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Route US 30 (New Jersey)

Route US 30 (New Jersey)

U.S. Highway 30 is an east-west United States highway that traverses the United States. The western end of the highway is at Astoria, Oregon; the eastern end is in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It has managed to avoid the decommissioning that has plagued other long haul routes such as Route 66. After the Lincoln Highway was decommissioned, much of it became part of US 30. Many parts of this highway are still referred to as the Lincoln Highway.

Termini

As of 2004, the highway's eastern terminus is in Atlantic City, New Jersey at a street intersection near the Atlantic Ocean. Its western terminus is in Astoria, Oregon at an intersection with U.S. Highway 101, approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the Pacific Ocean in downtown.

Alternate routes

As of 2004, no alternate routes exist for US 30. The route historically had three splits: one between Granger, Wyoming and Burley, Idaho; one between Fruitland, Idaho and Farewell Bend, Oregon; and one between Mansfield, Ohio and Delphos, Ohio.

States traversed

The highway passes through the following states:
- New Jersey
- Pennsylvania
- West Virginia (about 2 miles (3 km) through Chester)
- Ohio
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Nebraska
- Wyoming
- Idaho
- Oregon (Main article: U.S. Highway 30 (Oregon))

Historical sites along US 30


- Pennsylvania
  - Gettysburg National Military Park
  - Coatesville, Pennsylvania, a town originally set on the underground railroad, once host to the world's biggest steel plating company
- Illinois
  - Green River Ordinance Plant

Related US routes


- U.S. Highway 130
- U.S. Highway 230
- U.S. Highway 330
- U.S. Highway 430
- U.S. Highway 530
- U.S. Highway 630
- U.S. Highway 730
- U.S. Highway 830

Sources


- [http://www.geocities.com/usend3039/End030/end030.htm Endpoints of US highways] (used with permission)

External links


- [http://www.UntraveledRoad.com/Categories/Highways/Highway30.htm Photographic virtual tour of U.S. Highway 30.] 030 30 030 030 030 30 030 030 030 030 030

United States Highway

] ] The system of United States Numbered Highways (typically called U.S. Highways) is an integrated system of roads in the United States numbered within a nationwide grid. As these highways were coordinated by the United States Federal Government in the early days, they are sometimes referred to as Federal Highways, but they have always been maintained by state or local governments. Nowadays, there is no funding difference between these routes and any other state highways. The numbers are coordinated by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), in which the only current federal involvement is a non-voting seat for the U.S. Department of Transportation. Similar systems are the informal National Auto Trail system (which was used before the U.S. Highway System) and the Interstate Highway System (which has partially replaced the U.S. Highway System). Many U.S. highways are designated as part of the National Highway System, which includes all highways of national importance.

Early named system

National Highway System]The first United States automobile highway system originated in the 1910s with a series of named highways, known collectively as National Auto Trails. The major routes were named for American Presidents; for example the Lincoln Highway ran from New York City on the Atlantic coast to San Francisco on the Pacific; the Jefferson Highway from New Orleans north to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Jefferson Davis Highway ran from Washington, DC to Blaine in Washington State near the border with Canada. A major exception to the presidential names was the Dixie Highway, running from Miami, Florida to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Such obsolete highway names survive only in scattered locations in the United States, mostly on old highway routes that have been bypassed by later larger highways and now are used mostly by local traffic, or in the street names given to portions of the modern numbered highways within cities and towns (such as Lincoln Way in Cheyenne, Wyoming). The old named highways were marked with horizontal bands of color on telephone & telegraph poles and posts beside their routes, sometimes supplemented by letters (eg; a red, a white and a blue stripe with an "L" indicated the Lincoln Highway; two blue stripes with "JH" indicated the Jefferson Highway; two white and one red stripe with "DH" showed the Dixie Highway).

Current system

Dixie HighwayDiscussion about the form of the proposed United States Numbered Highway system began in 1924 and a preliminary list was ready by the next year. The final list was approved on November 11, 1926. During 1927, the named highways began to be replaced with numbers. US numbered highways do not have a minimum design standard, unlike the later Interstate highway system. Roads on the United States highway system are not usually controlled-access (stoplight free) roads. Many are the main streets of the cities and towns they run through. The United States Highways are state highways, funded just like any other state highway. However, US highways have high standards on surface quality and smoothness along with extra-wide lanes. Numbering of US highways is not controlled by the Federal government. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) collectively agrees on the routes to be signed. On maps and the road, a US highway is indicated by a number on a white sign in a shape of a shield with six points, five above, one below. Until the 1980s, the regulations which describe the sign did not explicitly state that they should be white, leading the state of Florida to use different colors for different roads from 1956 until 1994 - [http://www.us-highways.com/ http://www.us-highways.com/]. The numbering system consists of a one, two, or three digit number. For routes 1 through 101, odd numbers represent north-south highways and even numbers represent east-west. Major North-South US routes were designated by ending in 1. Major East-West US routes ended in zero. The numbers increase moving east to west and north to south. In contrast, the modern Interstate reverses the grid. For example, US 1 and I-95 are located on the East Coast, while US 101 and I-5 run along the West Coast. Route numbers greater than 101 are spur or secondary routes given a number consisting of a single digit prefixed to the number of the "parent" route; for example, US highway 331 is the third secondary route that branches off US 31. Further defining the system, suffixes have been used. Equal splits in a route were designated E and W for East / West and N and S for North / South. Existing examples include US 31E, US 31W, US 70N and US 70S. This sort of equally split route is not as common as it used to be. Bannered highways, additional loop and spur routes, are defined as alternate routes (A routes), bypass routes, and Business Routes (B routes). The Interstate highway system of limited access highways was begun in the 1950s as the National Defense Highway System. These new highways were to supplement the existing United States highway system, not to replace the US highway system, although in some areas an interstate did replace an older US highway. While AASHTO rules discourage US and Interstate routes with the same number to exist in the same state, such examples exist, like I-24 and US 24 in Illinois. In addition, I-49 is proposed to extend through Arkansas, a state that US 49 passes through; I-69 is planned to extend to Texas, where US 69 currently exists; and two Interstate/US multiplexes with the same number will occur in North Carolina (where I-74 will share a freeway with US 74) and Wisconsin (where I-41 will be designated along current US 41).

See also


- List of U.S. Highways
- List of U.S. Highways with freeway portions
- List of bannered U.S. Highways
- U.S. Highway shield
- List of roads and highways
- National Auto Trail
- Interstate Highway system
- National Highway System

External links


- [http://www.us-highways.com/ United States Highways independent historical website] Category:Transportation in the United States
-

United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there. During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655. This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule. British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]] In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed. From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded1 from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments. Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]] During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946. During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics. In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Government

Iraq of the United States.]]

Republic and suffrage

The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.

Federal government

The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.

The Congress

necessary and proper The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."

The President

necessary-and-proper clause At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.

The Courts

George W. Bush The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law. Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.

State and local governments

supreme court of each state. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]] The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system. The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.

Political divisions

With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Since the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole. In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships. The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The U.S. is divided into three distinct sections:
- the "continental United States," also known as "the Lower 48" and more accurately termed the conterminous, coterminous or contiguous United States
- Alaska, which is physically connected only to Canada
- the archipelago of Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean. The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the United States' only incorporated territory; it is unorganized and uninhabited. The United States Navy has held a base at a portion of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 1898. The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate. The present Cuban government of Fidel Castro disputes this arrangement, claiming Cuba was not truly sovereign at the time of the signing. The United States argues this point moot because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.

Foreign relations and military

sovereign] The immense military and economic dominance of the United States has made foreign relations an especially important topic in its politics, with considerable concern about the image of the United States throughout the world. Reactions towards the United States by other nationalities are often strong, ranging from uninhibited admiration and mimicking of all things American to anti-Americanism. US foreign policy has swung about several times over the course of its history between the poles of strict isolationism and imperialism and everywhere in between. Three of the nation's four military branches are administered by the Department of Defense: the Army, the Navy (including the Marine Corps), and the Air Force. The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, but is placed under the Department of the Navy in time of war. The combined United States armed forces consist of 1.4 million active duty personnel, along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Military conscription ended in 1973. The United States Armed forces are considered to be the most powerful military (of any sort) on Earth and their force projection capabilities are unrivaled by any other nation. The 2005 defense budget amounted to $401.7 billion, which is an increase of 4% over 2004 and of 35% since 2001. Over 50% of that number is spent in research & development. (For comparison, in 2004 the European Union (considered as the second-largest military force) had a combined total of 1.6 million troops, and a defense budget of €160 billion, with less than 10% of that being spent on R&D.)

Largest cities

The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types — with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, although the top three would be unchanged. Note that some cities not listed (such as Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.) are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics. The twenty largest cities, based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, are as follows:

Economy

The United States has the largest single-country economy in the world, with a per-capita gross domestic product of $40,100. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. gross domestic product The largest industry of the U.S. is now service, which employs roughly three quarters of the U.S. work force. The United States has many natural resources, including oil and gas, metals, and such minerals as gold, soda ash, and zinc. In agriculture, the U.S. is a top producer of, among other crops, corn, soy beans, and wheat; the United States is a net exporter of food. The U.S. manufacturing sector produces goods such as, cars, airplanes, steel, and electronics, among many others. Economic activity varies greatly from one part of the country to another, with many industries being largely dependent on a certain city or region; New York City is the center of the American financial, publishing, broadcasting, and advertising industries; Silicon Valley is the country’s primary location for high-technology companies, while Los Angeles is the most important center for film production. The Midwest is known for its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, with Detroit, Michigan, serving as the center of the American automotive industry; the Great Plains are known as the "breadbasket" of America for their tremendous agricultural output; the intermountain region serves as a mining hub and natural gas resource; the Pacific Northwest for fish and timber, while Texas is largely associated with the oil industry; the Southeast is a major hub for both medical research and the textiles industry. Several countries continue to link their currency to the dollar or even use it as a currency (such as Ecuador), although this practice has subsided since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Many markets are also quoted in dollars, such as those of oil and gold. The dollar is also the predominant reserve currency in the world, and more than half of global reserves are in dollars. The largest trading partner of the United States is Canada (19%), followed by China (12%), Mexico (11%), and Japan (8%). More than 50% of total trade is with these four countries. In 2003, the United States was ranked as the third most visited tourist destination in the world; its 40,400,000 visitors ranked behind France's 75,000,000 and Spain's 52,500,000. Labor unions have existed since the 19th century, and grew large and powerful from the 1930s to the 1950s. See Labor history of the United States. Since 1970 they have shrunk in the private sector and now cover fewer than 8% of the workers. However union membership has grown rapidly in the public sector, especially among teachers, nurses, police, postal workers, and municipal clerks. There have been few strikes in recent years. The United States' imports exceed exports by 80%, leading to an annual trade deficit of $700,000,000,000, or 6% of gross domestic product. It is the largest debtor nation in the world, with total gross foreign debt of over $13,000,000,000,000 (2005 estimate); and it absorbs more than 50% of global savings annually. Since the 1980s, the U.S. has increased the use of neoliberal economic policies that reduce government intervention and reduce the size of the welfare state, backing away from the more interventionist Keynsian economic policies that had been in favor since the Great Depression. As a result, the United States provides fewer government-delivered social welfare services than most industrialized nations, choosing instead to keep its tax burden lower and relying more heavily on the free market and private charities. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the national level ($5.15 per-hour), including the highest, Washington State at $7.35. Twenty-six states are the same as the federal level; two--Ohio and Kansas--are below; and six do not have state laws. America's wealth is relatively highly concentrated. The average C.E.O. earns 500 times the typical amount a worker grosses, this is up from 25 times in the late 1970s. In terms of wealth the top 1% of Americans own 40% of all assets and 50.1% of the country's income goes to the top twenty percent of households. Average wages for the majority of employees have been largely stagnating since the 1970s. America's poverty line defined as a family of four earning less than $19,157 is at 12.7% of the general population. Approximately one out of every five children in the United States grows up below the official poverty line. Among racial groups; African Americans have the lowest median income while Asians had the highest. Regionally, the southern states had the lowest median incomes while the West Coast and New England had the highest. The current Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan remarked that the U.S.’s growing income inequality since the 1970s is, "not the type of thing which a democratic society - a capitalist democratic society - can really accept without addressing."[http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm] However, Greenspan also noted, "...you can look at the system and say it's got a lot of problems to it, and sure it does. It always has. But you can't get around the fact that this is the most extraordinarily successful economy in history."

Transportation

Alan Greenspan ]] Because the United States is a relatively young nation, most of the development of U.S. cities has taken place since the invention of the automobile. To link its vast territory, the United States built a network of high-capacity, high-speed highways, of which the most important element is the Interstate Highway system, commissioned in the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and modeled after the German Autobahn. The United States also has a transcontinental rail system, which is used for moving freight across the lower forty-eight states. Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak, which serves forty-six of the lower forty-eight states. Many cities in the United States have extensive mass-transit systems. New York City operates one of the world's largest and most heavily used subway systems. The regional rail and bus networks that extend into Long Island, New Jersey, Upstate New York, and Connecticut are among the most heavily used in the world. Air travel is often preferred for destinations over 300 miles (500 kilometers) away. In terms of passengers, seventeen of the world's thirty busiest airports in 2004 were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; in terms of cargo, in the same year, twelve of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Memphis International Airport. There are several major seaports in the United States; the three busiest are the Port of Los Angeles, California; the Port of Long Beach, California; and the Port of New York and New Jersey. Others include Houston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington; plus, outside the contiguous forty-eight states, Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Society

Demographics

Hawaii The mean center of the U.S. population continues to drift farther west and south. The fastest growing region is the western United States followed by the southern portion. According to Census 2000, the states that saw the greatest increases from 1990 were: Nevada (66.3%), Arizona (40%), Colorado (30.6%), Utah (29.6%), Idaho (28.5%), Georgia (26.4%), Florida (23.5%), Texas (22.8%), North Carolina (21.4%), and Washington (21.1%). [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t2/tab03.pdf]

Ethnicity and race

:Main article: Racial demographics of the United States The United States is a very racially diverse country. According to the 2000 census, it has 31 ethnic groups with at least one million members each, and numerous others represented in smaller amounts. The majority of Americans descend from white European immigrants who arrived at the establishment of the first colonies (most after Reconstruction). This majority--69.1% in 2000--decreases each year, and is expected to become a plurality within a few decades. The most frequently stated European ancestries are German (15.2%), Irish (10.8%), English (8.7%), Italian (5.6%) and Scandinavian (3.7%). Many immigrants also hail from Slavic countries such as Poland and Russia. Other significant immigrant populations came from eastern and southern Europe and French Canada. Russia Hispanics from Mexico and South and Central America are the largest minority group in the country, comprising 12.5% of the population (2000 census). People of Mexican descent made up 7.3% of the population in the 2000 census, and this proportion is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades. About 12.3% (2000 census) of the American people are African Americans (Blacks). African Americans are spread throughout the country, but their presence is largest in the South. Asian Americans--including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders--are a third significant minority (3.7% of the population in 2000). Most Asian Americans are concentrated on the West Coast and Hawaii. The largest groups are immigrants or descendants of emigrants from the Philippines, China, India, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan. Indigenous peoples in the United States, such as American Indians and Inuit, make up 0.9% of the population (2000 census). About 35% live on Indian reservations.

Religion

Polls estimate that just under 80 percent of Americans are Christians of various denominations. The other 20 percent comprises other religions such as Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, other various faiths, and those without a specific religion. The United States is noteworthy among developed nations for its relatively high level of religiosity. According to a 2004 Gallup poll, about 44% of Americans attend a religious service at least once a week. However, this rate is not uniform across the country; attendance is more common in the Bible Belt—composed largely of Southern and Midwestern states—than in the Northeast and West Coast. In the Southern states, Baptists are the largest group, followed by Methodists; Roman Catholics are dominant in the Northeast and in large parts of the Midwest due to their being settled by descendants of Catholic immigrants from Europe (such as Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Poland) or other parts of North America (mainly Quebec and Puerto Rico). The rest of the country for the most part has a complex mixture of various Christian groups.

Education

West Coast's home at Monticello and the University of Virginia (library building shown above, and designed by Jefferson), the only collegiate campus on the list. Both sites are located in Charlottesville, Virginia.]] In the United States, education is a state, not federal, responsibility, and the laws and standards vary considerably. However, the federal government, through the Department of Education, is involved with funding of some programs and exerts some influence through its ability to control funding. In most states, all students must attend mandatory schooling starting with kindergarten, which children normally enter at age 5, and following through 12th grade, which is normally completed at age 18

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City is a city located in Atlantic County, New Jersey, USA. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city had a total population of 40,517. It is a resort community located on Absecon Island, off the Atlantic Ocean coast of New Jersey. Other towns on the island are Ventnor, Margate, and Longport.

History

Atlantic City has always been primarily a resort town. Its location in South Jersey, hugging the Atlantic Ocean between marshlands and islands, presented itself as prime real estate for developers. The city was incorporated in 1854, the same year in which train service began, linking this remote parcel of land with the more populated, urban centers of New York City and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Atlantic City became a popular beach destination because of its proximity to Philadelphia. In 1870 the first boardwalk was built along a portion of the beach to help hotel owners keep sand out of their lobbies. The idea caught on, and the boardwalk was expanded and modified several times in the following years. Today, it is several miles long and sixty feet wide, reinforced with steel and concrete. In 1964 the city hosted the Democratic National Convention which nominated Lyndon Johnson for President and Hubert Humphrey as Vice President. The ticket won in a landslide that November. The convention and the press coverage it generated, however, cast a harsh light on Atlantic City, which by then was in the midst of a long period of economic decline. Although a small city, it had been plagued with many large city problems, especially poverty and crime. The neighborhood known as the "inlet" was particularly impoverished. In an effort at revitalizing the city, New Jersey voters in 1976 approved casino gambling for the city of Atlantic City. Resorts International then became the first legal casino in the eastern United States when it opened on May 26, 1978. Many other casinos were opened up along the boardwalk as a result. The introduction of gambling did not, however, eliminate many of the urban problems that plagued Atlantic City. Many have argued that it only served to magnify those problems, as evidenced in the stark contrast between tourism-intensive areas and the adjacent impoverished working-class neighborhoods. In addition, Atlantic City has played second-fiddle to Las Vegas, Nevada as a gambling mecca in the United States.

Atlantic City in popular culture

Las Vegas, Nevada]] Atlantic City has been a rather frequent subject in popular culture. The eccentric 1972 Bob Rafelson film The King of Marvin Gardens with Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern and Ellen Burstyn was shot on location there and strongly conveys a feel for the pre-casino/post-glory-days limbo the city was mired in at the time. The powerful Oscar-nominated 1981 movie, Atlantic City, by French director Louis Malle, starring Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon, reflects the city at the dawn of its casino-driven "rebirth". Atlantic City is cited as the Sundance Kid's birthplace in the 1969 classic western film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. A popular Bruce Springsteen song, "Atlantic City," depicting a young couple's escape to the city, appears on Springsteen's 1982 album Nebraska. More recently, several episodes of Donald Trump's television show The Apprentice have been based and filmed in Atlantic City. It was the home of the Miss America pageant from 1921 to 2005. In August 2005, it was announced that the pageant would be held elsewhere beginning in January 2006. The streets of Atlantic City are used in the American version of the boardgame Monopoly. The sticky confection salt water taffy is closely associated with the boardwalks of Atlantic City.

Geography

Atlantic City is located at 39°21'54" North, 74°26'21" West (39.364966, -74.439034). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 44.9 km² (17.4 mi²). 29.4 km² (11.4 mi²) of it is land and 15.5 km² (6.0 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 34.58% water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 40,517 people, 15,848 households, and 8,700 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,378.3/km² (3,569.8/mi²). There are 20,219 housing units at an average density of 687.8/km² (1,781.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 26.68% White, 44.16% Black or African American, 0.48% Native American, 10.40% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 13.76% from other races, and 4.47% from two or more races. 24.95% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 15,848 households out of which 27.7% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 24.8% are married couples living together, 23.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 45.1% are non-families. 37.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 15.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.46 and the average family size is 3.26. In the city the population is spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 35 years. For every 100 females there are 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 93.2 males. The median income for a household in the city is $26,969, and the median income for a family is $31,997. Males have a median income of $25,471 versus $23,863 for females. The per capita income for the city is $15,402. 23.6% of the population and 19.1% of families are below the poverty line. 29.1% of those under the age of 18 and 18.9% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Government

Local Government

Atlantic City is governed under the Faulkner Act (Mayor-Council) system of municipal government. The current Mayor of Atlantic City is the Honorable Lorenzo Langford. On November 8, 2005 Bob Levy was elected Mayor of Atlantic City, and will succeed Langford who lost the Democratic nomination in the June Primary.

Federal, state and county representation

Atlantic City is in the Second Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 2nd Legislative District.

Casino resorts

2005
- [http://www.hiltonac.com/ Atlantic City Hilton] (New), Boston Avenue & The Boardwalk
- [http://www.ballysac.com/ Bally's Atlantic City]:1, 2 Park Place & The Boardwalk
- The Borgata, One Borgata Way or 1501 MGM Mirage Boulevard
- [http://www.caesarsac.com/ Caesars Atlantic City], Pacific Avenue & The Boardwalk
- [http://www.harrahs.com/our_casinos/atl/ Harrah's Atlantic City], 777 Harrah's Boulevard
- [http://www.resortsac.com/ Resorts Atlantic City], North Carolina Avenue & The Boardwalk
- [http://www.acsands.com/ Sands], Indiana Avenue & The Boardwalk
- [http://www.harrahs.com/our_casinos/sac/ Showboat], South States Avenue & The Boardwalk
- Tropicana, Brighton Avenue & The Boardwalk
- [http://www.trumpmarina.com/ Trump Marina], Huron Avenue and Brigantine Boulevard
- [http://www.trumpplaza.com/ Trump Plaza], Mississippi Avenue & The Boardwalk
- Trump Taj Mahal, Virginia Avenue & The Boardwalk :1 Claridge Tower (Formerly The Claridge Casino/Hotel) is now part of Bally's Atlantic City and is no longer listed separately. :2 Harrah's Entertainment announced that it will rebrand Bally's sometime in the future to either the Horseshoe or Rio brands.

Former, closed and never opened casino/resorts


- Atlantic City Hilton Casino/Hotel (Original) - Never opened. Casino license denied. Renamed Trump Castle Casino/Hotel.
- Atlantis Casino/Hotel - Casino license revoked on 4 July 1989. Renamed Trump Regency (Non-Casino)
- Bally's Park Place Casino/Hotel - Renamed Bally's Atlantic City Casino/Hotel.
- Bally's Grand Casino/Hotel - Renamed The Grand Casino/Hotel.
- Boardwalk Regency Hotel/Casino - Renamed Caesars Boardwalk Regency Casino/Hotel.
- Brighton Casino/Hotel - Renamed Sands Casino/Hotel Atlantic City.
- Caesars Boardwalk Regency Casino/Hotel - Renamed Caesars Atlantic City Casino/Hotel.
- Claridge Casino/Hotel - Renamed Claridge Tower at Bally's.
- Del Webb's Claridge Hotel and Hi-Ho Casino - Renamed Del Webb's Claridge Casino/Hotel.
- Del Webb's Claridge Hotel/Casino - Renamed Claridge Casino/Hotel.
- Golden Nugget Casino/Hotel - Renamed Bally's Grand Casino/Hotel.
- Harrah's Marina Casino/Hotel - Renamed Harrah's Atlantic City Casino/Hotel.
- Harrah's at Trump Plaza Casino/Hotel - Renamed Trump Plaza Casino/Hotel.
- Le Jardin - Project scrapped due to Mirage Resorts-MGM Grand merger.
- Merv Griffin's Resorts Casino/Hotel - Renamed Resorts International Casino/Hotel.
- Park Place Casino/Hotel - Renamed Bally's Park Place Casino/Hotel.
- Penthouse International Casino/Hotel - Never opened, Developer ran out of money.
- Playboy Casino/Hotel - Permanent casino license denied. Renamed Atlantis Casino/Hotel.
- Resorts International Casino/Hotel - Renamed Resorts Atlantic City Casino/Hotel.
- The Grand Casino/Hotel - Renamed Atlantic City Hilton Casino/Hotel.
- Tropicana Casino Resort - Renamed TropWorld Casino Resort
- TropWorld Casino Resort - Reverted back to Tropicana Casino Resort name.
- Trump Castle Casino/Hotel - Renamed Trump Marina Casino/Hotel.
- Trump Regency Hotel (Non Casino) - Renamed Trump World's Fair Casino at Trump Plaza.
- Trump World's Fair Casino at Trump Plaza - Closed and demolished in 2000. Property now an empty lot. Mirage Resorts-MGM Grand

Media outlets

Media outlets without a link do not currently have a website or Wikipedia Article. Newspapers
- [http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/ The Press of Atlantic City]
- [http://www.courierpostonline.com/ The Courier-Post]
- [http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/ The Philadelphia Daily News]
- [http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/ The Philadelphia Inquirer]
- [http://www.nj.com/starledger The Star Ledger]
- [http://www.nj.com/times/ The Trenton Times]
- [http://www.trentonian.com The Trentonian] Radio stations
- WAJM Radio 88.9FM, Atlantic City
- [http://www.951wayv.com/ WAYV Radio 95.1FM, Atlantic City]
- [http://www.literock969.com/ WFPG Radio 96.9FM, Atlantic City]
- [http://www.nj1015.com/ WIXM Radio 97.3FM, Millville]
- [http://www.wjse.com WJSE-FM Radio 102.7FM, Petersburg]
- [http://www.wkxw.com/ WKXW Radio 1450am, Atlantic City]
- [http://www.wmgm1037.com/ WMGM Radio 103.7FM, Atlantic City]
- [http://www.njn.net/radio/ WNJN Radio 89.7FM, Atlantic City]
- [http://www.1400wond.com/ WOND Radio 1400am/1580am, Pleasantville]
- [http://www.catcountry1073.com/ WPUR Radio 107.3FM, Atlantic City]
- [http://www.sojo1049.com/ WSJO Radio 104.9FM, Egg Harbor City]
- [http://www.wxxy.fm/ WXXY Radio 88.7FM Port Republic/Atlantic City] Television stations Some distance television stations provide coverage to Atlantic City and are listed here because viewers receive their over-the-air signal or via a broadcast signal provided by the local cable company under the FCC mandated 'Must Carry' regulation. Local Stations
- WMGM-TV Channel 40 Atlantic City (NBC)
- [http://www.wmcn.tv/ WMCN-TV Channel 53 Atlantic City (Independent)]
- WQAV-TV Channel 13, Atlantic City (Low Power TV Station)
- WWSI-TV Channel 62, Atlantic City (Telemundo) Distance Stations
- WCBS-TV Channel 2 New York City (CBS)
- KYW-TV Channel 3 Philadelphia (CBS)
- WNBC-TV Channel 4 New York City (NBC)
- WNYW-TV Channel 5 New York City (FOX)
- WPVI-TV Channel 6 Philadelphia (ABC)
- WABC-TV Channel 7 New York City (ABC)
- WWOR-TV Channel 9 New York City (UPN)
- WCAU-TV Channel 10 Philadelphia (NBC)
- WPIX-TV Channel 11 New York City (WB)
- WHYY-TV Channel 12 Wilmington, Delaware (PBS)
- WNET-TV Channel 13 Newark, New Jersey (PBS)
- WPHL-TV Channel 17 Philadelphia (WB)
- WNJS-TV Channel 23 Camden, New Jersey (PBS)
- WTXF-TV Channel 29 Philadelphia (FOX)
- WPXN-TV Channel 31 New York City (i - Formerly Pax)
- WXTV-TV Channel 41 Paterson, New Jersey (Univision)
- WNJU-TV Channel 47 Linden, New Jersey (Telemundo)
- WPSG-TV Channel 57 Philadelphia (UPN)
- WPPX-TV Channel 61 Wilmington, Delaware (i - Formerly Pax)

Transportation

Atlantic City is connected to other cities in several ways, including by New Jersey Transit's Atlantic City Line from Philadelphia and several smaller Southern New Jersey towns. The Atlantic City Bus Terminal is the home to local, intra-state and interstate bus companies including New Jersey Transit and Greyhound bus lines. Access to Atlantic City by car is also easy via the 44 mile Atlantic City Expressway, US 30, commonly known as the White Horse Pike, and US 40/322, commonly known as the Black Horse Pike. In Atlantic City there is an abundance of taxi cabs and the local Jitney service providing continuous service to and from the casinos and the rest of the city.

External links


- [http://www.aboutnewjersey.com/Regions/Shore/Atlantic/AtlanticCity/index.php AboutNewJersey.com - Atlantic City NJ Travel & Information Guide]
- [http://www.acboe.org/ Atlantic City Board of Education]
- [http://www.acweekly.com/archives/2005/02.03.05/sports.php California, Here They Come (Link with artice concerning the former Boardwalk Bullies' move to Stockton, California)]
- [http://www.atlanticcitynj.com/ Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Center]
- [http://www.acexpressway.com/ Atlantic City Expressway Authority]
- [http://www.acfpl.org/ Atlantic City Free Public Library]
- [http://www.acairport.com/ Atlantic City International Airport]
- [http://jitney.bigstep.com/ Atlantic City Jitney Association]
- [http://www.acpolice.org/ Atlantic City Police Department]
- [http://www.acracecourse.com/ Atlantic City Race Course Official Website]
- [http://www.atlanticcitychamber.com/ Atlantic City Regional Chamber of Commerce]
- [http://www.acsurf.com/ Atlantic City Surf (Minor League Baseball Team)]
- [http://www.boardwalkhall.com/ Boardwalk Hall Convention Center (Formerly the Atlantic City Convention Center)]
- [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/papr:@FILREQ(@field(TITLE+@od1(Atlantic+City+floral+parade++))+@FIELD(COLLID+workleis)) Movie of Atlantic City floral parade, circa 1904]
- [http://www.state.nj.us/casinos/ New Jersey State Casino Control Commission]
- [http://www.state.nj.us/lps/ge/ New Jersey State Division of Gaming Enforcement] Category:Atlantic County, New Jersey Category:Atlantic City, New Jersey Category:Cities in New Jersey Category:New Jersey District Factor Group A Category:Faulkner Act

Lincoln Highway

:There is also a Lincoln Highway in Australia. Australia The Lincoln Highway was America's first transcontinental highway. Conceived in 1913, it spanned 3389 miles, coast-to-coast, from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, through 14 states (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California). The Lincoln Highway is one of America's oldest and most historical roads. It inspired the Good Roads Movement and Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, popularly known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956, which was championed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, influenced by his experiences as a young soldier crossing the country in 1919 on the Lincoln Highway. Affectionately, the Lincoln Highway became known as "The Main Street Across America." The [http://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org Lincoln Highway Association] is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the Lincoln Highway. The first section of the Lincoln Highway to be dedicated was the Essex and Hudson Lincoln Highway, running along the former Newark Plank Road from Newark, New Jersey to Jersey City, New Jersey. It was dedicated in late 1913 at the request of the Associated Automobile Clubs of New Jersey and the Newark Motor Club, and was named after the two counties it passed through. right

History of the Lincoln Highway

:The following is based on an article written by Richard F. Weingroff for the United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration [http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/lincoln.htm] On July 1, 1913, a group of automobile enthusiasts and industry officials established the Lincoln Highway Association (LHA) "to procure the establishment of a continuous improved highway from the Atlantic to the Pacific, open to lawful traffic of all description without toll charges." In its time, the Lincoln Highway would become the Nation's premier highway, as well known as U.S. 66 was to be in its day and as well known as I-80 and I-95 are today. The Lincoln Highway also played an important role in the evolution of highways leading up to the Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways. This role is illustrated by the LHA's twin goals. One goal was to build a "Coast-to-Coast Rock Highway" from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco. The second goal was to make the Lincoln Highway an object lesson that would, in the words of its creator, Carl G. Fisher, "stimulate as nothing else could the building of enduring highways everywhere that will not only be a credit to the American people but that will also mean much to American agriculture and American commerce." In 1912, the Nation's highways were just emerging from the "Dark Ages" of road building in the second half of the 19th Century. Railroads dominated interstate transportation of people and goods. Roads were primarily of local interest. Outside cities, "market roads" were maintained, for better or worse, by counties or townships. Many States were prohibited by their constitution from paying for "internal improvements," such as road projects. The Federal-aid highway program would not begin until 1916 and, because of structural problems and the advent of World War I in 1917, would not accomplish much until 1921. The country had approximately 2,199,600 miles of rural roads and only 190,476 miles (8.66 percent of the total) had improved surfaces of gravel, stone, sand-clay, brick, shells, oiled earth, bituminous or, as a U.S. Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) bulletin put it, "etc." Many people thought of interstate roads as "peacock alleys" intended for the enjoyment of wealthy travelers who had time to spend weeks riding around the country in their automobiles. Fisher saw the situation differently. He was an early automobile enthusiast who had been a racer, the manufacturer of Prest-O-Lite compressed carbide-gas headlights used on most early motorcars, and the builder of the Indianapolis Speedway. (In the 1920s he would be known as the promoter and builder of Miami Beach.) He believed that, "The automobile won't get anywhere until it has good roads to run on." He began actively promoting his dream, a transcontinental highway, in 1912. On September 10, he held a dinner meeting with many of his automobile industry friends in the Deutsches Haus in Indianapolis, his home town. He called for a coast-to-coast rock highway to be completed by May 1, 1915, in time for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. The project would cost about $10 million, he said. "Let's build it," he told the group, "before we're too old to enjoy it!" Within a month, Fisher's auto industry friends had pledged $1 million. Henry Ford, the biggest automaker of his day, was a notable exception. He refused to contribute in spite of a personal plea by Fisher over a pigpen at the State Fair in Detroit, Michigan. Ford believed the government, not private individuals or companies, should build the Nation's roads. By July 1913, Fisher and his associates had chosen a name for the road. After rejecting the "Fisher Highway," the "Jefferson Memorial Highway," and the "American Road," among other possibilities, the group named its highway after one of Fisher's heroes, Abraham Lincoln. Fisher adopted the name only after Congress rejected a proposal by another group to build a "Lincoln Memorial Road" from Washington to Gettysburg; instead, Congress authorized construction of the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall in Washington. Next, the group had to select a route. Having agreed on New York City and San Francisco as the termini, the LHA's founders wanted the shortest, best, and most direct route possible between the two points. Selecting the route for the eastern section was relatively easy. Roads east of the Mississippi River were generally in better shape than those in the thinly populated West. To select the best roads for the western section, Fisher and the LHA's "Trail-Blazer" tour set out from Indianapolis in 17 cars and 2 trucks on July 1, 1913, the same day the LHA was established at its headquarters in Detroit. The highly publicized trip to San Francisco took 34 days—34 days of mud pits in Iowa, sand drifts in Nevada and Utah, radiators boiling over, flooded roads, cracked axles, and enthusiastic greetings in every town that thought it had a chance of being on the new highway. After an triumphal auto parade down Market Street in San Francisco before thousands of cheering residents, the Trail-Blazers returned to Indianapolis—by train. The LHA announced the route on September 14, 1913. The announcement disappointed many of the town officials, particularly in Colorado and Kansas, who had greeted the Trail-Blazers and thought the passage of the LHA meant the route had been selected. The LHA leaders, particularly Henry Bourne Joy, President of the Packard Motor Car Company, decided on as straight a route as possible and that decision dictated the course. That initial line was 3,389 miles long. Less than half of it, 1,598 miles, was improved. (Eventually, as segments of the route were improved, the length shrunk to about 3,140 miles). Some segments of the Lincoln Highway followed historic roads.
- In the East, the Lincoln Highway incorporated a road laid out by Dutch colonists of New Jersey before 1675.
- The route in Pennsylvania followed the 62-mile Philadelphia to Lancaster Pike, the first extensive turnpike in the United States (completed in 1796), and a British military trail built in 1758 by General John Forbes of England from Chambersburg to Pittsburgh during the French and Indian War. It was later known as the Pittsburgh Road and the Conestoga Road.
- A section in Ohio followed an ancient Indian trail known as the Ridge Road.
- In the West, the Lincoln Highway used sections of the Mormon Trail (the route along which Brigham Young led his Mormon followers to Utah), as well as the route of the Overland Stage Line and the Pony Express.
- Entering California, a motorist on the Lincoln Highway crossed the Sierra Nevada through Donner Pass, named after the Donner Party, which became stranded after attempting to cross through the pass too late in the winter of 1846-1847, or could follow an alternate route that was once a pioneer stage coach route. The LHA dedicated the route of the Lincoln Highway on October 31, 1913. Bonfires and fireworks marked ceremonies in hundreds of cities in the 13 States along the line. Concerts and parades took place. In at least two locations, the streets were swept and washed so dances could be held on the highway. During a dedication ceremony in Jefferson State, Iowa, State Engineer Thomas H. MacDonald summarized what many people felt. The enthusiasm for the Lincoln Highway would become, he said, "the first outlet for the road building energies of this community." It would lead to construction of connected radial routes and eventually to "great transcontinental highways . . . . That such a radial system of roads should be built is of very much more importance than that one great continuous road across the state shall be built." Five years later, in 1919, MacDonald became Commissioner of the BPR, a post he held until 1953, overseeing the early stages of the Interstate System. During the early years, a trip from the Atlantic to the Pacific on the Lincoln Highway was, according to the LHA's 1916 Official Road Guide, "something of a sporting proposition." The LHA estimated the trip would take 20 to 30 days, but that assumed the motorist could average a driving time of 18 miles an hour. At a time when a service infrastructure to support the automobile did not exist, the guide urged motorists to buy gasoline at every opportunity, no matter how little had been used since the last purchase. Motorists were advised to wade through water before fording it with their vehicle and to avoid drinking alkali water ("Serious cramps result"). Firearms weren't needed, but full camping equipment was, especially west of Omaha, Nebraska. The guide advised motorists to select camp sites early ("If you wait until dark you may be unable to find a spot free from rocks"). Equipment needed included chains, a shovel (medium size), axe, jacks, tire casings and inner tubes, a set of tools, and, of course, 1 pair of Lincoln Highway Penants. In view of the mud the motorist could expect to travel through, the guide offered one bit of practical advice without further comment: "Don't wear new shoes." As the motorist approached Fish Springs, Utah, he could take comfort in the guide's advice: :If trouble is experienced, build a sagebrush fire. Mr. Thomas will come with a team. He can see you 20 miles off. Mr. Thomas and his sorrel team were bypassed in time for the guide's fourth edition, published in 1921. However, that guide advised motorists heading west to stop at Orr's Ranch before deciding which route to follow. "The Orr Brothers … can be relied upon" to know which was better. Motorists heading east from Nevada were to ask Mr. K. C. Davis of Gold Hill for advice. He, too, could be relied upon. The motorist could expect the trip to cost no more than $5 a day per person. That included everything (food, gas, oil), "even allowing for five or six meals in hotels." Car repairs caused by breakage or wear would, of course, increase the cost. In September 1912, Fisher had described his plan in a letter to a friend. He pointed out that "the highways of America are built chiefly of politics, whereas the proper material is crushed rock, or concrete." Actually, to a large extent, publicity and propaganda were the proper material for building the Lincoln Highway, as freely admitted in the LHA's 1935 official history, The Lincoln Highway: The Story of a Crusade That Made Transportation History. The leaders of the LHA were masters of what today would be called media events. According to LHA Secretary A. F. Bement, "Publicity in our lexicon … means keeping the name before the public and a never-ending pressure toward the great objective." The dedication ceremonies were a perfect example. Aside from sponsoring the October 31 ceremonies, the LHA asked clergy across the Nation to discuss Abraham Lincoln in their sermons on November 2, the Sunday nearest the dedication. The LHA then distributed copies of many of the sermons, such as one by Cardinal Gibbons, who said that "such a highway will be a most fitting and useful monument to the memory of Lincoln." The publicity had begun virtually from the start of the LHA. After the headquarters opened in Detroit, one of Fisher's first acts was to hire F. T. Grenell, city editor of the Detroit Free Press, as a part-time publicity man. The 1913 Trail-Blazer tour included representatives of the Hearst newspaper syndicate, the Indianapolis Star and News, the Chicago Tribune, and telegraph companies to transmit their dispatches. In those early days, each contribution from a famous supporter was publicized. Theodore Roosevelt and Thomas Edison, both friends of Fisher, sent checks. When President Woodrow Wilson, a dedicated motor enthusiast, contributed $5, he was assigned Highway Certificate #1. The LHA, which arranged the President's donation through a friendly Member of Congress, distributed copies of his certificate to the press. However, one of the best known contributions came from a small group of "Esquimaux" children in Anvik, Alaska. When their American teacher told them about Abraham Lincoln and the highway to be built in his honor, they took up a collection among themselves and sent it to the LHA with the note, "Fourteen pennies from Anvik Esquimaux children for the Lincoln Highway." The LHA distributed pictures of the coins and reproductions of the accompanying letter, both of which were widely reprinted. One reason the LHA concentrated on publicity was that it could not afford to build the highway. In short, Henry Ford had been right. Fisher's idea that the auto industry and private contributions could pay for the highway was abandoned early. For the most part, the LHA used contributions for publicity and promotion to encourage travel over the Lincoln Highway, as well as to encourage State, county, and municipal officials to improve the road. The LHA did, however, help finance construction of short sections of the route. For example, the LHA arranged contributions from the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company to build the "cut-off" that was intended to relieve Mr. Thomas and his horses of their role of helping stranded motorists near Fish Springs. (Goodyear President Frank A. Seiberling was President of the LHA for many years.) The LHA also sponsored short concrete "Seedling Mile" object lesson roads in many locations (the first, built in the fall of 1914, was just west of Malta, Illinois). The "Seedling Miles," according to the LHA's 1924 guide, were intended "to demonstrate the desirability of this permanent type of road construction" and "crystallize public sentiment" for "further construction of the same character." Generally, the LHA worked with the [http://www.cement.org/ Portland Cement Association] to arrange donations of cement for the seeding mileage. The most famous "seedling" and one of the most talked about portions of the Lincoln Highway was the 1.3-mile "Ideal Section" between Dyer and Schererville in Lake County, Indiana. In 1920, the LHA decided to develop a model section of road that would be adequate not only for current traffic but for highway transportation over the following 2 decades. The LHA assembled 17 of the country's foremost highway experts for meetings in December 1920 and February 1921 to decide design details of the Ideal Section. They agreed on such features as:
- A 110-foot right-of-way;
- A 40-foot wide concrete pavement 10 inches thick (maximum loads of 8,000 pounds per wheel were the basis for the pavement design);
- Minimum radius for curves of 1,000 feet, with guardrail at all embankments;
- Curves superelevated (i.e., banked) for a speed of 35 miles per hour;
- No grade crossings or advertising signs; and
- A footpath for pedestrians. The Ideal Section was built during 1922 and 1923, with funds from the Federal-aid highway program, the State highway agency, and Lake County as well as a $130,000 contribution by the United States Rubber Company (company president C. B. Seger was one of the founders of the LHA). In magazines and newspapers, the Ideal Section was hailed as a vision of the future. Highway officials from around the country visited the Ideal Section, and they discussed it in papers read before technical societies in this country and abroad. Today, the Ideal Section is still in use. However, a motorist between Dyer and Schererville would not know he was on an historic section of highway unless he stopped to see the "Ideal Section" marker placed off the road. Still, the Ideal Section stands as an early attempt to envision the type of highway that would evolve into today's Interstate superhighways. Actually, one of the Lincoln Highway's greatest contributions to future highway development occurred in 1919, when the U.S. Army undertook its first transcontinental motor convoy. The highly publicized convoy, promoted by the LHA, was intended, in part, to dramatize the need for better main highways and continued Federal-aid. The convoy left the Ellipse south of the White House in Washington on July 7 and headed for Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. From there, it followed the Lincoln Highway to San Francisco. Bridges cracked and were rebuilt, vehicles became stuck in mud, and equipment broke, but the convoy was greeted warmly by communities across the country. The convoy reached San Francisco on September 5. The LHA considered the convoy a great success. Extensive publicity promoted the Lincoln Highway and good roads everywhere. According to the LHA's official history, the convoy led directly to favorable action on many county bond issues for highway building. However, the greatest result of the convoy was not realized until the 1950's. One participant in the convoy was a bored young Army officer, Lt. Colonel Dwight David Eisenhower. The convoy was memorable enough for him to include