kids encyclopedia robot

U.S. Route 40 facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids

U.S. Route 40 marker

U.S. Route 40
National Road
Victory Highway
Lua error in Module:Infobox_road/map at line 15: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
Route information
Length 2,285.74 mi (3,678.54 km)
Existed 1926–present
Major junctions
West end I-80 near Park City, UT
  I-25 in Denver, CO

I-35 in Kansas City, MO
I-55 / I-64 / I-70 in St. Louis, MO
I-57 in Effingham, IL
I-65 in Indianapolis, IN
I-75 near Dayton, OH
I-71 in Columbus, OH
I-79 in Washington, PA
I-81 in Hagerstown, MD

I-95 in Baltimore, MD
East end US 322 / Ventnor Avenue in Atlantic City, NJ
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways
List • Bannered • Divided • Replaced


U.S. Route 40 is a federal highway from Park City, Utah to Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is 2,286 miles long and passes through twelve states. It used to go from Park City to Reno, Nevada and San Francisco, California, but that route is now part of Interstate 80. Much of the eastern part of U.S. Route 40, from Vandalia, Illinois to Cumberland, Maryland (or from St. Louis, Missouri to Baltimore) was part of the National Road. This part has been around since 1839. Part of U.S. Route 40 was also called the "Lincoln Highway".

U.S. Route 40 passes or passed through many cities. Some of these are:

The current capitals are Denver, Topeka, Indianapolis, and Columbus. Vandalia was a former capital of Illinois, Zanesville was a former capital of Ohio, and Wheeling was a former capital of West Virginia.

Cities

Current

Former


Images for kids

  • The western terminus of US 40 in Park City, UT

    The western terminus of US 40 at I-80 in Silver Creek Junction

  • Colfaxatbroadway

    Colfax Avenue carries US 40 through Denver

  • US40WallaceKS

    US 40 crossing the Great Plains in Kansas

  • Daniel-boone-bridge

    The Daniel Boone Bridge carries US 40 across the Missouri River.

  • VandaliaStateHouse VandaliaIL

    The Old State House in Vandalia, and its Madonna of the Trail sculpture, marks the western terminus of the National Road, a precursor to US 40.

  • IndianaCapitol

    The Indiana Statehouse lies along the former US 40 alignment (Washington Street) in downtown Indianapolis

  • U.S. 40 from Rhodes Tower 2018

    U.S. 40 viewed from the Rhodes State Office Tower in Columbus, Ohio

  • Columbus-ohio-leveque-tower-palace-theatre

    The landmark Palace Theatre on US 40 in Columbus

  • WandJCollege-OldMain

    US 40 passes Washington & Jefferson College in the city of Washington, Pennsylvania

  • Washington Monument (Baltimore)

    Baltimore's Washington Monument lies two blocks north of US 40 in Baltimore

  • Del Mem Br

    The Delaware Memorial Bridge carries US 40/I-295 across the Delaware River

  • Atlantic city boardwalk1

    US 40 terminates in Atlantic City, two blocks from its famous Boardwalk.

  • Natl Road Marker in FraCo OH

    A National Road mile marker in central Ohio

  • Image-Historic U.S. Hwy 40 sign only

    Variations of this sign are posted along old alignments in California.

kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
U.S. Route 40 Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.