Lee Highway

The Lee Highway was a National Auto Trail in the United States connecting New York City and San Francisco, California via the South and Southwest. It was named after Robert E. Lee.

Routing

The route of the Lee Highway is now roughly designated by the following routes:
*US 1, New York to Washington, D.C.
*US 29 and US 211, Washington to New Market, Virginia
*US 11, New Market to Bristol, Virginia
*US 11W, Bristol to Knoxville, Tennessee
*US 11, Knoxville to Chattanooga, Tennessee
*US 72, Chattanooga to Corinth, Mississippi
*US 45, Corinth to Selmer, TennesseeFact|date=July 2007
*US 64, Selmer to Memphis, TennesseeFact|date=July 2007
*US 70, Memphis to Alamogordo, New Mexico
*US 54, Alamogordo to El Paso, Texas
*US 180, El Paso to Las Cruces, New Mexico
*US 70, Las Cruces to Globe, Arizona
*US 60, Globe to Phoenix, Arizona
*Arizona SR 85 (former US 80) and Old US 80, Phoenix to Gila Bend, Arizona
*Interstate 8 (former US 80), Gila Bend to San Diego, California
*Interstate 5 (former U.S. Route 101), San Diego to Los Angeles, California
*US 101, Los Angeles to San Francisco, California

Current day name usage

Much of the original route is still known by the name "Lee Highway". The following cities and areas of the U.S. (listed from East to West) still have roads that use the name:

*Northern Virginia
*The portion of US 11 known as Apperson Drive in Salem, Virginia and Brandon Avenue SW in Roanoke, Virginia is also commonly called Lee Highway. Other sections of US 11 in the Roanoke Valley are not typically referred to as Lee Highway.
*Bristol, Virginia
*East Tennessee (US 11 from Chattanooga to Dixie Lee Junction)
*Cleveland, Tennessee
*Chattanooga, Tennessee
*South Pittsburg, Tennessee
*North Alabama

In Virginia, the Lee Highway was defined by the General Assembly on March 20, 1922 to run from the District of Columbia at the Francis Scott Key Bridge to Bristol at the border with Tennessee. This was defined as U.S. Route 211 and U.S. Route 11 in 1926; US 211 northeast of Warrenton is now U.S. Route 29. It now uses the following business routes: [ [http://www.virginiadot.org/infoservice/resources/route-index-07012003.pdf Virginia Route Index, revised July 1, 2003] (PDF)]
*U.S. Route 29 Business and U.S. Route 211 Business in Warrenton
*U.S. Route 211 Business in Washington
*U.S. Route 211 Business in Luray
*U.S. Route 11 Business in Staunton
*U.S. Route 11 Business in Lexington

Cultural references

The "Lee Highway Blues" is a standard of southern string band music, attributed to G B Grayson of the popular Grayson and Whittier string band of the late 1920s, who recorded it under the title "Going Down The Lee Highway". The tune has been used as a fiddler's showpiece especially in the Virginia area by well-known fiddlers, notably Scotty Stoneman, and by string band revivalists such as the Highwoods String Band.

References

*Rand McNally Auto Road Atlas, 1926, accessed via the [http://www.broermapsonline.org/members/ Broer Map Library] : shows the between Washington, D.C. and New Mexico, except in western Tennessee
*Virginia Hart, The Story of American Roads, 1950, p. 240: lists the cities on the route

External links

* [http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/us80.htm FHWA - United States Route 80 The Dixie Overland Highway]
* [http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/johngal2.htm FHWA - Dr. S. M. Johnson Photo Gallery Along Lee Highway (Mid-1920s)]