A history of the highway continues here. A southern road had passed through Berrima from 1829 and, as noted previously, in the 1850s it was named the Great Southern Road, stretching from Sydney to Albury. In 1928 the entire road linking Sydney and Melbourne was given the name Hume Highway in honour of the legendary Hamilton Hume who, in 1824, with Hovell and others, explored southward from Yass to the Murray River and on to the Victorian coast. The Hume Highway closely follows the path explored by his party.

The local district prospered by being on the southern road. After the railway opened to Goulburn in the 1860s, however, extended journeys along the road almost ceased but would revive.

By 1896 a tarred macadam surface had been applied most of the way to Albury and in the early 1900s motorised vehicles began using the road, heralding a new era of transport and travel. Petrol-powered trucks became more frequent, gradually replacing bullock and horse drawn vehicles. Providing smoother travel for passengers, motorised coaches soon took over from stage coaches.

While it would be 50 years before personal car ownership became common, early model cars were soon using the road. Although in parts barely suitable for horse and cart, the road became popular for speed trials. In 1905, 23 entrants started in a Sydney to Melbourne motor car race organised by the Dunlop Rubber Co, with a 100 guinea cup as first prize. Seven actually finished the 572 mile route, the winner being Colonel Harley Tarrant in his two-cylinder Argyle that crossed the line on the fifth day. Setting new speed records between the cities became a popular sport but was abolished by police in the mid-1930s, the record having dropped to under nine hours.

Road construction, restricted during World War I, took off from the 1920s with improved methods using rollers, graders and loaders. By 1940 the Hume Highway had a bituminous or other dustless surface over its full 375 miles in NSW and similarly on through Victoria. Cars capable of faster speeds and distances became more common, particularly at first between Sydney and Canberra.

Fatalities became all too frequent. Locally, the Southern Mail first drew attention to the problem in April 1937: "During the Easter holidays a number of serious motoring accidents occurred in this district. A fatal crash occurred on the Hume Highway south of Berrima when a car ran over an embankment. Two passengers were killed, while the driver was severely shaken. All were visitors passing through the district. A number of other cars seen passing through the town and along the Hume Highway, in a more or less battered condition, show evidence of a hectic holiday. It is safer to travel by rail."

In October 1954 the paper reported that up to June 30 that year there were 437 accidents resulting in 19 deaths and 235 injuries on the highway between Paddys River and Camden, and that human error was involved in more than 80 percent of them.

The highway's northern section was provided with a change of appearance in the early 1950s. In 1952 the President of the Garden Clubs of Australia, Margaret Davis, and a group of interested citizens decided to create the Remembrance Driveway, a living memorial to those who had served in World War Two. It was officially launched in late 1953 and in February 1954 the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh planted trees at either end of the Driveway - at the War Memorial, Canberra, and in Macquarie Place, Sydney.

By 1959, 10,000 trees had been planted along the route in avenues or groves. Around Berrima, the plantings on either side of the road (now Old Hume Highway) may still be seen. The tree-scapes and the death traps of the highway became things of the past once the Berrima Bypass opened in 1989.

Berrima was subsequently promoted as a fine example of a Georgian village and ever since visitors have continued to exit the freeway and visit the town for refreshments and to enjoy its historic features and museums.