“By car to Florida is like a trip on a magic carpet. For the scenes that unfold before your eyes are as if touched by a magician’s wand. It’s a delightful trip that will linger in your memory.” “By Auto,” Ad in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1939.
“Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country coast to coast without seeing anything.” Charles Kuralt.
You’ve probably heard of Tobacco Road, the novel and the term for college basketball in the piedmont of North Carolina.
But have you heard of the “Tobacco Trail?”
Let's take a look at its story...
In the 1930s, more and more Americans were hopping in their cars. Horse and buggies were part of a vanished time, and in some places like Washington and northern Virginia, even the electric trolleys were disappearing. By 1930, more than half of all families owned a car.
In the previous decade, there were, as the book “Florida’s Snowbirds” described it, a mishmash of road options to get to and from the Sunshine State. Travel from New York to Florida took between four to six days and no doubt included getting lost.
A single highway became desirable, leading to the completion of the Atlantic Highway. Going through the major cities, it became US Route One, the spine of travel along the Eastern Seaboard.
A major milestone to help motorists was the US Numbered Highway System in 1926. By the end of the 1930s, more signage and continued paving had improve the traveling experience. A map published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (December 10, 1939) showed other options for north to south travel. In addition to Route One and closer to the coast was the Ocean Highway, the combination of Route 13 and 17, and taking the ferry (bridge/tunnel competed 1964).
In 1940, Highway 301 also become a good option. Its first leg had been part of US Route 17-1, which ran from Petersburg to Wilmington, North Carolina. Perhaps it was so named as it ran between 1 and 17. 217 was also on the map from about Dunn through Fayetteville. The highway joined 17 near Florence, South Carolina.
With the building of the Highway 301 bridge over the Potomac in 1940, and completion of that road to Baltimore, motorists could bypass Fredericksburg, Alexandria and Washington by using Highway 301.
Around 1940, an association of businessmen and Chambers of Commerce in eastern North Carolina began a campaign for Highway 301. They dubbed it the “Tobacco Trail” and touted 301 as the shortest and safest way, with no toll bridges or ferries and few grade crossings.
A report in the Boston Globe had this to say:
Now officially begins at US 301 in Baltimore. The tourist coming from New York and Maine may come down US 1 to Baltimore and then are off at Baltimore and go around Washington and Fredericksburg by way of Glen Burnie, La Plata, and Bowling Green, VA, thus doing away with the traffic congestion along US 1 between Baltimore and Richmond.
The Washington Post pointed out 301 carried the traveler through the heart of the bright leaf tobacco districts of Virginia and the Carolinas. The association was headquartered in Dunn, North Carolina. At one point, they lured in visitors to see their famed tobacco auctions.
We will probably never know the number of cars that traveled theses various roads to and from Florida. But in his book, Tim Gorman (“Traveling Virginia’s Tobacco Trail”) says that before the interstates were built, Highway 301 was the preferred route to Florida. The building of the Harry Nice bridge over the Potomac River in 1940 was the key element, as there had perviously been only the bridge in Washington for Route One. Just as Alexandria touted itself as the "Gateway to the South," the Association tabbed the 301 bridge as the "Gateway to the South."
Whether or not the Tobacco Trail was the shortest and safest way, hard to say. But ads touting such peppered the newspapers.
With the highway came a string of new roadside businesses — restaurants, diners, motels, and gas stations. A number of communities along 301 benefited this way. La Plata, Maryland was one example. The La Plata Motel offered rooms with Television and Air Conditioning. A post card shows Jack and Lorraine Simpson as Owner-Managers with the Open Hearth Restaurant next door. The book “Charles County, Images of America” tells us the restaurant is now Colonial Liquors and Fine Wines at 6400 US 301. Historic Aerials shows its unique V shape there from at least 1957. It was demolished sometime between 1993 and 2005.
In his book, Gorman documents the places from Dahlgren to Emporia. Some have been demolished, some have found new life as a different business, and some carry on the tradition of a cheap bed just off the road.
A report in the Richmond-Times Dispatch (“Tourist Traffic Heavy on Tobacco Trail,” March, 1942), gave the results of a car check between Rocky Mount, NC and Emporia. It was made by James A. Payne, president of the Wilson Chamber of Commerce. His survey showed cars from 13 states and the District of Columbia. The highest state counts were New York and Pennsylvania.
Another report around 1940 provided what was presumably a correct list of distances from New York to Jacksonville. They are listed below.
Tobacco Trail (301) 1,000 miles
Ocean Highway (13 and 17) 29 miles more
US Route 15, 50 miles more
US Route 1, 70 miles more
Seminole Trail, US 29, 140 miles more
In November 1957, the Boston Herald wrote a series of articles on getting to Florida (“Let’s Go to Florida” by Philip W. Wallwork).
He wrote:
Motorists will have a choice of three major routes, The Tobacco Trail (US 301), The Ocean Highway (US 17) and US 1. The least amount of traffic is probably US 1 while the Tobacco Trail boasts more motels and restaurants.
The Brunswick News (October, 1952) wrote an article saying about the same, but added:
US Route 1: This is the oldest and perhaps best known of the north-south highways. It has the advantage of having only one route number all the way from Baltimore to Key West and you’ll find more good hotels than the others.
The Tobacco Trail lured in a number of travel writers. Horace Sutton (“Twitch of the Eye, and Presto, You’re in the Tobacco Business, September, 1956) was fascinated by the auctioneers in Wilson. One of them was Tom Burton, one of the best in the business who worked eight months a year from George to Kentucky.
In 1940 the Miami Daily News wrote a valentine for the South, touting “plantations and mansions as it was in the days of Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler, southern gentlemen riding to the hounds.” Elements of the "Lost Cause" found their way into the appeals. “It all starts in Savannah, Georgia where the blockades runners of the Confederacy started their brave dashes for supplies for the boys in gray.”
The Tobacco Trail Association was fond of describing the route as the safest. One might ask, what exactly did that mean and safe for whom?
During those times of "Jim Crow" in the South, African Americans used the "Green Book" to find lodging and restaurants that had been judged as a haven from such laws and other worries. Research ("Green Book: The Architecture of the Negro Travelers’") found a number of places along 301 that were listed in the Green Book. The Blue Jay Motel (Waldorf) was listed from 1956 to 1964. The Blue Star Motel (renamed Charm Motel in 1970) was located six miles north of the Potomac Rived Bridge in a black community called Faulkner (about five miles south of La Plata).
The Wilson Hotel was on Main Street in Upper Marlboro and the Eaton Guest House was at the corner of 301 and Leland Road. In Emporia stood the Weaver Tourist Home and the Atlantic Esso Station.
Sadly, all of these and most others were demolished.
One of the last hurrahs for the Tobacco Trail came in 1960. With its move from California to Miami and broadcasting by CBS, the Miss Universe pageant got a lot of attention that year. Highway 301’s nickname was changed to the "Miss Universe Highway." Newspapers continued to tout the benefits of the highway. The Providence Sunday Journal wrote, "Avoiding heavy traffic and major cities, Miss Universe Highway runs through Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and into Florida."
But just a few days later, the Greensboro Record gave the other side of the coin ("Dunn Having Business Lag as Result of New Highway"). "Dunn filling stations are already feeling the pinch of tourist traffic loss through here as a result of the new state four lane highway No. 95 around town."
E.L. Washburn of the Tobacco Trail Association briefed the business community in Dunn on the plans for a “new superhighway” to replace 301.
With its limited access and faster going, Interstate 95 sounded the death knell for some of the small businesses on 301 and elsewhere. The Greensboro Daily News (Feb, 1960) reported on the situation in Dunn. One gas station said his business had been cut in half the first day of the new interstate’s opening. Hit hard were eating places and motels. On the other hand, some citizens were glad to see the streams thin out.
The completion of I-95 took quite a long time. Meanwhile, the Highway 301 Association continued their marketing. In 1960, they issued a Tourist Map titled "U.S. 301: most popular North South route."
It stated:
There are many reasons why more tourists use US 301 than any other highway. It is a good highway, much of which has now been dual-laned, there is an abundance of excellent tourist accommodations along this route, it’s the shortest and fastest, cities and towns are bypassed, and there are convenient connections with other main highways.
The map also gave the mileages. We provide select cities below. Note the Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened in 1952.
The first figure is cumulative mileage southbound, the second northbound.
Delaware Memorial Bridge 0 1116
Chesapeake Bay Bridge 78 1038
Annapolis 91 1025
La Plata 138 978
Bowling Green 181 935
Richmond 219 897
Petersburg 242 874
Emporia 283 833
Rocky Mount 340 776
Dunn 410 682
Dillon 495 621
Santee 596 520
Statesboro 718 398
Ocala 967 149
Tampa 1059 57
Sarasota 1116 0
Formally created in 1956, I-95 was mostly completed by the mid 1970s. But one location on the Tobacco Trail that held out till the bitter end was in North Carolina. One would think that would be Dunn, home of the Association. They were actually one of the first sections on I-95 to open in 1958. The holdouts were their sandhill brethren fifteen miles to the south in Fayetteville.
Adam of "GribbleNation" tells the story. There were a good number of businesses that skirted Fayetteville along 301. They and the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce formed the “I-95 Committee” to try and get that stretch of I-95 built along 301 (partly elevated) and not a by-pass like other places. They filed suit in 1968 and appeals in 1972 and 1974. In 1975 their case went to the US Supreme Court where they lost. The new highway opened in 1978, making I-95 complete in North Carolina.
For East Coast travelers and regional commuters, Highway 301, at least in certain parts and for small trips, is still an option. The completion of a new bridge to replace the old Harry Nice Bridge over the Potomac certainly improves that experience.
And as documented by O'Gorman, a number of establishments remain in business in that stretch from Dahlgren to Emporia, with some buildings re-purposed. One landmark is the Horne’s Restaurant in Port Royal. At its peak, the chain Bob Horne started in 1960 had 60 locations. Apparently, the Port Royal locations is the sole survivor and retains the dining room, ice cream bar and gift shop. Horne’s is perfectly situated and captures travelers on both Highway 301 and 17.
Perhaps some of its customers, and at other places along Highway 301 are refugees of the perilous aspects of driving on I-95. Others may have listened to the advice of websites such as “Travels on a Budget.” In 2018, one of them listed 13 reasons why traveling Highway 301 is better than I-95. This was for travelers through North Carolina in that stretch between Wilson and Dunn where the Association had its roots. One of the recommended stops was the Tobacco Farm Life Museum in Kenly.
In 2015 the website "The Tobacco Trail" wrote there was still a US 301 Highway Association. It looks like that website has given up the ghost. So, too, has the name Tobacco Trail.
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