The Lee Highway Association and the Zero Milestone

The Lee Highway Association's 1926 book dedicated to the highway.

The Lee Highway Association was founded in 1919, consisting of representatives of all the states through which the country's first coast-to-coast highway would span. The Association and its allies pushed for, and won, support for the highway after Dwight Eisenhower's cross-continent convoy expedition; the road was completed in 1923. The highway was intended to link the most disparate parts of the country, north and south, with some language used by Association Director S. M. Johnson suggesting that it represented the final reconciliation of the Civil War.

The Zero Milestone

The Zero Milestone in Washington, DC was an integral symbol of the highway; it marked the position from which all highways leaving the capitol would radiate. The Congressional Record compared it to the golden milestone in the Forum of Rome, describing it as a monument to the greatness of America which would be reflected upon by every visitor to the city, and every individual who drove on the highways that radiated from it (Templeman).