Connecting Pines to Palms

Organized in 1915 the Jefferson Highway was designed to be the first international north south highway connecting Winnipeg Canada with New Orleans Louisiana.   It brought business and prosperity to towns it passed though.  Among these were many towns in Northwest Missouri.

Eagleville – Bethany – Pattonsburg
Winston – Cameron – Plattsburg
Grayson – Trimble – Kansas City
New Hampton – Albany
Stanberry – King City – St Joseph
And numerous small communities in between
Click the images above to see official JH Tourist Maps and Camp Listings
From Wild West to Modern Agricultural Heartland

The goal for a nation just coming out of the “Wild West” era and into the industrial age was to provide a network of roads that automobiles could travel on 365 days a year.

Property owners, civic organizations and local governments worked together to make the foundation of what would become the nation’s transportation backbone.
During this time other great cross country highways like the Lincoln Highway and the Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway were created to give east to west travelers reliable roads also.  The Jefferson highway stood alone as the premier north south international route.
A Great Idea Catches On!

By 1925 the federal government recognized the value of these cross country roadways and created a highway numbering system that eventually replaced named highways. 

The Great Depression, WPA, Dust Bowl, World War II and the creation of the Interstate highway system in the 1950s meant named highways became just a faded memory in American History.  Although long forgotten by many, there's no denying their immeasurable value to the nations growth and prosperity.
The Depot on the Highway

The Jefferson Highway intersected the Pike's Peak Ocean to Ocean highway in downtown Cameron. Then it passed in front of the Old Depot. The junction of these two routes contributed to the origins of the term "Crossroads Of The Nation" which has been used by Cameron residents ever since.

Our researchers have lead the way in locating the original roadbeds used by the Jefferson Highway as it trailed it's way down through Eagleville, Bethany, Pattonsburg, Winston, Cameron, Plattsburg and onto the Gulf Coast. 

A New Exhibit with photos, maps, stories and original documents from the J.H. will be put on display at the Museum in the summer of 2015.  If you have information, photos, stories or artifacts from the J.H. we'd love to hear from you and we'd love to see you at the presentation of the new exhibit this summer.

Click the buttons below to see a couple short youtube videos of driving on the original JH roadbed.

The button below will take you to a 1918 Clinton County Plat map clearly showing the JH