Around 1910 tourist travel in our
wonderful state had increased and several associations realized there was a
need for visitors to drive from one end of the state to the other without
getting lost in a wheat field. This kind of travel would require a system of
cross-state highways that linked Kansas with other states and provided
travelers with the necessities en route. Up to this point these requirements
were only being met by private individuals and private initiatives. The route
was first marked between Junction City and Salina, and then in 1911 it was
extended to create a link between Kansas City and Colorado Springs. This route
came to be known as the Golden Belt Road, and became one of the most important
of seven highways that crossed Kansas by the end of 1911.
The Golden Belt Highway got its name
from the band or belt of yellow paint on roadside telephone poles. These yellow
belts guided and reassured travelers in the 1920s that they were still
following the path they intended to. These belts marked the Golden Belt
Highway, now Highway 40, all the way across Kansas. These bands were painted by
members of the Geary County Automobile Club.
The club was formed on June 6th
in 1913 and had approximately forty members to its name. At their suggestion an
advisory board was named with one member from each township in the county and
two from the city. The matter of painting signs on the poles throughout the
county on the Golden Belt Highway was taken up at the first meeting. Twenty men
volunteered their services and went out the following Monday to paint the
yellow rings around the poles on the route.
Very soon this highway connected
Kansas to other major highways across the country including the Old Trails
Highway to the Atlantic Coast and the Trail to the Sunset out of Chicago.
Eventually the Golden Belt became part of a national highway known as Pikes
Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway to advertise its tourist attractions.
By 1924 the American Association of
State Highway Officials stepped in. They recommended a new country wide system
of numbering highways. It was decided that roads going from east to west be
given even numbers with chief routes assigned numbers 10, 20, 30, 40, etc.
North to south roads would be given odd numbers with main roads ending with 1
or 5. The success of the numbered system was immediate and overwhelming.
Highway 40 is mentioned in the “WPA
Guide to 1930s Kansas” which in addition to facts and historical trivia boasted
some of the best travel information. These guides were researched and written
by unemployed Americans, the WPA (Works Progress Administration) writer’s
project which kept these people busy producing guides to all 48 states. The
tours highlighted different aspects of the Kansas landscape and tourist
attractions. For example, Tour 3 started in Kansas City and headed west on
Highway 40 through Topeka, Junction City, and on to Weskan. The trip would take
you 451.1 miles from the Missouri line.
As you travel along old Highway 40,
once named the Golden Belt Highway, you are actually following some of the same
route that was used in the settlement of this country.
Henry Harrison (H.H.)
Ziegler was the president of the Geary County Automobile Club
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