Long before the advent of the super highway, the road system in the United States consisted mostly of cities and towns and if you were lucky, a “road” that connected to the next town. Off of that was a series of what could best be described as trails that connected to farms. Before the advent of the automobile there was little need for anything greater than that, especially with a strong railroad system.With the automobile came a need for improved roads and Carl Fisher led the way when he tried to drive cross country and failed miserably but with perseverance, he made it. He then teamed up with other advocates for an improved cross country road that would become the Lincoln Highway. Other named improved highways soon started to appear as cities and towns ought to be more connected with each other. The associations behind the highways would raise funds and plant seedling miles with hopes that communities would connect them.Within ten years an impressive system of connected roads started to appear but there was concern that the effort needed to better coordinated and by 1926 the U.S. Highway system was born. Instead of names, the highways had numbers, patterned after a system adopted in some states and regions of the country.New England was one such region which created “trunk” routes going north and south and east and west. Many of the numbered highways still exists as a network of connected state highways.This book is a collection of three atlases from the 1920s that bridge the gap between those early years and a more modern highway system. You’ll recognize the route numbers and see some of the named routes.Included in this collection are the following atlases or guides:Blue Book (Mid-Atlantic) – 1929National Survey (New England) – 1926Rand McNally (United States) – 1926