of the Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway Association was completed on 

March 18, 1914, at a meeting in St. Joseph, Missouri. The association was dedicated to promoting 

improvement and use of a road from New York City to San Francisco. An account of the founding 

appeared in the May 1914 issue of Better Roads and Streets:

“The Pike’s Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway” is the latest development in the transcontinental 

route situation. The new highway was launched at a meeting in St. Joseph, Mo., on March 

18, by the federation and alliance of State and interstate associations already in existence.

The course of the Pike’s Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway is from New York through 

Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, Cumberland, Wheeling, Columbus, Dayton, 

Indianapolis, Springfield, Ill., Hannibal, Mo., St. Joseph, Belleville, Kans., Colorado Springs, 

Glenwood Springs, Salt Lake City, Reno, Sacramento and Oakland to San Francisco. The 

affiliating organizations are: 

The Springfield-Hannibal Highway Association, through Illinois.

The Hannibal-St. Joseph Cross State Highway Association, through Missouri.

The Rock Island Highway Association, through Kansas.

The Lincoln Highway Association through Colora do. 

The Utah Division of the Pike’s Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway Association.

East of Illinois, a co-operative arrangement has been made with the National Old Trails 

Association to Washington and New York. West of Salt Lake City the route is not finally 

determined but temporarily the line of the national Lincoln Highway is to be used.

The entire route from ocean to ocean is passable to -day, and it is the intention through the 

various State divisions to push the rapid development of every section. The Pik e’s Peak 

Ocean to Ocean Highway Association is not relying on any outside aid. It announces that the 

road has been and will be developed by the cities, town, counties, and States through which it 

passes. This independent attitude on the part of its organ izers, backed up by the substantial 

progress that has already been made by each of the State units, means that the road will not 

merely be passable but thoroughly practicable for the present season, and that it will be 

developed rapidly along such lines of road construction as may be best suited to the varying 

local needs and conditions.
It is claimed for this transcontinental route that it is the central and most direct across the 

country. On the map it follows the same latitude and appears as nearly a s traight line as the 

contour of the country will permit. It traverses sections of great commercial activity and 

agricultural diversity. It touches spots of great historic interest and many of its links are the 

twentieth century successors of the pioneer or Indian trails. It is the line of great scenic 

wonders, crossing the heart of the Rockies through Colorado’s most famous section. Its 

crossing of the continental divide by Tennessee Pass at 10,400 feet is on a four per cent 

grade; and an alternative route is under construction via Independence Pass . . . .

The association spelled its name without an apostrophe (Pikes), although the apostrophe was often 

inserted (Pike’s) in articles about the route.

The PPOO Association was based in Colorado Springs, wh ich also served as the headquarters for 

the Lincoln Highway Association of Colorado. According to an article in the March 16, 1912, 

issue of Good Roads, the association had been formed in February 1912 "for the purpose of 

promoting the construction of a transcontinental highway through central Colorado." The article 

explained:

The proposed route is to be known as the Pikes Peak route and will be a continuation of the 

Golden Belt route in Kansas. It will enter the state near Burlington, Colo., follow the general 

line of the Rock Island Railroad to Colorado Springs, thence west by way of Colorado City, 

Manitou Springs, the Ute Pass, South Park, Buena Vista, Glenwood Springs, and Grand 

Junction to the Utah Line. It is expected that the Utah authorities wil l arrange for its 

continuation to Salt Lake City and westward. A preliminary route will be laid out within a 

short time with a view to having the necessary temporary work done to make the road 

available for tourist travel during the coming summer season. The plans for permanent 

improvement will be taken up shortly by officers of the association, the county 

commissioners of the various counties through which the route passes, and others. It is 

expected that the state highway authorities will co -operate.

To some extent, the PPOO was a response to the transcontinental Lincoln Highway, which shared 

the PPOO's initial end points but followed a more northerly route between them. Members of the 

national Lincoln Highway Association (LHA) had passed through Colo rado on a summer 1913 

pathfinding tour, encouraging residents to think the proposed transcontinental highway would pass 

through their State. However, when the Lincoln Highway was designated in September 1913, the 

route bypassed Colorado, taking a route to the north through Wyoming. Colorado enthusiasts 

quickly aligned themselves with alternatives through their State that formed in the wake of public 

enthusiasm for the national Lincoln Highway. 

The reference in The Road-Maker to “not relying on any outside aid” was another example of 

reaction to the LHA, which proposed to pay for construction of its highway (initially estimated at 

$10 million) by soliciting contributions from auto industry officials. The PPOO Association would 

rely on government action to improve the road.
The PPOO Association based its name on the fact that the 3,500 -mile route passed within sight of 

Pike's Peak in Colorado. Its motto was "The Appian Way of America," a reference to the most 

famous road of ancient Rome. Begun in 312 B.C., the Appian Way started in Rome and ended 360 

miles later at the Adriatic Sea.

One of the association’s earliest activities was the Pikes Peak Reliability-Sociability Run that began 

at Colorado Springs on August 17, 1914. Twenty cars representing e ight States left the city and 

headed for Salt Lake City. According to an article in the September 1914 issue of The Road 

Maker, “The schedule is not planned with the idea of establishing speed records, but the trip is 

arranged in easy stages, such as the average family touring party would want to make on a 

transcontinental journey.” The average daily mileage varied from 45 to 136, with the participants 

expecting to reach their destination on August 24. 

Routing the Highway

The leaders of the associatio n were concerned about sharing the eastern portion of their route with 

the National Old Trails Road. Therefore, steps were taken during the association’s annual meeting 

in St. Joseph on February 2, 1916, to establish a separate location. Officers of the association had 

been exploring options for several months and gathering data on prospective routes. During the 

annual meeting, a committee headed by Adams was named to represent the association in 

negotiations with possible State partners. Two weeks late r, on February 15, a conference was held 

in Indianapolis to pursue the goal. The March 1916 issue of The Road-Maker described the 

activities:

Through adoption of an independent alignment from Indianapolis east to the Atlantic Ocean, 

the Pike’s Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway Association has forged another link in its great 

transcontinental highway. At a conference of its committee on eastern extension, held at 

Indianapolis on February 15th, decision was reached in favor of a route extending from 

Indianapolis through Richmond, Indiana; Eaton, Dayton, Springfield and Columbus, Ohio, 

Pittsburgh, Blairsville, Johnstown, Altoona, Huntington, Harrisburg, Lebanon, Reading, 

Pottstown to Philadelphia; with a connecting branch from Harrisburg to Washington, D.C., 

and another from Reading, Pa., to New York City. The selection of this route is subject to 

early organization and affiliation of state divisions in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and active 

steps have already been taken looking to meetings for this purpose during the month of 

March . . . .

The Indiana division will have a meeting at Indianapolis on March 10 th, to complete its 

organization to the Ohio line. The Ohio committee, of which J. M. Guild of Dayton is 

chairman, will meet on February 28th, to formulate plans for a state organization meeting.

In Pennsylvania the highway is being organized as the “William Penn Highway,” and 

arrangements are under way for a meeting to be held at Harrisburg in March to complete 

organization.
The article, basically a press release by the association, added that the road is marked with red -andwhite bands between Indianapolis and Salt Lake City, with enameled steel sign markers to be 

placed along the route in time for the opening of the “1916 transcontinental touring season.” 

During the annual convention, the association made plans “for concerted campaigns in the various 

states to bring about early development of a more permanent character all along the route.” In 

addition, the association agreed to petition Congress to provide for a “great military road from coast 

to coast,” with the PPOO on the 40 th parallel of latitude having “logical advantages” for this 

purpose. Even without Federal help, the PPOO Association believed the feasibility of the PPOO 

had been demonstrated by official sociability and reliability runs. For example, a tour that began in 

Colorado Springs on April 14, 1915 “maintained an average running time of twenty-seven miles 

per hour between that city and Indianapolis.”

The PPOO Association held its annual meet ing in St. Joseph on February 15-16, 1917, with more 

than 100 delegates in attendance to reorganize management of the association. The organization 

would be managed by a Board of Directors consisting of the national officers and two delegates 

from each PPOO State. The Board would be responsible for publicity and promotion. To pay for 

the work, each State organization would be taxed $500 for a total of $4,000 to pay general 

expenses. Arrangements had been made for 1,000 markers to be delivered within 60 days and the 

100 delegates left expecting the PPOO to be second to none for the 1917 season.

The Association agreed to hold a midsummer meeting at Colorado Springs in July, with sessions on 

Pike’s Peak, which would be the “highest good roads meeting ever held in the United States.” One 

of the most important matters to be decided at that time was the western extension. The association 

had established a committee on the western extension and it was expected to present its findings at 

the annual meeting. It was considering three alternatives:

- The Overland Trail across northern Nevada via Elko and Lovelock into California.

- The Midland Trail and the Arrowhead Trail from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles.

- An entrance into California other than the Lincoln Highway or the Midland Trail.

The Overland Trail Club was conceived in January 1917 by businessmen in Lovelock to promote a 

highway across Nevada along the Humboldt River. The organizational meeting was held on 

February 25, 1917, in Reno. The Lincoln Highway’s route across the State (today’s U.S. 50) had 

drawn attention away from the river route to the north that the Union Pacific Railroad followed. 

The Club, therefore, planned to “promote a real highway cross Nevada along lines of least 

resistance . . . follo wing the railroad, river, telephone, and telegraph lines, the most thickly 

populated part of Nevada and practically a water grade its entire length.”

The PPOO Association’s location committee, headed by A. W. Henderson of Colorado Springs, 

met with the Bo ard of Directors of the Overland Trail Club during its meeting in Lovelock in June 

1917. Henderson asked for data on the Overland Trail that could be presented to the PPOO 

Association; he then continued his trip to consider alternative routes to San Franc isco and Los 

Angeles. 
W. H. Goodin, president of the Overland Trail Club, attended the PPOO Association midsummer 

meeting on July 10 and 11, 1917, and explained why the Humboldt River route should be adopted 

from Salt Lake City to Reno. After discussing the alternatives, the association chose the Overland 

Trail route across Nevada. 

On July 30, a conference of PPOO Association officials in San Francisco completed designation of 

the western extension by selecting a location through California along a northern loop known as the 

Feather River Route. The alignment went through Portola, Quincy, Oroville, Marysville, 

Sacramento, Davis, Bonicia, Martinez, Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco. An article in Good 

Roads magazine on August 25, 1917, explained the choice this way:

The selection of the western extension of the highway was the result of an official 

inspection tour, which indicated that less than 10% of the 1,600 mi. between Colorado 

Springs and San Francisco was in poor condition. According to r eports of the 

association, the road follows streams, passes through inhabited territory with a 

minimum mileage through desert or desolate country, and traverses many sections of 

unusual scenic interest. The average running time was 19 mi. an hour.

The article also discussed the progress in marking the PPOO:

The work of marking the highway is progressing as rapidly as possible. The signs 

consist of red and white bands, each 10 in. wide, at cross roads, forks, and at frequent 

intervals. These are painted on telephone poles, fence posts, trees or rocks. In 

addition, 1,500 enameled steel signs, 14x20 in. in size, in red and white, are to be 

placed on individual posts at intervals of not more than 5 mi., between New York and 

San Francisco.

The Jefferson Highway Link

During World War I, people around the country searched for ways of honoring America’s 

victorious soldiers. In January 1919, the PPOO Association showed its patriotism by modifying the 

name of its highway to "The Pikes Peak Ocean -to-Ocean Highway--The Pershing Transportation 

Route." 

The new name honored General John J. Pershing, Commander in Chief of the American 

Expeditionary Force in Europe and America's greatest World War I hero. The change stemmed 

from the fact that "Blackjack" Pershing' s boyhood home was along the PPOO in Laclede, Missouri. 

When the Missouri Chapter of the PPOO suggested designating Missouri’s portion of the route to 

honor the General, Adams thought the entire route—which was then promoting its route as “the 

military-commercial main-line across the United States”—should bear the name. The association 

formally adopted the new name during its annual meeting on February 11 -12, 1919, in St. Joseph. 

General Pershing, who “somewhere in France” at the time, cabled his consent for the Missouri 

tribute on February 20: 
Appreciate the honor Missouri pays her gallant troops in wishing to call that part of Ocean to 

Ocean highway, which passes through the state “The Pershing Transport Route.” Am 

pleased to accept the compliment i n their name.--Pershing.

During the annual meeting, the association also voted to cooperate with the Jefferson Highway 

Association in reciprocal services to reduce expenses. The Jefferson Highway Association (JHA) 

had been formed in 1915 to support a route from Winnipeg, Canada, to New Orleans. E. T. 

Meredith, publisher of Successful Farming in Des Moines, Iowa, conceived the route to honor 

Thomas Jefferson and commemorate his part in the 1803 Louisiana Purchase of the western land 

drained by the Missouri River. The JHA adopted the slogan “From Pine to Palms.”

The PPOO Association was especially interested in the JHA’s financing plan. The JHA considered 

its organization unique because it employed “the principles of Home Rule in local matters, State 

Rule in larger concerns, and International Rules in affairs of greatest moment.” It issued a 

franchise to localities for the use of its pole marks, signs, name, and the benefits of publicity. In 

return, the localities were “to build and maintain a 365 -day road and support the working 

organization, which is kept on the job 365 days in the year.” 

To support this work, the JHA charged a mileage assessment of $9 a mile per year, a financing 

technique that worked through its third anniversary in November 1918. Because members felt the 

assessment was inequitable, the JHA adopted a new plan based on the way the Federal Government 

was raising funds during the war by issuing Liberty Bonds. The new plan was designed to raise 

$100,000 over 5 years by selling indivi dual $25 memberships in the rural districts and “club 

membership” in the route’s seven large cities. Although allotments for each locality (except the 

large cities) were based on population, bank resources, and Jefferson Highway mileage, many areas 

exceeded their allotments.

On April 3, 1919, the PPO Association’s finance committee met in St. Joseph to consider a 

permanent finance scheme and consolidation of interests with the Jefferson Highway Association. 

The consolidation plan was to be ratified by the Jefferson Highway Association during its July 

convention. An article by J. D. Clarkson, General Manager of the Jefferson Highway Association, 

in the April 1920 issue of The Road-Maker, Excavator and Grader, explained the reason for the 

combination of the two associations:

The Pikes Peak Ocean-to-Ocean Highway Association, noting the success of the 

Jefferson [Highway Association's financing plan], concluded to adopt the same plan. 

As they serve entirely different territory, one extending north and south and the other 

east and west and were not competitive, they have pooled their publicity assets, but in 

every other way remain distinct. The general manager of the Jefferson has been made 

general manager of the Pikes Peak-Ocean-to-Ocean also and will have the direction of 

the affairs of the latter as well as those of the former highway. Some look upon this 

move as marking an epoch in modern highway promotion.

With the change, the PPOO Association's national headquarters shifted to the JHA’s headquarters 

in St. Joseph, Missouri.
An example of the combined publicity effort can be found in the July 1920 issue of AAA’s 

American Motorist magazine. The headline of the half -page ad read:

The Cross Roads of the Nation Serve all Latitudes and Longitudes

They Intersect all North and South, East and West Transcontinental Routes

Amidst a map showing the two routes in a T format, the text described the two routes:

The JEFFERSON HIGHWAY

The Avenue from the Bread Basket of the World to the Land of Cotton, Palms, and Romance

Winnipeg—2300 Miles—New Orleans

The Jefferson Highway traverses the heart of the richest country on the globe, and 

one filled with romance and sentiment. It connects Acadia, the Land of Evangeline, 

with the lake region and pine forests of the gre at North-land; the land which 

stretches away across lake and plain, through forests and over mountain tops, to the 

Hudson Bay country. It extends through the cotton plantations of the South and the 

oil districts of Louisiana and Oklahoma, across the great corn belt of the trans -

Mississippi country, through the zinc mining districts of Missouri to the vast wheat 

fields of Minnesota and Canada.

PIKES PEAK OCEAN TO OCEAN HIGHWAY

The Street from Hell’s Gate to the Golden Gate

New York—3564 Miles—San Francisco

The Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway is the superlative scenic route. Leading to 

places of beauty and grandeur, it gives expression to the “See America” idea. But it 

is more than a sight-seer’s road—it binds together the work shops of the industrial 

centers with the treasure chests of the mountains. It is an artery of travel that gives 

life to the commercial, industrial, agricultural and mining districts of the first 

magnitude.

The Western End

The western end of the PPOO had been a problem from the start because of the poor connection 

west of Salt Lake City into Nevada. The same problem had plagued the Lincoln Highway, which 

took motorists along an undeveloped route between Salt Lake City and Ely. The LHA had selected 

Ely, a city that was an equal distance from Los Angeles and San Francisco, so motorists could stay 

on the Lincoln Highway regardless of which city they were visiting. The LHA believed it had a 

commitment from Utah officials to improve its alignment, but the State did not do so. 

Utah preferred to split the motorists, rather than give them a moreorless direct route to Ely, where 

they could head to Los Angeles or San Francisco. Instead, Utah preferred direct Los Angeles -

bound motorists to the Arrowhead Trail. The State promoted this trail for economic reasons. The 

Arrowhead Trail, in comparison with the Lincoln Highway, took a southwestern route through 

Utah, keeping motorists bound for Los Angeles in the State for several hundred extra miles after 
they left Salt Lake City. Utah benefited from the extra mileage each time motorists purchased such 

services as gas, food, and lodging to these motorists. 

In 1919, the Victory Highway was established with the same termini as the Lincoln Highway but 

an alternative routing. The highway chose a routing across the Great Salt Lake Desert via 

Wendover into Nevada, where it connected with the Overland Trail. 

The longstanding dispute between the LHA and Utah crystallized after the Federal Highway Act of 

1921 restricted Federal-aid highway fund s to a limited system of roads. The U.S. Bureau of Public 

Roads (BPR), acting at the State’s request, adopted the Great Salt Lake Desert route as the link into 

Nevada that would be included in the Federal-aid highway system. This decision left the Lincol n 

Highway route via Ely ineligible for improvement with Federal -aid highway funds. The LHA 

appealed the BPR’s decision to Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace during a hearing in 

Washington on May 14, 1923. On June 6, he ruled in favor of Utah. He sai d that he could accept 

or reject Utah’s proposal, but did not have the statutory authority to adopt an alternative, namely 

the Lincoln Highway route. (In effect, Secretary Wallace’s decision determined the location of 

U.S. 40 and I-80.)

A Change of Direction

In 1924, the PPOO Association changed the route’s western terminus to Los Angeles, following 

the Arrowhead Trail. After the switch, an article in the Reno Evening Gazette (reprinted in Nevada 

Highway News, March 29, 1924) summarized the views of those along the Overland Trail:

The Directors of the Pike’s Peak Ocean-to-Ocean Highway Association, which once invaded 

this section with a crowd of boomers soliciting memberships under the guise of routing a 

national roadway across the continent, have abandoned their road through Northern Nevada 

and Northern California and henceforth will reach the Pacific Coast by way of Salt Lake City 

and Los Angeles. That means Northern Nevada will probably not be invaded by this flock of 

highway promoters in the future . . . . 

The Pike’s Peak Ocean-to-Ocean Highway Association’s campaigners made their first dash 

through Nevada some six or seven years ago. They were flamboyantly advertised in 

advance, were entertained by commercial clubs and good roads’ organizations, and after a 

noisy procession through the country they solemnly proceeded to map a transcontinental 

highway that was to be traveled by oceans of tourists that would spend oceans of money in 

the towns located upon the route. The incidental matter of taking up subscriptions from 

members admitted into the “association” was not overlooked.

In Nevada the route followed the Humboldt and Truckee rivers, struck north from Reno and 

proceeded down the Feather river canyon to the Coast. Before long it was decorated with 

gorgeous tin signs and thereafter the members were called upon to renew their dues. Now 

they have left us. Northern Nevada and Northern California evidently proved to be 

unproductive fields. There are probably better opportunities, higher appreciat ion, perhaps 

more money in the warmer climate of the sunny southland. At least that territory is to be 

patronized hereafter.
The highway part of the Pike’s Peak Ocean-to-Ocean Highway Association will never be 

missed. The roads which it so gratuitously adopted and emblazoned with glittering legends 

were there before it was organized. They are there yet, none the better, none the worse for 

the promoters who splashed them upon their colored maps. The men and women who cross 

the country in motor cars will ride over them, just the same, regardless of the signs tacked up 

or taken down by the Pike’s Peak promoters. 

The article concluded: "In nine cases out of ten these transcontinental highway associations are 

common nuisances and nothing else."

June 1924 

An article appeared in the June 1924 Citizens Good Roads Association magazine about the PPOO. 

It was a promotional piece in the continuing work of the PPOO Association. In that respect, the 

article is typical of the incentives the PPOO Association believed would attract motorists to its 

route. The article began:

With the call of the road, ever present in the heart of the motor car owner (for he wouldn’t be 

a motor car owner unless this was true) the coming of spring and summer brings the ever 

pertinent question, “Where to go and how to get there.” In years of dealing with the touring 

public, this has ever been paramount to any other condition in the minds of the majority of 

motor car owners, and the quicker these owners find out about these highways, and places of 

interest on them, just so soon will every trip be full of joy and pleasure, instead of a mixture 

of that with disappointments. Even with this suggestion made, it is not probable that it will 

be taken seriously—until you want to take a trip. Then will come the usual scramble for 

information, with the result that it’s a toss-up whether you go where you want to, and get 

there over the best and most convenient route.

Everyone, the article noted, is familiar with “the main steam roads and . . . generally where they 

go.” That was not the case with the main highways. To provide information on “the central scenic 

route of the United States,” the PPOO Association highlighted what it believed would be of greatest 

interest to motorists:

The Pikes Peak Ocean-to-Ocean Highway is the shortest transcontinental highway in the 

United States. Roughly, it follows the fortieth parallel. Starting at New York City, the 

highway runs westward in almost a straight line, except where the country makes that 

impossible, to Los Angeles, California.

When the highway association was organized and the route first laid out in 1913, the 

principal cities in the central part of the United States were included on this route. The 

cities of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; Denver, 

Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah, were among those cities. Within a few years after, 

none of these cities were included on this highway. The demand of the tourist that he be 

given a route eliminating the larger c ities, because of delays, traffic ordinances, etc., caused 

this change. So that today, in addition to being the shortest transcontinental highway, the 

Pikes Peak Ocean-to-Ocean route is also located so that the tourist can make the best time to 

the territory where he wants to spend his vacation, instead of spending his vacation in 
getting there. Another feature that is all important in the work of this highway association, 

is that the highway has been selected so that the grades are easy, and even in the 

mountainous district, the Pikes Peak Highway is routed so that it is the “high gear” way.

One of the first things that an Easterner asks about, is the amount of improved highway, 

while the Westerner never thinks much about this, but expects mud. In order to answer the 

first question, it can be stated that 98 percent of the Pikes Peak route from New York City 

to the Mississippi River is improved, and ninety -six percent of the entire highway is federal 

aid road. This does not mean that you won’t find dirt roads west of the Mississippi River, 

for you will, regardless of which route you take on your trip. However, well kept dirt roads 

are as nice to ride over, and less severe on the car, than are hard -surface roads. The only 

disagreeable difference being during a rainy period . . . . 

Along the Pikes Peak Ocean-to-Ocean Highway are hundreds of camps for the tourists who 

wish to make the trip a real outing. In many of these every conceivable convenience is 

offered the visitors, while in others, they are off ered only the necessities and really have to 

“rough it.”

The cities along the route are large enough to provide the best kind of accommodations in 

the way of hotels, garages and places to obtain meals, and along this highway the business 

men cater to the tourists, and do so on only a fair business basis.

To aid the tourists, the Pikes Peak Highway is well marked throughout the United States. 

The red and white markers, with the black letters, “P.P.O.O” set out the fact that you are on 

this route, it is quite usual to hear the expression, “You can’t get lost on the Pikes Peak 

Highway.” This literally is true, for the trail is kept well marked, and this is handled so 

well, you can’t leave the highway unless you want to do so.

As the Pikes Peak Ocean-to-Ocean Highway Association has more than 6000 members in 

more than 200 cities along this route, who look out to see that the highway is maintained as 

it should be, and the tourists get the best of attention, the visitors on this route are assured of 

a friendly feeling from coast to coast, with every town and village along the highway 

cooperating to do its share to make your trip a success.

Replacing the Promoters

By the mid-1920's, the named trails had become a confusing jumble of overlapping routes, with 

locations often chosen on the basis of the willingness of communities to pay dues, not on the basis 

of sound engineering judgment. Some trail associations were fly -by-night operations intended to 

benefit the promoters rather than the road or the communities it passed through. In 1925, the State 

highway agencies and the BPR joined to create a new national marking system, the U.S. numbered 

highways. In November 1926, the States approved the plan and began installing the U.S. shields.

When State and BPR offic ials numbered the highways, the transcontinental and other major named 

trails were intentionally divided among several numbers. Like many of the named trail 

associations, the PPOO Association protested the split numbering, and the absence of some 
segments of the trail from the U.S. numbering plan. For example, on December 24, 1925, H. D. 

Judson, General Manager of the PPOO Association, wrote to E. W. James, an official of the BPR 

and one of the system's creators:

Although no official map of the system of interstate highways, which are to be marked 

with numbers, through the cooperation of your department with the various state 

highway departments, has been received at this office, there have been numerous 

newspaper stories relative to the roads and their n umbers and a few maps have been 

published by newspapers and magazines depicting the exact route of the highways to 

be numbered.

We assume that what the newspapers have published is only partly correct, and that 

when your official map appears, it will pres ent an entirely different picture, hence we 

are writing in the hope that there may yet be time for and disposition, on the part of 

those in authority, to change the numbering which will affect the Pikes Peak Ocean to 

Ocean Highway in the western part of the country, providing, of course, there is found 

to be good reason for the suggested changes.

James provided the same response he provided to most such inquiries at the time, namely that any 

changes in the numbering would have to be approved by the Executi ve Committee of the American 

Association of State Highway Officials.

With adoption of the system in 1926, interest in the named trails dwindled because motorists 

preferred to follow a single number across country. The trail associations had outlived thei r 

usefulness. In their heyday, before significant government funding was available, they were an 

important part of the movement to improve the Nation's roads. By the mid -1920's, the Federal 

Government had a well-funded Federal-aid highway program, each State had a highway agency, 

and the private named trail promoters were obsolete.

Nevertheless, the PPOO Association continued to promote its highway for several years. The 

February 1927 issue of The Appian Way of America, the PPOO Association’s magazine, contained 

an editorial criticizing the U.S. numbering plan because it had not prevented the organization of 

new and questionable “trails” organizations: 

When the Federal marking system was decided upon, one of the outstanding things the plan 

proposed to accomplish was to prevent new and worthless trails schemes from being 

launched. Since the adoption of this program, however, it seems that more new trails 

organizations have sprung up than during any previous period of like extent. Every few days 

one reads in the newspapers of some new trail association. Practically all of these plan to 

function for almost their entire distance over existing well established routes. 

The editorial stated that although hundreds “of worthless trails organizations” had disappeared, 

strong associations such as the LHA and the PPOO Association “have continued unperturbed:

When this association was formed back in 1911 [sic], its purpose was to aid in every possible 

manner the construction of this highway as a continuous hard -surfaced route from New York 
to Los Angeles [sic] . . . . This great transcontinental highway was laid out many years ago 

and has many advantages over other transcontinental routes. Because of its directness, 

freedom from congestion of large cities, its excellent alignment, easy grades and, in the west, 

unsurpassed scenic attractions, it is destined to become one of America’s great 

transcontinental main streets.

The LHA would cease its active promotional work in September 1928. The end of one of the 

earliest and strongest of the trail associations was a sign that the PPOO Association’s days were 

numbered. The evidence of the coming end can be found in the PPOO Association’s 1927 map 

guide, which provided detailed “strip” maps of the PPOO —with the U.S. numbered routes also 

shown: U.S. 22 (Pennsylvania) , U.S. 36 (Illinois to Kansas), U.S. 40 (Kansas to Colorado), U.S. 

50 (Colorado to Utah), U.S. 89 (Utah), U.S. 91 (Utah to California), U.S. 66. Ominously, segments 

not included in a U.S. highway were sh own only with their State route listing.

The Path of Friendship

By 1927, the PPOO Association was still adjusting its route. The Advisory Board and State 

Divisions met in St. Joseph on February 21 to make needed adjustments. These included three 

adjustments of the route, plus adoption of a branch route. An article in the March 1927 issue of 

The Appian Way of America described the adjustments:

The short route between Las Vegas, Nevada, and Daggett, California, which for several years 

has been shown as an optional route of the P.P.O.O Highway, was adopted as the main route. 

This route, much of which has been improved, shortens the length of the highway ninety -five 

miles. The new route is a great advantage over the former one, since it enables the trave ler to 

cross the Mojave Desert easily in one day’s drive.

In Colorado the Eleven Mile Canyon route was adopted between Hartsel and Florissant. 

There is no saving in mileage here, but the new route does away with a considerable grade 

and is much more scen ic. The Eleven Mile Canyon route follows along the Platte River in 

Colorado on the roadbed of the old Midland Railroad.

The third change in route was between Dover, New Jersey, and New York City, a distance of 

about forty-five miles. The route formerly extended through Newark, New Jersey, and 

entered New York City by way of the Weehawken Ferry. Traffic congestion has grown to be 

so great in Newark within the past few years that it has presented a real problem to this 

organization. The newly adopted route is a short distance north of the former highway and 

extends through Paterson and Hackensack and enters New York City via the 130 th Street 

Ferry.

The article added that in eliminating Newark, the PPOO Association was following its policy of 

“avoiding all large cities where traffic congestion retards the progress of the through motorist.”

The new branch, known as the Grand Canyon National Park Branch, extended from the PPOO at 

Sevier, Utah, and took motorists to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Althou gh the Grand 

Canyon was the objective, the article pointed out that Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon and Cedar 
Breaks were “but short trips from the branch route.” The PPOO also had a Mesa Verde National 

Park Branch in Colorado.

The April-May 1927 issue described the PPOO Association’s advertising program. During May 

and June, “distinctive and attractive” advertisements were planned for Sunday newspapers around 

the country. The association also planned to advertise in quality magazines such as The Atlantic 

Monthly, Harper’s, and Scribner’s. The cost of this direct advertising over the previous 7 years 

was estimated at more than $150,000. In addition, the association distributed several hundred 

thousand free maps and booklets at touring bureaus, hotels, garages, and other businesses along the 

highway. 

On July 18, 1927, the association sponsored an Official Survey and Publicity Tour of the PPOO. 

The tour was designed to direct nationwide attention to the highway, show how much time an 

average tourist would need to make the trip, and gather exact information on road mileage and 

condition. The official party included William L. Robinson of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, who was 

President of the association, and General Manager Judson. Robinson, because of an illnes s in his 

family, left the tour at Delaware, Ohio. However, at a banquet, he described the Pikes Peak Ocean 

to Ocean Highway as a long “Path of Friendship,” with the towns along the way vying with their 

neighbors in entertaining and doing honor to the offi cial party. 

The group left New York City on Monday morning, July 18, and reached Los Angeles on Thursday 

afternoon, August 11. Total driving time was 106 hours over 3,286 miles, which the official report 

of the tour noted is “the shortest route between New York City and Los Angeles.” The trip 

averaged 31 miles an hour. The highway, the party found, was “continuously hard surfaced” from 

New York City to a point 50 miles west of Hannibal, Missouri (1,218 miles). Surface types, 

described as “hard surfaced road,” encountered:

Concrete, 664 miles

Bituminous macadam, 486 miles

Bituminous concrete, 94 miles

Brick, 130 miles

Gravel, 1,242 miles

Total: 2,616 miles

In all, only 670 miles had yet to be surfaced, but the association expected half of that milea ge to be 

under construction for hard surfacing within the next year. The association estimated that over $45 

million had been spent on permanent construction of the PPOO over the past 7 years, with another 

$5 million planned.

The PPOO Association continued its promotional work into the 1930’s. For example, it 

participated in the opening of the last paved section of the highway in Missouri on November 14, 

1931. Governor Henry S. Caulfield participated in the event, which was held in Macon, the 

hometown of Theodore Gary, the first chairman of the State Highway Commission who is known 

as “The Father of the Missouri Road System.” 
With completion of the Missouri section, the association stated that the PPOO was “paved from 

terminal to terminal, except for a 300-mile stretch in Kansas, and work is now in progress there.”

Still, the era of the named trail was over. The PPOO was gradually disappearing from national 

road maps. The highway that couldn’t make up its mind would soon disappear from national 

awareness.