Dear reader,
My dad just shamed me from the grave! I have been complaining, moaning and groaning about the state our roads are in. After reading this story I have to admit, pot-holes aint’ so bad . . . If you can avoid them . . .
Actually, the complaint is that we (our federal, state and local government) allowed such shoddy workmanship in the building of our roads and bridges that we have to rebuild them so soon after construction. I can only hope there is some kind of consequences built-in to the modern construction contracts regarding how long a road is supposed to last while keeping the repairs simple. I know the roads have to be paid for. So, I will do whatever I have to (gas tax ?), to maintain the quality driving experience we’ve come to expect if the construction companies will do their part and build quality roads and our government will do their part in keeping track of shoddy workmanship.
This is a cool little history lesson about our roads and the man who basically invented the modern road.
Enjoy!
David T
Give Thanks For Good Roads
By Don Tschirhart
Excerpted from the unpublished book “It’s a Wonderful World” A Retired Reporter Looks At Life
My 87-year-old friend, Evelyn, and I were chatting about “road adventures” as we walked around the Lapeer Community Center track.
Evelyn remembered how her grandparents moved from a farm near Lapeer to southern California in 1915.
They drove a Ford touring car on roads that were all dirt or mud except in some large cities. Much of the trip was as hair-raising and difficult as when the old covered wagons crossed the prairies and mountains to get to gold fields.
Mountain roads near Albuquerque, N.M., were the especially bad. The car’s heavy body and light engine were no match for the uphill dirt trails.
Evelyn said grampa discovered the heavy car had more power in reverse gear. So he backed it to the top. Someone put a 2 X 4 under the wheels to stop it from rolling back down hill.
In an understatement, Evelyn said, “It was pretty rough crossing the country back then.”
Americans have a love affair with smooth freeways, and forget what their forefathers went through when they drove their cars.
As Evelyn and I talked, I was reminded of the premier promoter of paved roads in America — Carl G. Fisher.
Carl Fisher, you ask? Never heard of him? Well, let me give you a short history lesson:
Fisher, young president of Prest-O-Lite Co. in Indianapolis, believed the auto industry and his parts firm would flourish if there were more and better paved roads. The only paved roads in the U.S. at that time were in major cities.
At a 1912 dinner party 38-year-old Fisher asked auto moguls to donate $10 million to build a 3,000-mile “rock” road from New York to San Francisco.
Immediate support came from Henry Joy, president of Packard Motor Car Co., Roy Chapin of Hudson Motor Co., auto tire tycoons Harvey Firestone and Goodyear’s Frank Seiberling, John Willys of Willys Overland Co. and others. Only Henry Ford balked.
Because they believe the coast-to-coast paved road would bind the nation together leaders decided to name it after Abraham Lincoln — the Lincoln Highway.
Construction was slow at first as each state had to make political decisions on the routes to be taken through their states. Each state’s responsibility was to build its own road section with business-donated funds.
When the final segment of the first coast-to-coast road was paved in the mid-1930s it was cause for celebration even in my grade-school classroom where my enthusiastic teacher first introduced me to the road.
The Federal Highway Department eventually tagged the highway “US-30.” You still can cross it north of Lima, O., on your way to Florida or Fort Wayne, Ind.
Much of the road has been swallowed up by Interstate 80, but there are still long stretches, especially through the east including Gettysburg, Pa., where it is the dominant highway.
A few years ago the Lincoln Highway National Museum was established west of Mansfield, O., but the building has been closed.
In the meantime, Fisher has a plaque on the wall of the Automotive Hall of Fame near the Henry Ford (formerly the Ford Museum) in Dearborn. I think there should be a much bigger memorial.
Fisher, ever the promoter, wasn’t about to stop at one idea. Cars needed to be tested under the worst conditions and Fisher thought of a way to do it.
He had the city of Indianapolis build and promote the Speedway which, of course, has been made famous by its 500-mile Memorial Day race.
Fisher fell in love with the Miami, Fla., the climate and a small, off-shore, rocky, bird-infested island. He and a few others bought the island and enlarged it using dirt dredged from the bottom of Biscayne Bay.
You guessed it. The development became one of America’s most beautiful playgrounds — Miami Beach.
To make his investment successful he began to sell commercial and residential lots.
To persuade northerners to buy his lots, Fisher talked states into constructing a north-south road between Sault Ste. Marie, Mi., and Miami.
This Dixie Highway was later designated by the feds as US-23. It now parallels Interstate 75.
Next time you drive interstate freeways or other paved roads why not give a hearty thanks to those men and women who braved the mud and dust as they drove cars across the country and fostered the good highways that we have today.
And remember to think good thoughts about Carl Fisher whose imagination and promotion went a long ways to giving us a comfortable ride to tour our country’s beauty.
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