We love road trips in the United States. But it turns out, it took a little while for them to catch on. It wasn’t that we didn’t like cars. Between 1904 and 1910, car ownership went from 55,000 to 500,000. But the first cross-country road trip didn’t happen until 1913.

The problem wasn’t with drivers. It was with the roads. There weren’t any to get you from one state to another. This is the story of the first highway, and the first time we could take off on the open road.

Thanks to Rosemary Rubin and John Petersen at the Lincoln Highway Association for their help with this story. Thanks to all the drivers who spoke with us in Grand Island for this story!