Grand Army of the Republic Highway Rt. 6

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Grand Army of the Republic Highway Rt. 6

Postby RocketMan » Tue Aug 28, 2007 8:52 pm

This looks like an interesting road, lots of history along the way. One of the early trans-continental highways it would seem.

Parts run thru PA, which comprise some of the oldest sections.

Might be worth a weekend trip some time to ride it thru PA.


http://www.pahighways.com/us/US6.html

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/us6.htm

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Postby Ted » Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:36 pm

Passes right through one of my favorite towns, Wellsboro. Stay at the Penn-Wells, see a movie at the old theatre next door, eat dinner at the old burger joint (Frogs?) and have a delicious breakfast at the 1930's Wellsboro Diner :)

Make a side trip to the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, not (nearly) as grand as its much bigger brother out west, but nice for pictures.

For one of the great motorcycle roads, try Rt. 144 south from Rt. 6 just west of Wellsboro all the way south to Potters Mills/Rt. 322.
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Postby Unity » Tue Aug 28, 2007 10:09 pm

That pahighways.com site is fascinating in itself. Not affiliated with any highway agency, it's the product of a self-proclaimed "roadgeek," Jeffrey J. Kitsko. Among roadgeeks, he ranks in the top-tier, the authority on PA roads (and no slouch on some other states'). Youngish guy. Totally into it. :)

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(Usually I don't much care what other people obsess on, but knowing how roads came to be is a great way of looking at our nation's history. Not to mention finding interesting rides. Thanks, Jeff. :D )
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Postby RocketMan » Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:17 am

A little more info, seems it was once the longest US highway and now still ranks second in length to US 20

from http://www.endlessmountains.org/route6.html

U.S. Route 6 is an exciting, scenic highway that takes you through quaint towns, atop mountains and between valleys, winding its way across the entire United States of America - from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to Long Beach, California.

The history of Route 6 takes us back to 1807, when the state of Pennsylvania decided to create a road through Moosic Mountains to make traveling easier for those going to the western section of the state. The new road became quite popular and was frequently traveled by stagecoaches delivering mail and transporting passengers.

This route became part of the newly named Route 6 corridor by 1925 when the state began giving numerical names to roads. It was America's first and longest transcontinental route. Today, it is second, ranking behind US Route 20.

Not long after that, two organizations - the Grand Army of the Republic and the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War - joined forces to have Route 6 recognized as a memorial route to fallen soldiers. That hope became a reality, and by 1953 the route was given the name Grand Army of the Republic Highway.


This is deffinately worth exploring. I found it by accident when looking at routes up to the rally in PA in Sept that was posted on the board and when I saw a road called The Grand Army of the Republic Highway I knew I had found a route that just had to be full of history, seems I was right. I'm thinking of going to that rally since I will miss out on the one coming up this weekend due to being on-call for work, which really sucks cause it looks to be a great weekend, *sigh*...

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Postby RocketMan » Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:19 am

Ted wrote:Passes right through one of my favorite towns, Wellsboro. Stay at the Penn-Wells, see a movie at the old theatre next door, eat dinner at the old burger joint (Frogs?) and have a delicious breakfast at the 1930's Wellsboro Diner :)

Make a side trip to the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, not (nearly) as grand as its much bigger brother out west, but nice for pictures.

For one of the great motorcycle roads, try Rt. 144 south from Rt. 6 just west of Wellsboro all the way south to Potters Mills/Rt. 322.

Yeah I took my sons up to see the Grand Canyon in PA some years ago, pretty impressive when taken for itself.

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