Meridian Highway was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

auto trail The system of auto trails was an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada in the early part of the 20th century. Marked with colored bands on utility poles, the trails were intended to help travellers in ...

in the early twentieth century. It roughly followed the path of present-day U.S. Route 81 from

Pembina, North Dakota Pembina () is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 512 at the 2020 census. Pembina is located south of the Canada–US border. Interstate 29 passes on the west side of Pembina, leading north to the Canada� ...

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the List of cities in Texas by population, fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population, 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, T ...

, and

Interstate 35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...

from Fort Worth to

Laredo, Texas Laredo ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Laredo has the distinction of flying seven flags (the flag of ...

History

A group in Kansas was formed in 1911 to promote the concept of a direct north-south automobile route through the central United States. To further that goal, the objective was to organize similar groups in other states. Meridian Road groups, including in Nebraska and Canada were started in 1911. The International Meridian Road Association was founded in 1912, representing Canada, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Unlike most auto trails, the Meridian Highway was envisioned as an international highway, running from

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...

. Its namesake was the

Sixth Principal Meridian The Sixth principal meridian at 97°22′08″W extends from the baseline coincident with the north boundary of Kansas in latitude 40°N south through the state to its south boundary in latitude 37°N and north through Nebraska to the Missouri Ri ...

(approximately the

97th meridian west The 97th meridian west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole. The 97th meridian ...

). The original route through Nebraska was approximately 200 miles long, by 1928, only 19 miles of the Nebraska portion remained dirt road. Improved roads in Nebraska at the time were typically sand and gravel. A 4.5 mile segment of the road was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 2001, all of it in rural

Pierce County, Nebraska Pierce County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 7,266. Its county seat is Pierce. The county was formed in 1859, and was named for US President Franklin Pierce. Pierce County is ...

. The portion of the Meridian Road in Pierce County was still a gravel surface country road in 2001.

References

External links

* *https://web.archive.org/web/20070924192054/http://www.drivetheost.com/meridianhighway.html *http://www.northernplainshighways.org/sdakota/sd61-100.html *http://meridianbridgemuseum.com/meridianbridge.htm Auto trails in the United States Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Nebraska U.S. Route 81 Interstate 35 National Register of Historic Places in Pierce County, Nebraska {{Nebraska-road-stub