The Jefferson Davis Highway, also known as the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway, was a transcontinental highway in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s that began in Arlington County, 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 proposed by Rassie Hoskins White and 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. 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. [emphasis added]
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. These numbered routes have 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 pieces of the Jefferson Davis highway can be seen.
Virginia The Virginia General Assembly defined the Jefferson Davis Highway in Virginia on March 17, 1922, as traveling from Arlington County at the 14th Street Bridge to Virginia's border with North Carolina, south of Clarksville. Most of this corridor was defined as US 1 and US 15 in 1926, although US 1 took a shorter route between south of McKenney and South Hill, with the Jefferson Davis Highway instead following current State Route 712 and U.S. Route 58, as well as U.S. Route 58 Business in Lawrenceville and Boydton.Virginia Route Index, revised July 1, 2003 (PDF) Additionally, Virginia State Route 110 became part of the Jefferson Davis Highway when it was constructed in 1964, thus creating an continuous route from Alexandria to Rosslyn.
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 as it was a traffic hazard. 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.
Several jurisdictions in Northern Virginia changed the road's name to Richmond Highway: Fairfax County around 1970, Alexandria in January 2019, Arlington in May 2019, Prince William County in November 2020, and Stafford County in 2021 with signs replaced starting in 2022. By 2022, two portions of U.S. 1 remained designated as Jefferson Davis Highway: between and including Fredericksburg and Caroline County, and 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, although this only applied to Fredericksburg.
North Carolina The Jefferson Davis Highway originally traversed 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 on 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. Auxiliary route 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, a monument exists at the northeast corner of LaGrange College, which is within of Confederate Senator Benjamin Hill's National Historical Home. In Wrightsville at the corner of Elm (US 319/Georgia 78) and Markus (Georgia 15)
Alabama In Alabama, the segment of US 80 from Selma to Montgomery is the most famous part of the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway today. On this road, Martin Luther King Jr. led the March 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches that helped prompt Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in August. This road also extends through eastern Montgomery and today is known as the Atlanta Highway, although interstate I-85 has replaced the route to Atlanta.
Mississippi In Biloxi, located at 2244 Beach Boulevard in front of Beauvoir, the last home of Jefferson Davis. It is located on the coastline overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. There is also a marker in Moss Point, at 12400 US-90 at a long neglected turnout at the state line with Alabama.
Louisiana As of 1998, there were eight markers in several places in the state. In 2008, there were six:
Gretna, near Gretna City Hall New Orleans, Canal Street at North Jefferson Davis Parkway Baton Rouge – near the school on Government Street at Eugene Street Baton Rouge - 555 Government Street Livingston – on US-190, in Livingston, 20 miles east of Baton Rouge Kentwood - Louisiana Welcome Center - I-55
Texas The original alignment of the main route traversed from Sabine River to El Paso, via Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Alpine and Van Horn. This routing today would predominantly be along US 90, with US 290 and I-35 connecting Austin. A coastal spur, branching from Houston to Brownsville, travels along US 59 and US 77. At least 18 markers are still in existence across the state. TXDOT did not officially adopt the Jefferson Davis Highway name on any of its state highways. Several of the highway markers have been removed from public property and relocated, including in San Antonio and San Marcos, with the City of Elgin voting to remove the marker there as well.
New Mexico Parts along I-10 were signed as Jefferson Davis Highway; however, markers were removed by DOT. "Officials of the state Department of Transportation now believe they have removed the last remaining memorials to Confederate President Jefferson Davis from Interstate 10 rest areas in New Mexico."
Arizona In 1961, the Arizona State Government passed legislation, officially designating the entire route of U.S. Route 80 in Arizona as the Jefferson Davis Highway. Some monuments displaying the name of the highway still remain along the segments of the old route (such as a roadside marker on U.S. Route 60 near Gold Canyon). The validity of the designation present day is debatable, as US 80 is no longer an active highway in Arizona. However, the Route 80 designation still exists within Arizona in other forms. One segment of US 80 still exists in the form of Arizona State Route 80. Most of former US 80 in Arizona is also signed and designated as Historic US 80.
California The western terminus of the highway was identified by a Jefferson Davis plaque at Horton Plaza in downtown San Diego. The formal opening of the highway at this terminus was officiated by President Warren Harding. (Photographs of this event are available in the archives of the San Diego Union-Tribune and in the files of the San Diego Historical Society.)