Mt. Vernon Memorial Highway

On October 8, 1930, the 6th International Road Congress inspected the area planned for Mount Vernon Memorial Highway.
A guide prepared by the Bureau of Public Roads in the Agriculture Department helped their inspection with maps and diagrams. It explained that the idea of a Mount Vernon Memorial Highway in Northern Virginia began in 1886 as a memorial to George Washington.
Known as the G.W. Parkway, its 25-mile-long double lane road runs along the south bank of the Potomac River from Mount Vernon to McLean, and is maintained by the National Park Service.
In the 1880s, officials in Alexandria – county and city – wanted to boost local commerce and began advocating for a “national road” to Mt. Vernon. The US Army Corps of Engineers conducted a survey and agreed that a road to Mt, Vernon was a good idea. But a railroad was built first and the idea floundered.
Next, Alexandria started advocating for a bridge to be built between Alexandria and DC and the road idea took on new life as a monumental avenue with memorials and roadside attractions. A competing idea was for a tree-lined boulevards and quiet carriage paths designed to relax the traveler.
World War I interrupted development, but the roadway idea had caught on. The federal Bureau of Public Roads saw it as a way to demonstrate the latest highway construction techniques. As the bicentennial of George Washington’s birth approached in 1932, George Washington Bicentennial Commission got highway funding from Congress.
The Parkway was built in stages between 1929 and 1970. The first segment is from Arlington Memorial Bridge to Mount Vernon and was formally opened on January 16, 1932. The dedication ceremony was headed by President Herbert Hoover, who became the first person to drive it, leading a small party of 12 cars across the Arlington Memorial Bridge and down the George Washington Parkway to Mt. Vernon as a kick-off for Washington’s 200th birthday celebration. The northern section of the Parkway was completed in the 1950s, including the part just north of the Key Bridge.