Meridian Highway | |
 Bridge on the Meridian Highway in Pierce County, Nebraska; seen from the southwest | |
   | |
| Nearest city | Pierce, Nebraska |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°10′39″N97°29′05″W / 42.1775°N 97.48484°W /42.1775; -97.48484 |
| Area | 36 acres (15 ha) |
| Built | 1911 (1911) |
| NRHP reference No. | 01001273[1] |
| Added to NRHP | November 29, 2001 |
Meridian Highway was aUnited Statesauto trail in the early twentieth century. It roughly followed the path of present-dayU.S. Route 81 fromPembina, North Dakota toFort Worth, Texas, andInterstate 35 from Fort Worth toLaredo, Texas.
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 fromWinnipeg toMexico City. Its namesake was theSixth Principal Meridian (approximately the97th meridian west). 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.[2]
A 4.5 mile segment of the road was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 2001, all of it in ruralPierce County, Nebraska. The portion of the Meridian Road in Pierce County was still a gravel surface country road in 2001.[2]
Media related toMeridian Highway (Pierce County, Nebraska) at Wikimedia Commons| Topics | |
|---|---|
| Lists by state |
|
| Lists by insular areas | |
| Lists by associated state | |
| Other areas | |
| Lists of specific structure types | |
| Related | |
 | This Nebraska road-related article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information. |
