The Vermont Doctor Who Made The First Cross Country Car Road Trip In US History
In 1903, a successful physician took what ended up being more than a two-month trip by automobile across the United States
A classic rites of passage is taking a cross country trip across the United States by car. Dealing with the stresses such a voyage presents, along with seeing a large swath of the country, is an adventure few forget. Even today, the heartiest drivers motor for hours and hours over the course of days (It is possible technically possible to complete in two days of non-stop driving) to go from coast to coast. However, the very first time this big trip was accomplished by car was well over 100 years ago in a vehicle that topped out at 20 miles per hour.
The first known instance of someone driving an automobile across the country occurred in 1903 when 31-year-old Horatio Nelson Jackson, a married doctor from Burlington, Vermont, decided to give it a go. Cars were still in their infancy, as horse and train remained the predominant forms of travel. In fact, cars had only been on the road in any form for seven years up until that time.
Starting in San Francisco at the University Club, Jackson had to essentially start from scratch. Mark Bushnell of VTDigger.com…
