Pershing Map
The Pershing Map, created in 1922, represents a pivotal moment in the development of the United States' highway system, marking the first systematic effort to survey existing roads for national infrastructure planning. This initiative was driven by the need for military preparedness during and after World War I, highlighting deficiencies in the transportation network that hindered the movement of troops and supplies. The map prioritized certain routes for federal funding, with a focus on coastal areas, the Mexican border, and regions around the Great Lakes, while largely neglecting the South. The U.S. Army conducted extensive motor convoys to identify critical transportation barriers, leading to the creation of a detailed 32-foot-long map presented to Congress by General John Pershing. Although the immediate post-war context diminished the urgency for military-focused infrastructure, the Pershing Map laid groundwork that would influence future highway policies, particularly as civilian automobile culture began to flourish. Eventually, figures like Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had firsthand experience with the convoys, became instrumental in shaping the U.S. interstate highway system, with many modern routes reflecting those outlined in the Pershing Map. The legacy of this map highlights the intertwining of defense needs and civilian infrastructure development in American history.
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Pershing Map
The Pershing Map, created in 1922, was the first systematic attempt to survey existing U.S. roads and to establish a unified national policy for interstate routes. The plan emphasized military preparedness and favored heavy industry and development along the coasts. Roads identified as military priorities would receive preference for federal highway funding.
The United States’ entry into World War I brought into focus the primitive condition of most U.S. roads and their inadequacy in meeting defense needs. Wartime also provided a convenient platform for promoting commercial development. The lack of transportation infrastructure that hindered the movement of troops and supplies also increased manufacturing costs, inhibited growth outside of cities, and contributed to regional isolation.
In 1919 and 1920, the U.S. Army organized two motor convoys across the United States to identify barriers to transcontinental military operations. At the time, most defenses were based on the East Coast, while the threat of invasion from Mexico and Asia was an increasing concern. The 1919 convoy left Washington, D.C., on July 7 and arrived in San Francisco on September 6. Following the route of the Lincoln Highway, more than half of which was unimproved dirt road, it averaged 57 miles per day. The 1920 convoy, which followed a more southerly route to San Diego, averaged fewer than 30 miles per day.
In 1921, as part of a general plan to establish a national highway system, Bureau of Public Roads director Thomas MacDonald asked the Army to supply a prioritized list of those routes most critical to national defense. The United States Geological Survey sent out teams to do a detailed survey of these routes, and the results were summarized in a massive, 32-foot-long map, which General John Pershing presented to Congress in 1922. Priority roads were concentrated on the East and West Coasts, along the Mexican border, and around the Great Lakes, while little attention was paid to the South. No separate legislation funded these specific roads, but the map did influence later decisions regarding funding.
By the time the Pershing Map appeared before Congress, war fever and concern for defense had ebbed. The growth of civilian automobile culture and the current needs of rapidly expanding industries and population centers would dictate the nation’s road-building trajectory instead.
Impact
The degree to which the Pershing Map contributed to overall highway policy in the 1920s is difficult to assess, since the nation’s taste for war and preoccupation with military concerns had already begun to wane. Future president Dwight D. Eisenhower, who participated in the 1919 convoy and was subsequently involved in drawing up the plans for the map, would become a strong supporter of the U.S. interstate highway system, and many of the superhighways established during his administration follow the routes originally outlined in 1922.
Bibliography
Batchelder, A. G. “The Immediate Necessity for Military Highways.” National Geographic 32 (December, 1917): 477–499.
Gutfreund, Owen D. Twentieth Century Sprawl: Highways and the Reshaping of the American Landscape. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Kaszynski, William. The American Highway: The History and Culture of Roads in the United States. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2000.