Zero Milestone (photo by ilya_ktsn)
See the White House Grounds Tour web page for a map and links to other attractions on the grounds of President’s Park.
The Zero Milestone, a four-foot tall pink granite column in President’s Park, is located at the north end of the Ellipse near the National Christmas Tree. The column symbolically marks the point where highway distances from Washington, D. C., are measured. Its main purpose was to bring political awareness to the United States’s need for a national highway system.
The monument was erected June 4, 1923, on the spot from which the first transcontinental military vehicle convoy started on its way to San Francisco in 1919 along the Lincoln Highway. One of the convoy members was Dwight Eisenhower, then a Brevet Lieutenant Colonel in the Army (Captain during peace time). A second convoy left in June 1920.
Inscriptions on the four sides read:
NORTH SIDE
“Zero Milestone”
SOUTH SIDE
“Point for the measurement of distances from Washington on highways of the United States”
EAST SIDE
“Starting point Second Transcontinental Motor Convoy over the Bankhead Highway, June 14, 1920” (date in Roman numerals)
WEST SIDE
“Starting point of First Transcontinental Motor Convoy over the Lincoln Highway, July 7, 1919” (date in Roman numerals)
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Last updated on April 29, 2020
