The Zero Milestone Marker and a journey across country: Eisenhower’s interstate inspiration

 Today is President’s Day. Thanks to Kansas native President Dwight D. Eisenhower, we have a lot to be proud of when it comes to our state’s interstate systems.

34th U.S. President, Dwight D. Eisenhower

In June 1956, Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act and on Nov. 14 of that same year, Kansas opened the first section of interstate in the U.S., just west of Topeka. 

All great ideas need inspiration. Eisenhower’s came when, as a young Lieutenant Colonel, he joined a 1919 military cross-country convoy. The journey began after a dedication of a temporary monument in Washington, D.C.: The Zero Milestone Marker, a designated point where the U.S. road system begins.

The Zero Milestone Marker soon after its dedication in 1923.

Photo source: FHWA.dot.gov

The U.S. Army dispatched a military convoy of 60 trucks and more than 200 men to cross the country. Accounts from the time show the convoy had to deal with vehicles stuck in mud and experiencing failing infrastructure across the route.

After two months and 3,200 miles, the convoy pulled into San Francisco. In a formal report of the trip, Eisenhower said the trip had been difficult: “Extended trips by trucks through the middle western part of the United States are impracticable until roads are improved and then only a light truck should be used on long hauls.”

 

During the 1919 transcontinental convoy, west of Grand Island, Nebraska, soldiers use a winch to pull a Class B truck out of a ditch. Lt. Col. P. V. Kieffer surveys the scene. Source: Eisenhower Library

While it would be another 37 years before Eisenhower could become the founder of the interstate system, he cited this journey – and seeing in person the German Autobahn – as inspiration for improving the nation’s roads.

“…after seeing the autobahns of modern Germany and knowing the asset those highways were to the Germans, I decided, as President, to put an emphasis on this kind of road building,” Eisenhower said. “When we finally secured the necessary congressional approval, we started the 41,000 miles of super highways that are already proving their worth. This was one of the things that I felt deeply about, and I made a personal and absolute decision to see that the nation would benefit by it. The old convoy had started me thinking about good, two-lane highways, but Germany had made me see the wisdom of broader ribbons across the land.” (Reprinted from Federal Highway Administration publication.)

Officially dedicated in 1923, the Zero Milestone Marker now stands on the South Lawn of the White House. While roads don’t all begin and end in Washington, D.C., as the small monument suggests, the reason behind its creation rings true today: America’s road systems connect us and we all depend on quality infrastructure to thrive. Kansas’ own Dwight D. Eisenhower helped make it happen. 

The Zero Milestone Marker stands on the South Lawn of the White House.