Dixie Highway was a historic series of automobile roads in the United States. It led from the Straits of Mackinac, at the northern tip of Lake Michigan, to Miami, near the southern end of Florida. It had two main routes, an east route and a west route. The east route passed through Detroit; Cincinnati; and Jacksonville, Florida. The west route passed through South Bend, Indiana; Indianapolis; Louisville, Kentucky; and Atlanta. The west route also had a northern branch that linked Chicago to Indianapolis. The Dixie Highway, which linked a number of separate roads, was marked by signs with the letters DH in white on a red band.
Carl G. Fisher, a pioneer automobile manufacturer, developed the idea of the Dixie Highway to encourage the building of better roads. He helped found the Dixie Highway Association in 1915. Fisher was also an investor in the Miami Beach area, and the highway’s construction contributed to Miami’s development.
Work on the highway began in 1915. Construction crews connected existing roads and improved them to better handle automobile traffic. In 1927, the Dixie Highway Association disbanded. The highway then became part of the U.S. highway system.
