Pennsylvania Avenue Traffic Circle

You start at a small traffic circle at First Street. In the center of the circle is a statue honoring the officers, seamen, and marines of the U.S. Navy who served during the American Civil War (1861-1865). You will see several more statues honoring heroes of our Civil War and our other wars as you walk along Pennsylvania Avenue. As you look ahead, you can see the Washington Monument just off to the left. In the center of a small traffic circle is a statue honoring the U.S. Navy for its role in the American Civil War.

Pennsylvania Avenue United States Capitol

Imagine you are walking on Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House:

Photos from Tour of Pennsylvania Avenue

Sidebar: Bicycles and Automobiles in Central Park

A while back, the Highway History Web site asked the Rambler to see if he could find anything interesting about General Roy Stone, first leader (1893-1899) of what is now the Federal Highway Administration, on the free archives of The New York Times.

The Rambler on General Stone

In talking about the proposed Grand Road of America, General Stone said:

It is often easier to do great things than small ones of the same kind, and what the Government undertakes in this regard should be something big enough to excite the imagination and stir the pride and patriotism of the country-something that will put us in respect of roads as far ahead of other nations as we have been behind them heretofore.

Spanish-American War

Portrait of a General discussed the origins of the Spanish-American War and General Stone's participation in it. In short, the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana harbor, attributed to the Spanish military, prompted President McKinley to ask Congress on April 11, 1898, for permission to use American forces to end Spanish rule in Cuba. He also asked for 125,000 volunteers for the war, and would need officers to lead them.

The Office of Road Inquiry

"Portrait of a General" covers General Stone's career as Special Agent in charge of the U.S. Office of Road Inquiry (ORI). The Rambler will understand if the reader skims this section. But skimming is not the Rambler's modus operandi, so he will add details to the portrait to flesh out these pivotal days of the Good Roads Movement.

The Battles of New Orleans - Vieux Carré Riverfront Expressway (I-310)

by
Richard F. Weingroff

The First Battle of New Orleans

The first Battle of New Orleans took place, unbeknownst to the participants, after the end of the War of 1812. On January 8, 1815, Major General Andrew Jackson, commander of the Seventh Military...

John Steinbeck vs Charles Kuralt

Who Said It First?

The novelist John Steinbeck and CBS Newscaster Charles Kuralt knew and wrote about roads. Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939, is a classic of road literature; its description of Dust Bowl refugees driving to California along U.S. 66 has...

Highway History Articles from Public Roads by Richard F. Weingroff

(Public Roads)

• A Peaceful Campaign of Progress and Reform Autumn 1993

• ...