If you opened a Rand McNally Road Atlas in the early 1990s, you would have noticed something surprising – Huntsville was missing from its U.S. map.
At the time, Huntsville was Alabama’s third-largest city. So why was it omitted? It all has to do with interstates.
Some of us are old enough to remember when there were few signs along I-65 to direct motorists to Huntsville. In the 1980s after my parents moved from Huntsville to Athens, I spent a lot of time on I-65 when driving home from Auburn University. I always wondered why signs on the interstate showed the number of miles to Decatur, Athens and Nashville, with no mention of Huntsville.
The reason was obvious to people who understood the transportation system: Huntsville is not situated on Interstate 65. In fact, downtown Huntsville is 20 miles from the I-65 exit. It wasn’t until the I-565 spur was completed in 1991, finally connecting I-65 to Huntsville, that highway signs were erected acknowledging Huntsville’s existence…