Historic Highways Quiz With Answers: Test Your Knowledge

This historic highways quiz drives along Route 66, the Lincoln Highway, the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Interstate Highway System. Ten questions with answers test your knowledge of America's roads.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Route 66
Route 66 originally ran between Chicago and which city?
Firsts
Which road, begun in 1913, was one of the first highways across the United States?
Interstates
Which president signed the 1956 act that created the Interstate Highway System?
Numbering
Interstate highways with odd numbers usually run in which direction?
Scenic
Which scenic road runs about 755 kilometers through the Appalachians of Virginia and North Carolina?
California
Which highway follows the coast through Big Sur?
Length
Which interstate is the longest in the United States?
Literature
Which novel called Route 66 the Mother Road?
Alaska
Which highway, built in 1942, links Alaska to the lower states through Canada?
Route 66
In what year was Route 66 officially removed from the US highway system?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Route 66 originally ran between Chicago and which city?
Answer: Santa Monica, California
Opened in 1926, Route 66 crossed eight states for about 3,940 kilometers and became known as the Mother Road.
Q2: Which road, begun in 1913, was one of the first highways across the United States?
Answer: Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway ran from Times Square in New York to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, named in honor of President Abraham Lincoln.
Q3: Which president signed the 1956 act that created the Interstate Highway System?
Answer: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Eisenhower had seen Germany's autobahns during World War II and wanted fast roads for defense and trade.
Q4: Interstate highways with odd numbers usually run in which direction?
Answer: North-south
Odd numbers run north-south and even numbers east-west. I-95 runs along the East Coast, while I-10 crosses the southern states.
Q5: Which scenic road runs about 755 kilometers through the Appalachians of Virginia and North Carolina?
Answer: Blue Ridge Parkway
The Blue Ridge Parkway was built mostly during the 1930s and later. It has no billboards or traffic lights along its route.
Q6: Which highway follows the coast through Big Sur?
Answer: California State Route 1
Highway 1, often called the Pacific Coast Highway, hugs cliffs above the ocean along the Big Sur coast.
Q7: Which interstate is the longest in the United States?
Answer: Interstate 90
I-90 runs about 4,860 kilometers from Seattle to Boston, crossing 13 states and passing Chicago, Cleveland and Buffalo on the way.
Q8: Which novel called Route 66 the Mother Road?
Answer: The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck's 1939 novel followed a family fleeing the Dust Bowl along Route 66 toward California.
Q9: Which highway, built in 1942, links Alaska to the lower states through Canada?
Answer: Alaska Highway
The US Army built the Alaska Highway in about eight months during World War II. It begins at Dawson Creek, British Columbia.
Q10: In what year was Route 66 officially removed from the US highway system?
Answer: 1985
Interstates replaced Route 66 section by section. Today many parts are signed as Historic Route 66 and attract travelers worldwide.

Historic Highways Quiz – Roads That Changed America

Early cars bounced along dirt tracks. The Good Roads Movement and named trails like the Lincoln Highway pushed for paved routes, and in 1926 the federal government introduced a numbered US highway system, including Route 66.

The Interstate Highway System, begun in 1956, now covers about 77,000 kilometers. It changed where Americans live and shop, helped suburbs grow and left many small towns on older highways quieter. Those older roads now draw travelers looking for diners, neon signs and history.

What This Quiz Teaches

Road-trip planners and history fans will find this quiz a quick tour of the routes that shaped American travel.

Where Route 66 began and ended
Why the Lincoln Highway mattered
How interstate numbers work
Which president created the Interstates
How the Alaska Highway was built so fast

Did You Know?

Route 66 celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2026.
The Lincoln Highway was marked with red, white and blue stripes on poles.
Interstate 10 is the southernmost coast-to-coast interstate.
The Overseas Highway links mainland Florida with Key West.
Many Route 66 neon motel signs have been restored by local preservation groups.