Prior to 1800 there were few roads in the country that deserved to be characterized as °improved." In 1796 there was but one turn pike on the continent, 66 miles between Lan caster and Philadelphia, built by a private com pany, and hardly conforming to our ideas of a macadam road. Another noteworthy early °turnpike') (so-called from the revolving beam that obstructed the passage at the toll-gates) was the "Wilderness Road" from the Shenan doah Valley in Virginia westward to Kentucky, and still operated in 1895 by the Wilderness Turnpike Company. To supplement such private ventures, many attempts were made to secure road contributions from the National government in the early days of the Constitu tion, but the only road of importance so financed was the Cumberland road, largely macadam, stretching for 800 miles from .Cum berland, Md., to Vandalia, Ill.
The construction of macadam roads in those days was well-nigh prohibitive from the cost and °corduroy" (log-surfaced roads) were often built, across wet and soft stretches. These became very common and with the ad vent of the saw-mill were supplemented by °plank-roads," particularly for the "toll" roads. These were a great improvement over the cor duroy, cheaper than the macadam to construct, but expensive in maintenance. But over such highways, aided by the rivers, canals and the beginnings of the railroad system, the great westward pioneering movement took place. Then after the wave of internal improvements had swept over the various States in the years from 1835 to 1840, road construction gradually became a local matter, except where turnpike companies continued to build stretches of toll roads. Even for these, the advent of the rail road lessened the need. Henceforth, little private or public money was expended upon the roads; °working out the road tax" became the common method of opening and maintain ing highways. Poor roads were the inevitable result and this general situation continued till long after the Civil War. Then, the rise of cities, and the beginnings of better paved streets, made glaring the contrast with the awful condition of the heavily traveled roads in the vicinity of the great cities. The.agitation for better roads grew rapidly and assumed the importance of a °movement" from 1890 on, especially in the long settled and highly urban States of the East.
The widespread use of the bicycle and in more recent years of the automobile has given great impetus to the movement. In 1916 there
were 3,500,000 registered automobiles —the num ber having doubled since 1914—making a total of $25,000,000 available from registration and license fees, of which some $16,000,000 was under State control, and about $8,000,000 sub ject to the local governments. This amount constitutes almost one-half of the total annual expenditure for roads by the State govern ments, and is a good example of the important place the coming of the automobile plays in road improvement. The bicycle had preceded the automobile. By 1899 the °craze" was at its height, and over 1,000,000 wheels were turned out in that year. But by 1904 the interest had so fallen that the product fell to one-sixth of its former volume, and has since remained stationary. It had, however, done its work for the Good Roads Movement. The rural problem became a very conscious one also, in this last decade of the century, and gave a new meaning to every movement for the betterment of agri cultural industry and country life.
The movement, too, has been greatly fur thered by the progressive development of road machinery. For the use of broken stone on road surfaces depended very largely upon the development and use of road rollers and stone crushers. Most noteworthy and epoch making of all, however, in its widespread effect upon i roads in all parts of the country, was the ap pearance of the "King Drag." State action may very well be taken to mark the rise and development of the Good Roads Movement and its progress may be conveniently chronicled by the order in which the various States. have so acted. Their dates are as fol lows: New Jersey, 1892; Massachusetts, 1893; Vermont, 1894; Connecticut and California, 1895; New York and Maryland, 1898; Maine and North Carolina, 1901; Rhode Island, 1902; Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Delaware, 1903; Ohio and Iowa, 1904; Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Idaho and Washington, 1905; Vir ginia, 1906; Missouri, 1907; Georgia, 1908 (but still provides for convict labor only) ; Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, 1909; Louisiana, 1910; Ala bama, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Nevada, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Wyoming, 1911; Kentucky, 1912; Arkansas, Montana and Oregon, 1913; Florida, Tennessee and Missis sippi, 1915. Indiana, South Carolina and Texas have as yet taken no action.