America’s Historic Roads
Puzzle 72 · Life Beside the Road · Page 100 in print
Road Maps and Signposts
In 1918, Wisconsin introduced triangular numbered road markers. Each sign placed the highway number in large figures at its center, with the state abbreviation below.
Jump to a word
The words
Arthur Hirst
Wisconsin state highway engineer who criticized named-trail marking.
Auto Clubs
Membership organizations that supplied road maps.
Library of Congress: A Collector’s Passion (opens a new tab)
Bicyclists
Road travelers served by early maps and guides.
Library of Congress: A Collector’s Passion (opens a new tab)
Diamonds
Shape proposed for slow warnings in the 1923 plan.
Free Maps
Road maps distributed without charge at gas stations.
Library of Congress: A Collector’s Passion (opens a new tab)
Guidebooks
Printed travel aids used alongside road maps.
Library of Congress: A Collector’s Passion (opens a new tab)
H M Gousha
Company producing road maps for oil firms.
Library of Congress: A Collector’s Passion (opens a new tab)
Hinkle
Indiana official who joined the 1922 sign study.
Map Collectors
People who exchanged and preserved printed road maps.
Library of Congress: A Collector’s Passion (opens a new tab)
Rand McNally
Company producing road maps for oil firms.
Library of Congress: A Collector’s Passion (opens a new tab)
Rectangles
Shape proposed for directional and regulatory information.
Rosenwald
Minnesota engineer who studied standardized signs.
Sinclair
Oil company whose road map pictured a woman driver.
Library of Congress: A Collector’s Passion (opens a new tab)
Squares
Shape proposed for caution messages in the 1923 plan.
Triangles
Shapes of Wisconsin’s early numbered road markers.
Sources
- Names, Numbers, Origins: The U.S. Numbered Highway SystemFederal Highway Administration
- A Collector’s Passion (September 2001)Library of Congress