The spectacular "King of Roads" was the first road to be named a NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK. To understand how difficult it is to receive this honor, fewer than 3% of places on the National Register of Historic Places become landmarks.

The construction of this Highway was considered one of the greatest engineering feats of the modern age. Its engineer, Samuel C. Lancaster, did not to alter what God had put there. It was designed in 1913 to take advantage of the many waterfalls and other places of beauty. At its completion in 1916 President Teddy Roosevelt drove the road and praised it for its scenic grandeur and engineering.