in 1909 a race with professional/experienced drivers from NYC to Boston was won in 12 hours. Lots of mud, some DNFs,
and one pedestrian fatality.
It wasn't until 1916 the first coast to coast road was built, The Lincoln Highway, and very little of that was paved outside of cities.
Wiki says it started in NYC but it actually started in Boston. A few years later it became US route 30 in most states, the route was
changed to go through NYC and Philly before turning west again.
It wasn't until the mid 50's that Ike's Interstate System got started.