Throwback Thursday: U.S. Highway 31W turns 95

This Throwback Thursday was inspired by the Cave City Cars & Coffee event update we saw on social media last week. The iconic car shows hosted in downtown Cave City every first Saturday this month through summer start this weekend. We’re taking a drive up one of America’s original road trip routes—celebrating 95 years of U.S. Highway 31W.

Running from Nashville to Louisville, this highway helped define American travel long before the interstates, but slightly mirroring the L&N Railroad line. The automobile’s affordability for the average American family took off by the 1930s. Americans were eager to hop on the road and discover new places, seemingly so much closer and accessible than ever.

Before numbered highways like 31, travelers followed named automobile trails marked by colored bands on telephone poles. In 1931, the federal highway numerical name was officially adopted. Crossing into Kentucky, 31W passes through Franklin in Simpson County, then continues north through farmland and small communities like Woodburn and Rich Pond.

Early drivers planned entire trips around where they could find gas, food, and lodging, sometimes only every 20 to 30 miles. This is where the Duncan Hines travel guidebook legacy started playing a huge role in travel. His first eating guide was published 90 years ago in 1936, showing travelers where to stop entire states away.

As Highway 31W enters Warren County, it becomes Nashville Road, leading into Bowling Green. Today it connects with I-165 and U.S. 231, but before bypasses, this was the main street for travelers heading north. Before the main I- 65 was completed in the 1960s, nearly all northbound traffic to Louisville and beyond came straight past Lost River Cave’s Jesse James highway sign and tourist court, to downtown Bowling Green.

On the east side of Bowling Green, 31W continues along Louisville Road toward Park City in Barren County, passing within half a mile of Mammoth Cave National Park. Mammoth Cave helped spark one of Kentucky’s earliest tourism booms, with roadside attractions popping up all along 31W to catch travelers’ attention. From there, the highway rolls into Cave City, crossing KY 90 and KY 70. Cave City Cars & Coffee celebrates this legacy with every cruise-in event.

Continuing north into Hart County, the road becomes the Dixie Highway, heading through Horse Cave and Munfordville. Here, 31W begins weaving alongside I-65, crossing it multiple times as it heads north.

U.S. 31W crosses or closely parallels I-65 often because the interstate was built to follow many of these original travel corridors. Continuing northward from Upton to Sonora and Elizabethtown, the road continues its historic path.

Driving 31W today isn’t just a trip, it’s stepping into a time when the journey itself was the destination. From Nashville to Louisville, this road carried generations of stories and helped build the communities we know today.

As we celebrate 95 years of U.S. 31W, 90 years of Duncan Hines guidebooks, and even America’s 250th anniversary this year, the open road didn’t just connect places. It created them. Sometimes the best part of the journey is everything along the way.