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Book Travels Through History of Tennessee’s Dixie Highway

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The late19th and early 20th century vision of the New South relied upon economic growth and access. The development of the Dixie Highway from 1914 to 1927—with its eastern and western branches running from Ontario, Canada, south to Miami, Florida—would help facilitate this dream by attracting industry, tourists, and even new residents.

In a new pictorial history book by Leslie N. Sharp, over 200 vintage photographs tell the story of the people, places, politics and organizations behind the construction of the road from Springfield, Tennessee, to Chattanooga.

Highlights of Tennessee's Dixie Highway: Springfield to Chattanooga:

  • This section is particularly important, as it was roughly the halfway point of the route and contained the headquarters of the Dixie Highway Association in Chattanooga
  • The seemingly insurmountable Monteagle Mountain in Marion County—the very last portion of the national north-south highway to be completed
  • Images culled from the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Albert Gore Research Center at Middle Tennessee State University and personal collections of the author and her road-enthusiast friends

Sharp became enamored with the Dixie Highway while a graduate student in the early 1990s. Currently she is assistant dean of Georgia Tech's College of Architecture, where she teaches historic preservation and continues to explore the impact of technology on people and places.

The book is available at area bookstores, independent retailers and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at 888.313.2665 or www.arcadiapublishing.com.  

Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States.  Our mission is to make history accessible and meaningful through the publication of books on the heritage of America’s people and places.  Have we done a book on your town?  Visit www.arcadiapublishing.com.

 

Status

  • Workflow Status:Published
  • Created By:Teri Nagel
  • Created:02/21/2011
  • Modified By:Fletcher Moore
  • Modified:10/07/2016