The Sound of Travel and US Highway 50 in Colorado

The Day the U.S. Numbered Highways Were Established

An Intersection of Agriculture and Culture

The United States Numbered Highway System was officially adopted on November 11, 1926, by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO). Before President Eisenhower initiated the Interstate Highway System, the original numbered highway system created the first nationwide, coordinated system of highway routes, replacing the confusing patchwork of local and private road markers, as well as the old Midland and Santa Fe Wagon Trails.

Background and Purpose

Before 1926, U.S. roads were marked by private "auto trails" and local designations, leading to inconsistent signage and navigation difficulties. The Bureau of Public Roads, under Chief Thomas H. MacDonald, and AASHO, led by Chairman Roy Stone, worked to unify the system. The goal was to create a simple, standardized numbering scheme that would make travel easier and more efficient.

Route numbering: North–south highways were given odd numbers, with the lowest numbers in the east and highest in the west; east–west highways were even, with the lowest numbers in the north and highest in the south.

US Highway 50's Colorado Journey and Its Cross-Country Role

US Highway 50 is one of the longest and most historic U.S. highways, stretching 3,019 miles from I-80 in West Sacramento, California, to MD-528 in Ocean City, Maryland, passing through 12 states plus the District of Columbia. In Colorado, it runs about 467 miles, connecting the Western Slope with the lower Front Range and the Arkansas Valley.

Colorado Segment Overview

Western Slope: Begins at the Utah state line, concurrent with I-70 and US-6. After exit 11, it follows the old I-70 alignment through Mack, Loma, and Fruita, with views of the Colorado National Monument via SH-340.

Grand Junction: US-50 and US-6 split at North Avenue; both intersect SH-340, which loops to Fruita and provides monument access.

Mid-Colorado: Passes through Montrose (US-550), Poncha Springs (US-285), Pueblo (I-25/US-85/US-87), La Junta (US-350), Lamar (US-287), and Granada (US-385).

Eastern Colorado: Continues to US-400 at the Kansas border, ending near Holly.

JAM Trek

Colorado, the Plains, the farm fields, and the Rocky Mountain region found their narrative through auto travel — in stories and songs from motorists and traveling journalists. Early advertising, recorded sound, and broadcasts captured a fusion of music from folk, cowboy songs, blues, jazz, country swing, and musical theater.

Journalism

Ernie Pyle, the famed Pulitzer Prize-winning World War II correspondent of the 1940s, was one of the first journalists to write a whimsical travelogue that was syndicated around the country. His stories documented the Dust Bowl, hobo travel, bluesmen and roadhouses, as well as the industrial revolution and the Great Depression. Early broadcasts brought news into the parlor, while creative advertising with billboards and neon signs became synonymous with the Great American Road Trip.

The Traveling Hoosier

"It was only at night, when you were alone in the heat and unable to sleep, that the thing came back to you like a living dream, and you once more realized the stupendousness of it. Then you could see something more than field after brown field, or a mere succession of dry water holes, or the matter-of-fact resignation on farm faces. You could see then the whole obliteration of a great land, and the destruction of a people and long years of calamity for those of the soil, and the emptiness of the life that knows only struggle and ends in despair. I had seen a great deal of this in the past few years. Sometimes at night when I was thinking too hard I felt that there was nothing but leanness everywhere, that nobody had the privilege of a full life. Of course, I was wrong about that."

"I had just seen too much of the ruination of our great land. The beautiful valleys and hillsides of Tennessee washing away to the ocean, leaving a slashed and useless landscape. The raw windy plains of western Kansas, stripped of all life, a onetime paradise turned into a whirlpool of suffocation. And the vast rolling Dakotas, where huge herds once grazed with the freedom of birds, now parched and cramped and manhandled by man and the elements into a bed of coals." — Ernie Pyle

The Parlor Guitar, Traveling Singers, and the Rise of the Dreadnought

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the parlor guitar was the standard for home and small-venue performance. These small-bodied instruments—narrower than a Martin Size 0—were designed for intimate settings like Victorian parlors, saloons, and small concert halls. Their compact size (often 18–19.75 inches in body length) made them easy to transport, ideal for traveling singer-songwriters who needed to perform on the road.

Parlor Guitars on the Road: Vaudeville and Traveling Acts

Vaudeville and traveling shows of the early 1900s often featured small-bodied guitars because they were lightweight, portable, and suited to fingerstyle playing. Musicians could carry them easily between towns, and their midrange-focused tone cut through small acoustics. Blues, folk, and early jazz artists—like Robert Johnson, who used a Gibson L-1 parlor-style guitar—relied on them for intimate, expressive performances.

The Dreadnought's Emergence

By the 1930s, C.F. Martin & Company introduced the dreadnought, a massive acoustic guitar inspired by the British battleship of the same name. Its large body produced a powerful, full-bodied sound that could fill large halls and outdoor venues. This was a direct response to the growing demand for louder, more projecting instruments in vaudeville, musical theater, country, bluegrass, and popular music.

Sound Century Academy of Recording Arts and Broadcasting is dedicated to telling the stories, singing the songs, and preserving and recording the history of communities, recreation, education, arts, and entrepreneurship. The Sound Century Journal and the Arkansas Valley Wind and Percussion are dedicated to curating, performing, and recording, and to partnering with art centers, museums, and educational institutions through community organizations for responsible entrepreneurship — fostering digital broadcasts and podcasts, historic preservation, and continuing education in passing these treasures on to future Sight and Sound Centuries to come. To join, support, or sign up for upcoming classes, workshops, or concerts, email soundcenturyoriginals@gmail.com.