The Lincoln Highway, built in 1913, was the first coast-to-coast and first transcontinental highway. A group of visionary businessmen from the automotive industry, led by Henry B. Joy and Carl Fisher, formed the Lincoln Highway Association and successfully spearheaded creation of the publicly funded road from New York City, New York, to San Francisco, California. Although the Association did very little actual road building, it stirred public imagination and the project soon moved forward. When completed, the road stretched 3,389 miles. In Pennsylvania, much of it was created by improving and linking pre-existing roads, including turnpikes and Forbes Road. It became a focal point of the Good Roads Movement, which ultimately led to highway development across the nation. The first segments measured ten feet wide, later a wider width was recommended so two automobiles could travel side by side, and in 1918 an eighteen-foot minimum was established, though that still proved inadequate; today Pennsylvania Department of Transportation specifications call for a twenty-four-foot width for two-lane local access roads.

North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania · USA