April 1942 — no rockets, no checkpoints, just crops and clay. This Zoomie catches the exact moment Huntsville’s future road network began to take shape: a dirt realignment slicing through farmland to dodge the railroad’s 45-degree cut. That small change linked Madison Pike (AL-20) to what would later evolve into Rideout Road (AL-255) — the same route thousands drive through Gate 9 today. Every bypass starts somewhere.