Liberty Highway
The Liberty Highway was an auto trail in the United States linking New York City with Cleveland, Ohio. It passed through Binghamton, New York; Elmira, New York; Jamestown, New York; and Erie, Pennsylvania. First signed in 1918, it was named after the village of Liberty, New York. Through New Jersey and New York, the route of the Liberty Highway was designated as Route 17. Today, much of these routes have been bypassed by freeways, most notably by Interstate 86. Throughout much of the Catskills and the Southern Tier of New York, old portions of the road are still  named Liberty Highway or Old Route 17. History. The moniker "Liberty Highway" was first given by R. H. Johnson, who was the manager of the New York branch of the White Motorcar Company. Because well-known highways like the Liberty Highway were clogged with traffic, he studied maps and found a more direct route through the Southern Tier, which was better maintained and far less traveled. He christened it after Liberty, New York, through which the route travels, and to the "spirit of the times". Johnson first published his route in Motor Age Magazine. Further publicity was brought by other  publications, and a film commissioned by Johnson. The Liberty Highway Association was formed in 1919 to further promote the route. Beginning with the designation of Route 17 over the highway in New York in 1924, the Liberty Highway label began to fall out of fashion, though it was still being advertised as late as 1928 by the AAA. When Route 17 began to be upgraded to a freeway, the Liberty Highway was long forgotten. First routing. New York. Cattaraugus County. "The former Liberty Highway still exists but is closed to traffic between Red House and Steamburg" Later additions. As late  as 1928, the highway association added other roads to its system, including realignments of Route 17. The following names are descriptive, rather than official monikers.