Natchez Trace Parkway
|
|
The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444 mile (715 km) long parkway, in the form of a limited-access two-lane road, in the southeastern United States. Construction was begun by the federal government in the 1930s. The final segment, between Interstate 55 and Interstate 20, opened to the public on May 21, 2005. The road is maintained by the National Park Service, and has been designated an All-American Road. The purpose of the road is to commemorate the original route of the Natchez Trace. The road links Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee, and also crosses northwestern Alabama.
The road was one of the many projects of the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. The road was the proposal of U.S. Congressman Thomas Jefferson Busby of Mississippi, who proposed it as a way to give tribute to the original Natchez Trace. Inspired by the proposal, the Daughters of the American Revolution began planting markers and monuments along the Trace. In 1934, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration ordered a survey. Construction on the Parkway began in 1939, to be overseen by the National Park Service. Its length includes more than 45,000 acres (182 km²) and the towering Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge in Williamson County, Tennessee, completed in 1996 and one of only two post-tensioned, segmental concrete arch bridges in the world. (See the Federal Highway Administration's photo (http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/eihd/images/natchez.jpg).)
There are numerous historical sites on the Parkway, including the Meriwether Lewis Museum, the refurbished Mount Locust stand, and the Ridgeland Crafts Center in Ridgeland, Mississippi, which focuses on promoting Mississippi's native art. In addition, parts of the original trail are still accessible. The history of the Parkway and that of the entire Trace is summarized at the Natchez Trace Visitor Center in Tupelo, Mississippi.
See also
External links
- National Park Service: Natchez Trace (http://www.nps.gov/natr/)