The unincorporated community of Cove Fort, Utah, has a few things going for it.

One is a historic fort operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Another, perhaps, is a highway sign near where Interstate 70 begins in Maryland alerting drivers that Cove Fort is just 2,200 miles away.

For years, the seemingly random sign — which also gives the distances to Denver (1,700 miles), St. Louis (845) and Columbus, Ohio (420) — has caught the eye of drivers as they head west on I-70 from Baltimore County into Howard County.

Never mind its usefulness in a country whose citizens tend to measure road trips in hours, not distance (though one former Marylander posted “Love this sign since I live in Columbus now!” on Facebook.)

The green-and-white sign was installed along the median about 15 years ago to test a larger font that officials hoped would improve the sign’s visibility at highway speeds, said Charlie Gischlar, a spokesman for the Maryland Highway Administration.

The experiment generated a lot of curiosity from the public, which gave state engineers an opportunity to collect data about how easy it was to read the sign, The Baltimore Sun reported in 2004.

In a way, it serves as an advertisement for I-70, which is the nation’s fifth-longest interstate highway and cost more than $4 billion to build, according to the Federal Highway Administration. It was started in 1957 and finished in 1992 when a section through Colorado’s Glenwood Canyon was completed.

The interstate highway stretches 2,153 miles from Maryland to Utah. Apparently, the 2,200 miles is an approximate number.

Locally, I-70 is better known as a suburban commuter route that ends at a park-and-ride lot near the Social Security Administration headquarters — and for its association with Baltimore City’s Highway to Nowhere. The ill-fated expressway would have connected I-70 to I-95 in Southwest Baltimore, passing by downtown. Community opposition in East Baltimore blocked its run through the city, but not before the project tore through 20 blocks of West Baltimore, displacing hundreds of Black families.

Cove Fort was also never the intended end for I-70. Highway engineers originally wanted to end it in Denver, but after lobbying from Colorado and Utah, they decided to extend the highway to connect with Interstate 15 at Cove Fort. The interchange linked I-70 to the major route to Southern California, according to the FHA.

Cove Fort was built of volcanic rock in 1867 during the Black Hawk War between pioneers and Native Americans, including the Ute tribe. The fort became an integral way station for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as it expanded from Salt Lake City into the southern Utah Territory.

These days, visitors can tour the historic fort year-round. It’s one of the only surviving forts built by Mormon pioneers, the church says on its website. Visitors can still take a rest from their journey at shaded picnic tables around the site.

Even with the novelty sign inside the Baltimore Beltway, most people wouldn’t know that Cove Fort is the end of I-70, said Bruce Seely, a history professor at Michigan Technological University and author of a book about building the American highway system.

What the sign really signals to drivers is “this road goes almost the whole way across the country,” Seely said.

Interstate highways have long echoed the auto industry’s messaging around personal freedom and speed, Seely said.

“Saving time and going the distance was the point,” he said. “You’re on your own, not on a train or trolley schedule.”

Highway engineers largely bought into the appeal and assumed that the “American people were just waiting to get into a car and drive somewhere,” he said.

Maryland has other novelty mileage signs. At the eastern terminus of U.S. 50 in Ocean City, beachgoers annually pass beneath a sign that states “Sacramento Ca 3073.” (Sacramento has an Ocean City mileage sign.)

Curious Maryland passengers who spot the Cove Fort sign along I-70 might punch the name into a GPS app on their phones. How long would it take to drive 2,200 miles anyway?

Google Maps estimates 32 hours with no stops.

That might seem grueling to some drivers, but consider the personal freedom that roads give you, Seely said.

“It’s the freedom of making your own choices, which is part of the American psyche,” he said.