Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1900-09-08
OLD TURNPIKE ROADS
HOW THEY WERE ESTABLISHED AND
MAINTAINED.


Sources For Spccu!ation-Lnck OF
Knowledge of ROnd Constructiun.
The making of turnpike roads by
chartered companies was inaugurated
in the last quarter of the eighteenth
century with the advance of pOpula-
tiOn in the west, says Maurice o. Ed
ridge. State and national charters
We're given to many turnpike compa-
MES, which at first yielded large prof
its to capitalists. The establishment
of turnpikcs and the maintenance of
them by toll, however, effected but
little Improvement in the general sys-
tenn, and the tax imposed upon those
who were compelled to use many of
these roads was not paid without pro-
test.
The Wilderness turnpike was the
name of one of the earliest of these
roads. From the Shenandoah valley,
in Virginia, it followed for sor dis
tance the Holston river. thence it
crossed the Allegheny mountains at
Cumberland gap to central Kentucky.
This route was opened at first for pack
trains, but afterward was so improv-
ed that it became the main road for
wagon trains from Virginia to the
valley of the Ohio. \ large commerce
was carried on between Virginia and
the west over this highway, and it
proved very advantageous to Kentucky
and adjacent states In their early set
tlement and development.
During the first decade of this cen
fury the Wilderness turnpike was the
best highway south of the Potomac
river, but soon the traffic began to de-
crease, and the revenue became so linz
tied that it was neglected. For years.
however, the tollgates were maintained,
and travellers were required to pay
toll of 50 on passing the gates. which
We're 10 miles apart, although tools
had to be carried in the vehicle with
which to repair the portions of the
road that We're impossible.
The desire to speculate in those days
was rs great as it is now, and such
were the profits of some of these roads
that they were often the subject of
~ lloldDlc vi llllS
is shown by the organization of a COM
pany in 1892 to build turnpike from
Philadelphia to Lancaster, a distance
of 60 miles. The charter was secured,
and in ten days 2,275 subscribers made
application for stock. AS this was
more than the law allowed, the names
were placed in a lottery wheel, and 600
With fhncn ct1ls1pinti
the work was begun. The road build
ers of that day knew little or nothing
regarding the construction of high
ways, and the mistakes made on this
occasion taught them some valuable
lessons. The land was condemned, the
trees fcIlcd and the roadbed prepared.
The largest stones that could be found
were dumped upon it for a foundation,
and upon this colossal base earth and
gravel were spread. Then the work
was declared complete. But when the
washing rains came deep holes appear
ed on every hand, sharp stones pro-
truded from the surface and the horses
received scratched and broken limbs
as they sank between the powders
up to their knees. The gigantic error
of the road builder was then made
plain. Indignation meetings We're held,
at which the turnpike company was
condemned and the legislature blamed
for giving the charter. Had it not been
for an Englishman, who offered to
rebuild the turnpike on the macadam
plan, as he had seen roads built in the
old country, improved road construc-
ton would have received a severe
blow. The Englishman's proposition
was accepted by the company, and he
was successful in completing the Lam
caster and Philadelphia turnpike road,
which was then declared to be 1.-The
best piece of highway in the United
States-a masterpiece Of its kind"
The success of the Lancaster pike en-
couraged road building everywhere,
and before the first decade of the new
century had elapsed many of the we'll
settled states were voting money, set
ting apart revenues derived from the
sale of public lands and establishing
lotteries to build turnpikcs between
prosperous towns in the east and to
the frontier. The prospect of increas-
ing their land values by the building
of good roads and the fascination of
receiving large dividends from invest
ments induced many people to risk
their all upon these schemes. Specu-
lation was rife in the land, turnpike
building rapidly became the rage and
In few years sum almost as large
as the public debt at the close of the
Revolution was invested by the people
in turnpike ventures. BY 1911 over
317 pixies had been chartered in New
York and in the New England states,
their total length being 1900 miles
and their combined capital over ST.
100000 Hundreds of miles of public
turnpikes were constructed in New
York and in some of the western
states with thick, wide boards or
planks, and for a few years it was
thought this method would Supersede
all others. While the planks lasted
the roads were good, but the boards
decaycd very rapidly, and for this rea-
son the method, proving unsuccessful,
was gradually abandoned. Except for
few short stretches in the New Eng
land and southern states, the toll sys-
TEN also proved unsuccessful, and
many of the companies lost money.
Some surrendered their charters, and
others were bought out by the states
or counties. The turnpike system was
gradually superseded by the restora-
/ ton of the forced labor'A system, and