Ozark Trail (road system)
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The Ozark Trail was actually a network of locally maintained roads and highways that predated the advent of the federal highway system. The roads ran more from St. Louis, Missouri to El Paso, Texas over a series of routes [1] (http://www.marion.ohio-state.edu/fac/schul/trails/national/ozark.html). These roads were maintained by both private citizens and local communities. In one case, however, the US Federal Government got involved — the Ozark Trail bridge over the South Canadian River between Newcastle, Oklahoma and Oklahoma City was the first federal highway project built in Oklahoma, in 1925.
These roads comprised the major highway system in the region until U.S. Highway 66 was built in the 1920s.
In Oklahoma, portions of the section line roads between Anadarko and Hobart are still referred to as "The Old Ozark Trail."
A few examples found online of modern uses of the term "Ozark Trail" to refer to this road include:
- A blog (http://www.newcastle.us/pineridgeoklahoma/olddefault021603.htm) from a nearby farm.
- A point on the trail near the confluence of 35°N, 99°W (http://www.confluence.org/confluence.php?lat=35&lon=-99).
- A cemetery list (http://rebelcherokee.labdiva.com/Kctycemlist.html) that mentions the Ozark Trail as a landmark.