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FHWA By Day

A Look at the History of the Federal Highway Administration
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November 15
1921 Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover's Conference on Unemployment takes place in Washington, DC, with special emphasis on how funds authorized by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1921 can help relieve post-World War I unemployment. Colonel James B. McCord of BPR tells the conference, "Directly and indirectly, probably 200,000 workers will be employed in state highway construction."
1932 In northern Virginia, the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway (now part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway), designed and constructed under BPR's direction, is dedicated in a ceremony held in conjunction with AASHO's Annual Meeting. Authorized by a law enacted on May 23, 1928, the memorial highway is part of the celebration in 1932 of the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth. The road links his home, Mount Vernon, to the south end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, which crosses the Potomac River at Washington, DC. BPR began surveying to determine the memorial highway's location on June 15, 1928, and construction began on September 12, 1929. The highway had opened in segments, from January 1932 through May.
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