Jefferson Davis Highway

The Jefferson Davis Highway, also known as the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway, was a planned transcontinental highway in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s that began in Arlington, Virginia, and extended south and west to San Diego, California; it was named for Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, United States senator, and Secretary of War. Because of unintended conflict between the National Auto Trail movement and the federal government, it is unclear whether it ever really existed in the complete form that its United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) founders originally intended.

Conception of auto trail

In the first quarter of the 20th century, as the automobile gained in popularity, a system of roads began to develop informally through the actions of private interests. These were known as ''auto trails''. They existed without the support or coordination of the federal government, although in some states, the state governments participated in their planning and development. The first of these National Auto Trails was the Lincoln Highway, which was first announced as a project in 1912.

With the need for new roads being so significant, dozens of new auto trails were begun in the decade following. One such roadway was the Jefferson Davis Highway, which was sponsored by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). The UDC planned the formation of the Jefferson Davis as a road that would start in Arlington, Virginia, and travel through the southern states until its terminus at San Diego, California. More than ten years after the route-planning and marking of the Jefferson Davis on existing roadways was begun, it was announced that it would be extended north out of San Diego and go to the Canada–US border.

End of the auto trails

By the mid-1920s, the informal system of national auto trails had grown cumbersome, and the federal government imposed a numbering system on the nation's highways, using even numbers for east–west routes and odd numbers for north–south routes. Rather than using a single number for each auto trail, sections of each trail were given different numerical designations. However, the UDC petitioned the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads to designate the Jefferson Davis as a national highway with a single number. The Bureau's reply casts doubt on whether or not the JDMH ever really existed as a transcontinental highway:

A careful search has been made in our extensive map file in the Bureau of Public Roads and three maps showing the Jefferson Davis highways have been located, but the routes on these maps are themselves different and neither route is approximately that described by you, so that I am somewhat at a loss as to just what route your constituents are interested in. For instance, there is the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway which extends from Miami, Florida to Los Angeles (but not to San Francisco); and there is another Jefferson Davis Highway shown on the Rand-McNally maps which extends from Fairview, Kentucky the site of the Jefferson Davis monument, by a very circuitous route to New Orleans, ''but I find no route whatever bearing the name Jefferson Davis extending from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco.'' mphasis addedref name="highway" />

This problem may well have been the fault of the UDC themselves. In addition to the planned transcontinental route, they also designated an auxiliary route running from Kentucky to Mississippi, as well as another that ran through Georgia. These ancillary routes were intended to commemorate important venues in Davis's life, but they also contributed to the confusion of the federal government in trying to locate exactly where the Jefferson Davis highway traveled. What is known is that when numbered highways came into existence, the Jefferson Davis National Highway was split among US Route 1, US 15, US 29, US 61, US 80, US 90, US 99, US 190 and others. Today, many of these numbered routes themselves are no longer extant, having been supplanted by the Interstate Highway System.

Remaining portions

Although it may not be possible to view the entire length of the highway on a map today, many parts of it still exist, scattered across the country. This is an incomplete listing (from East to West) of some of the places today where one can see pieces of the Jefferson Davis highway.

Virginia

As of 2022, all remaining portions of Jefferson Davis Highway in Virginia have been renamed.

The Virginia General Assembly defined the Jefferson Davis Highway in Virginia on March 17, 1922, as traveling from Arlington at the 14th Street Bridge to the Commonwealth's border with North Carolina south of Clarksville. This corridor was defined as US 1/ US 15 in 1926, although US 1 took a shorter route between south of McKenney and South Hill. (The Jefferson Davis Highway used what was then SR 122 and SR 12). The highway's original eastern terminus marker was located at the Virginia end of the 14th Street Bridge, which crosses the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The marker was there until the 1960s, when it was moved to a nearby location for safety reasons.

The designation "Jefferson Davis Highway" was extended to Virginia State Route 110 when it was constructed in 1964, thus creating an continuous route from Alexandria to Rosslyn. Fairfax County changed the name to "Richmond Highway" around 1970. The Alexandria portion of the route was renamed "Richmond Highway" in January 2019; the Arlington portion received the same renaming in May 2019; and the renaming in Prince William County was approved in November 2020, with signage expected to be changed in July 2022.

State Route 712 and U.S. Route 58 are still defined as the Jefferson Davis Highway, as well as U.S. Route 58 Business in Lawrenceville and Boydton.

The Falling Creek and Proctor Creek highway markers in Chesterfield County, Brook Road Marker in Henrico County, Ashland Marker in Hanover County, and Elliott Grays Marker and Maury Street Marker in Richmond, Virginia are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

By 2020, the portion of U.S. 1 between and including Prince William County and Caroline County was still designated as Jefferson Davis Highway, as was a separate portion from southern Richmond through Chesterfield County. On February 3, 2021, the Virginia House of Delegates voted to rename all remaining portions of Jefferson Davis Highway in Virginia to Emancipation Highway beginning on January 1, 2022. The bill was approved by the State Senate on February 25, 2021, and signed into law by Governor Ralph Northam. In response to the law, many localities voted to rename their portions of Jefferson Davis Highway over the course of 2021. Any portions whose names remained unchanged were legally renamed Emancipation Highway on January 1, 2022.

North Carolina

The Jefferson Davis Highway traverses through the state for . Starting at the Virginia state line along US 15 to Sanford; then on US 1 from Sanford to the South Carolina state line.

Its designation is unofficial since the North Carolina State Highway Commission, a preceding agency of what is now the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), had denied the request in at least two occasions. However, US 1 through Lee County is officially called Jefferson Davis Highway; it was designated in 1959 by county resolution at the request of the UDC.

South Carolina

The Jefferson Davis Highway traverses through the state for . Starting at the North Carolina state line, it follows US 1 to the Georgia state line in Augusta. Several monuments can be found along the route including in Camden and Aiken.

Georgia

*Highway markers can still be seen in certain spots along the old main transcontinental route through the state of Georgia.
**In Taliaferro County, in Crawfordville along US 278 ( SR 12).
**In Morgan County, in Madison along Main Street (US 278/US 441/SR 12) near its intersection with Reese Street.
**In Walton County, also along US 278 (SR 12), approximately from the Morgan County line.
**In DeKalb County, between Atlanta and Decatur, a marker stands in the traffic island at the intersection of Ponce de Leon Avenue (US 23/US 29/US 78) and East Lake Road (US 278).
**In Coweta County, in Grantville, Georgia on Main Street just north of the railroad crossing.
*An auxiliary route through Georgia went south of the main route through Irwin County and Irwinville, where Davis was ultimately captured at the end of the Civil War. This route followed SR 32 to the west of Irwinville, into neighboring Turner County, where today SR 32 retains the official name of "Jefferson Davis Highway".
*In LaGrange

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