Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1916-12-01
What Good
Roads Do
Increase School Attendance, In
prove Social Conditions.
and Enlarge Business
Transactions.

A l5 per cent increase in the proper
ton of the available children attending
schools took place following the con
struction OF good roads in countie:
studied by the Office of Public Road.
and Rural Engineering OF the depart
ment it is shown in recent publication
OF the office, Department Bulletin No
1893. The improvement in roads was
followed also in several of the counties,
the report shows, by consolidation of q
number of the little one-room schools
into graded schools, which give the
pupils better educational advantages;
by development of various industries
and by social improvements due to
easier intercourse. These improve
ments are related closely to increase in
land values and decrease in hauling
costs, effects also traced to the con-
.struction of improved roads. The
Ndies were made in Spotsylvania,
E{Awiddie, Lee, and Wise Counties, Va
Franklin County, N. Y; Dallas County,
Ala; Lauderdale County, Miss; and
Manatee County, Fla.
In Spotsylvania County, Va, the
average daily school attendance in
creased from 81 per cent of the enroll
ment before the roads were improved
to Y per cent after Several small
schools were consolidated. Between
1909, the year preceding the building of
good roads, and 1913, the year following
their completion, the shipment of forest
products, the principal products of the
county, increased more than 78 per cent.
The increase during this period in the
poultry business in the county was II
per cent, and in dairying 10 per cent.
In Dinwiddie County, Va, the aver
age attendance for children for 13
schools on the improved roads was 63.4
per cent of the enrolment in 1928,
while fhe average attendance for all
other schools in the county was Sc per
cent. Several school consultations
have been effected, larger school build
ings have been constructed, and pupils
have been transported to school at the
expense of the educational system since
the road improvements were made.
Truck gardening and dairying, which
were profitable only within miles of
the principal market town OF the coun-
ty before the road improvement, are
now carried on profitably within z
mile radius.
In Lee County, Va, considerable
industry has been built up following
the road improvements in the shipment
OF tan bark, extract wood, and pulp
wood, products which could not be
hauled over the unimproved
roads. The improved highway system
has attracted buyers of farm products
who travel from farm to farm and
furnish a new cash market for the
farmers. There has been a 25 per cent
increase in buggies sold by county
vehicle factory.
In Wise County, Va, social conditions
have been bettered since the good roads
were constructed, many farmers along
the improved highways having built
new homes or improved old ones, add
ing sanitary conveniences. School at
tendance has increased materially, but
since compulsory attendance regula-
lions went into effect about the time
the improved roads were completed,
The influence Of the two factors could
not be determined separately. Several
school consultations have been made.
Automobile registrations in Franklin
County, N. Y, increased from 81 be-
lore the road Improvement in 1912 to
S53 after road Improvement in 1914, and
two automobile bus lines connecting
distant towns in the county were estab-
ished as soon as the improved roads
we're opened.
There has been a notable stimulation
)f dairying and general diversification
)n the farms OF Dallas County, Ala,
since the improvement Of the roads Of
hat county.
In the section OF Lauderdale County,
Mss, where most of the roads have
been improved the school attendance
increased from 72 per cent Of the en-
in 1912, just after the road
work started, to 81 per cent in 1913
lfter the completion of the work. Sew
,rl school consultations have been
Effected.
In Manatee County, Fla, which pro-
luces chiefly fruits and vegetables,
hese products could not be hauled
,ver the sandy roads before the inn
was made, except at pro-
libitive cost. In the one year, isi2-iS