 | |
|---|---|
| Route information | |
| Length | 4,060 mi[1] (6,530 km) |
| Existed | January 6, 1919[2]–1930s[1] |
| Major junctions | |
| West end | Portland, Oregon |
| East end | Portland, Maine |
| Location | |
| Countries | United States, Canada |
| Provinces | Ontario |
| States | Oregon,Washington,Idaho,Montana,North Dakota,Minnesota,Wisconsin,Michigan;New York,Vermont,New Hampshire,Maine |
| Highway system | |
| Auto Trails | |
TheTheodore Roosevelt International Highway was a transcontinentalNorth American highway, from the era of theauto trails, through theUnited States andCanada that ran fromPortland, Maine (East Coast), toPortland, Oregon (West Coast). Its length was about 4,060 miles (6,530 km).
Much of the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway's alignment was used to formU.S. Route 2 when theUnited States Numbered Highway System was formed in 1926. There are, however, several key differences between the Roosevelt Highway and US-2; the Roosevelt Highway was built to run fromPortland, Maine toPortland, Oregon, while US-2 passes through neither of those cities. Another notable difference is that, while US-2 exists in two segments with a gap between New York and Michigan, the Roosevelt Highway was contiguous by passing through Ontario.
The highway begins in Portland, Maine at Longfellow Square where it travels up State Street and out of town along what is nowU.S. Route 302. The TRIH follows US-302 out of Maine and into New Hampshire.
The TRIH weaves its way through theWhite Mountains ofNew Hampshire along US-302 to Littleton where it continues along Main Street to joinNew Hampshire Route 18. It follows the path of Route 18 across the Connecticut River to Vermont.
In Vermont, the highway connects to US-2 at the Moose River. It continues through theGreen Mountains to Grand Isle where it crossesLake Champlain by ferry intoNew York. The Grand Isle Ferry carries traffic there today.
The trail continues South downU.S. Route 9 to Keeseville, then West alongNew York State Route 9N toJay, New York where it turns right downNY 86. InPaul Smiths, the trail followsNY 30 most of the way toMalone, although it did depart the current alignment of NY 30 in the Titusville Mountain State Forest to follow more closely to Cold Brook Road, Studley Hill Road, and Duane Road up to Malone's Main Street to joinUS 11. AtMoira, the trail headed north to follow along theSaint Lawrence River toCape Vincent, then back to US 11 inWatertown, then along what was onceUS 104, nowNY 104, intoRochester on Empire Boulevard.
Period roadmaps indicate the highway's routing between Rochester and the Canadian Border shifted continuously throughout the 1920s, shifting primarily between present day NY 18, NY 104, and NY 31. NY 18 has the significant honor of being signed as the Roosevelt Highway for a portion of its length along this segment. The ending of the trail in New York also went through a few iterations. In 1920 the trail passed throughLewiston along Center Street, then turned south at 4th Street where it crossed into Canada via the second Queenston–Lewiston Bridge to York Road. The bridge was dismantled in 1963. A 1924 alignment bypassed Lewiston and instead continued along NY 104 intoNiagara Falls where it crossed into Canada along theHoneymoon Bridge. The Honeymoon Bridge collapsed in 1938 and was replaced by theRainbow Bridge. By 1929, the US 104 route had taken precedence as the major throughway, although it's unclear as to whether the TRIH followed that route exclusively.
From Niagara Falls, the Canadian portion of TRIH carries traffic along alignments ofOntario Highway 8, a portion of which was renamed Regional Road 81 in 1970, northwest intoHamilton, and then southwest toTilbury onHighway 2. At Tilbury, the route turns south on Baptiste Road and then west on Essex County Road 46. A ferry transferred passengers across the Detroit River until 1930 when the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel was completed.
The route heads upMichigan'sUpper Peninsula toDuluth, Minnesota, and then throughNorth Dakota and northernMontana through the southern end of Glacier National Park, following close to the path of the US 2 grade. The highway passed through northernIdaho andSpokane, Washington, south on present dayUS 195 toWalla Walla, paralleling theUS 12 roadbed, then making its way West to follow theColumbia River intoOregon atHood River, joiningUS 30.[3] The western terminus was atSouth Park Blocks inPortland, Oregon, where astatue of the former president stood until 2020.[4]
In Michigan, the highway had a northern loop route in the Upper Peninsula. BetweenSt. Ignace andWakefield, the northern route followed what is nowM-123 andM-28 while the southern route followed the rough path of today's US 2.[1]
The highway was designated as a memorial followingTheodore Roosevelt's death on January 6, 1919.[2] Michigan completed its section of the highway in the middle of 1926.[1] A 56-mile (90 km) portion of the highway over theContinental Divide throughMarias Pass in northwestern Montana was not completed until 1930. Automobiles were carried over the pass inGreat Northern Railway cars until the highway was finished.[5] Dedication ceremonies for the full route were held in Montana four months after the completion of the highway. The name fell into disuse after the 1930s with the 1926 designation of theUnited States Numbered Highway System that replaced much of its routing with numbered highway designations.[1]
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