100Th Anniversary Series, Part I, Trunk Line Road System

10 0 th Anniversary Series

Part I The Trunk Line Road

System By James Garvin, New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources Early “good roads” leaders PHOTO: A road construction mong the most powerful propo- Founded in 1880, the League of American (circa 1910) crew pause in A nents of good roads in the late 1800s was Wheelmen began to publish Good Roads their work along what eventually became the Daniel Web- the League of American Wheelmen, a magazine in 1892. The League’s “Good ster Highway (Route 3), one of national fraternity of bicyclists who lob- Roads Campaign” was led by Colonel three north-south “trunk lines” bied hard and successfully for better high- Albert A. Pope of Boston, the manufactur- identified by the New Hamp- ways. Bicycling had become a national er of the popular Columbia bicycle and shire legislature in 1909 for upgrade and construction. craze in the 1890s as the low-wheeled, the benefactor of a course in highway

New Hampshire Historical Society chain-driven “safety” bicycle supplanted engineering at the Massachusetts Institute the high-wheeled “standard” machine. of Technology. Pope’s writings on The safety bicycle was quickly adapted for improved highways were widely excerpt- women riders wearing long skirts, and ed in New Hampshire newspapers during cycling, formerly limited to athletic men, the 1890s. became a universal pastime. Frank West Rollins, an indefatigable Cycling was impossible on rutted, bony proponent of conservation and tourism in roads or on highways that were mires of New Hampshire who would become gov- mud during wet seasons. Cyclists needed ernor in 1899, was one of the state’s lead- hard-surfaced roads to enjoy their pas- ing advocates for better roads. Writing in time. It happened that such roads served The New England Magazine in 1897, Rollins the broader needs of the nation, all the envisioned a state-built boulevard extend- more as the automobile and motor truck ing from the Massachusetts border began to account for an increasing pro- through Franconia Notch, possibly with portion of highway traffic. branches returning south through the Connecticut River valley or easterly through Crawford Notch and along the Saco River into Maine.

New Hampshire Highways —JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2004 25 TRUNK LINE ROADS (continued)

“We might have the cooperation Visionary legislative action Lobbying for three key of Maine and Vermont in this In 1903, the state legislature passed trunk lines undertaking,” Rollins wrote, “and two new laws that radically changed In 1903, Governor Nahum Bachelder we might build a magnificent and the role of state government in appointed John W. Storrs – then comprehensive system of boule- relation to how New Hampshire’s employed as an engineer by the vards, with a definite aim and pur- highways were constructed and Boston and Maine Railroad – as the pose, which would appeal to every maintained. highway engineer for Coos, Carroll, lover of nature and outdoor life. I True to Rollins’ vision, which he and Grafton Counties. Storrs imme- would have this boulevard built in had recommended for action only diately took up Frank West Rollins’ the most approved and enduring six years before, this new legislation vision of north-south “boulevards” manner, with a bicycle path at one made the following appointments leading from the Massachusetts side for the wheelmen.” and initiatives a reality in New border to the White Mountains. Envisioning tourism... and Hampshire: Between 1903 and 1905, Storrs the 20th century highway • The appointment of the state’s first worked to persuade a skeptical gov- highway engineer ernor and council of the need for In an age when the state’s old net- • The creation of the first statewide three key roads to run north along work of taverns had withered away highway survey the Connecticut, Merrimack, and with the impact of the railroad, • The designation of certain roads as Saco River valleys, converging near Frank West Rollins saw the need for state highways Mount Washington. roadside accommodations offering • The preparation for the introduc- food, shelter, and maintenance. New Hampshire’s first tion of another bill, to be consid- At suitable intervals, I would have highway “survey” ered in the next legislative session, picturesque and well-kept tav- that would detail the methods by The legislation passed in 1903 also erns, a treat to the eye as well as which the state would construct called for a survey of highway con- a comfort to the inner man. Con- roads in its own right and in part- ditions in New Hampshire. For this nected with each tavern there nership with towns. task, Governor Bachelder chose would be a bicycle repair shop and a blacksmith’s shop – the two could be combined. At every crossroad or branch road should be a guidepost, not only telling where the road leads to and the distances, but indicating the near- ness of any place of interest. — Frank West Rollins, 1897 Even before the advent of the automobile, Rollins had anticipated the essential needs of the twentieth- century highway. To realize this vision, Rollins recommended the creation of a state road commission like one that had already been established in Massa- chusetts. He foresaw the state’s employment of a chief highway engineer, with assistants in each county who would not only maintain state roads but also train local road agents. He recommended that state government undertake construction of these “boulevards” on the model he described. Shown here in 1890 on Long Pond Road in Concord, Will Virgin (left) and Fred Johnson show off their new Columbia “Light Roadster Safety” bicycles. This revolutionary bicycle weighed 56 pounds, had solid tires, and cost $135.

New Hampshire Historical Society

26 New Hampshire Highways —JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2004 NHGRA 100th Anniversary Series Part I

Arthur W. Dean, a former city engi- Many “motion picture” cameramen neer of Nashua. recorded this event, and New Hamp- Dean compiled the first highway shire – as well as the automobile – map of New Hampshire, assessed gained significant national expo- highway conditions throughout the sure. state, studied and reported upon The following year, the Boston highway agencies and legislation automobile enthusiast Charles J. that already existed in other states, Glidden instituted the first “Glidden and recommended passage of a law Tour” for the American Automobile that would extend state highway aid Association, which was created to New Hampshire towns. Then, as that same year. Among its many now, a few “facts and figures” made stops and options, the “Glidden a difference. Tour” included a climb of Mount In 1905, Dean’s report secured Washington, in an automobile, in passage of New Hampshire’s first its itinerary. state-aid highway law. The proprietors of several grand This legislation made the follow- Frank West Rollins, a strong advocate for hotels in the White Mountains also ing initiatives and associated respon- conservation and tourism in New Hampshire made a special effort to attract the sibilities a reality: become governor in 1899, and was one of gatherings and “conventions” of the the state’s leading advocates for better roads. • Towns would be required to make growing community of “motorists.” New Hampshire Historical Society annual appropriations for perma- Among these visionary New Hamp- nent highway improvements, These first trunk line highways shire hotel operators were John based on their assessed valuation. evolved into the Dartmouth College Anderson and John D. Price of Bret- • Towns would be empowered to Highway (Route 10) in the west, the ton Woods, founders of the world- raise additional highway funds, to Daniel Webster Highway (Route 3) famous automobile races at Ormond be used as a “match” for state in the middle of the state, and Beach in Daytona, Florida. Interest- funding. Routes 1A and 16 in the east. ingly, in 1904, John Anderson went • The state would appropriate funds The newly created “highway on record in the press favoring a to match town appropriations, in department” completed improve- New Hampshire law that would order to maintain designated ments on these roads by 1915, and establish speed limits for “automo- “state highways.” thereupon designated a series of biles,” as well as fines for violators. • The clear designation of certain east-west trunk line roads to link the Creating the demand for roads as “state highways.” north-south routes. Another law “good roads” • The creation of a new state posi- (passed in 1915) required that all Throughout the opening decades of tion: New Hampshire Highway bridges built on these trunk lines the new century, New Hampshire engineer. and cross-state highways have a state government worked continu- • The provision of “consulting capacity of at least ten tons. services,” to be provided by the ously to promote tourism that state highway engineer and his The horseless carriage involved the automobile. This effort staff, to any town requesting these When New Hampshire legislators grew significantly in focus (and services. passed state-aid highway legislation expense) during the 1920s and in 1905, they were aware of the vast 1930s. Establishing New change in transportation foretold by As early as 1907, New Hampshire Hampshire’s trunk line F. O. Stanley’s ascent of Mount Farms for Summer Homes magazine highways Washington by an automobile in (one of the early state-funded publi- In 1905, Governor John McLane 1899. New Hampshire was rapidly cations that promoted New Hamp- appointed Arthur W. Dean the first becoming a proving ground for the shire tourism) was featuring “entic- state highway engineer. entire nation about a new mode of ing mountain views as seen from the Under Dean’s leadership, the leg- transportation: the automobile. automobile.” islature adopted plans (in 1909) to In 1904, the first “Climb to the Another early automobile enthu- create three key north-south routes, Clouds” event brought a host of siast (from New Jersey!), W. J. Mor- which became New Hampshire’s competing individuals (with their gan, also had a significant impact on first trunk line highways. “automobiles”) to Pinkham Notch how New Hampshire could welcome to emulate Stanley’s grueling drive the growing number of “automo- to the highest peak in the Northeast. bilists.” W. J. Morgan is also credited

New Hampshire Highways —JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2004 27 TRUNK LINE ROADS (continued)

First state highway commissioner The second decade of the twentieth century saw significant changes in how New Hampshire state government understood and responded to road (and bridge) creation and maintenance. In 1915, after a decade of all “road issues” being the purview of the “governor and council” a new state agency was born. Governor Rolland Spaulding appointed Frederick E. Everett (1876–1951), who had joined the highway department as an engineer in 1906, to the new post of New Hampshire Highway Com- missioner. One of his early objec- tives was the completion of the state’s trunk line highways and cross-state highways. This photo, taken in 1914 along what would eventually become the Daniel Webster Highway In 1915, virtually all roads in New (Route 3 ) clearly illustrates the problems faced by early motorists in the opening decades of the Hampshire were gravel or water- 20th century. Federal aid, which first arrived in 1917, enabled state highway engineers to conduct a number of experiments with asphalt binders and concrete pavements on the trunk line highways, bound macadam, the latter being and begin “paving” the way for the future. roads with wearing surfaces of

New Hampshire Historical Society crushed stone and stone dust, wet- ted and rolled but not otherwise with suggesting the 1904 “Climb to The three trunk lines, now near- cemented. In 1911, an inspection by the Clouds” event, and he praised ing completion, pass through the federal Office of Public Roads New Hampshire state government many towns that have shown revealed some experiments with for the money it had appropriated their public spirit and their pride in bituminous binders on selected por- for the White Mountain road the State by contributing their tions of the trunk line highways. improvements since 1904. share to the construction of these More good roads in New Hamp- highways, which are used largely shire will mean further increase in by automobiles from outside the the arrival of money-spending State whose owners pay no taxes people, and among them must be in the state and from which the figured the large and growing towns mentioned receive no army of automobilists, who have, direct benefit whatever. it seems, decided that New Under the present law these Hampshire is a good place to visit towns are legally but unjustly in the summer. bound to maintain these roads, to Money spent on behalf of good be ground to pieces and worn out roads by the state of New Hamp- by foreign traffic. shire will be seed well sown, and In response to this problem, the Frederick E. Everett, shown here in the late will surely bring forth results a 1911 legislature passed a law that 1940s near the end of his career, was New Hampshire’s first Highway Commissioner and hundred fold. appropriated the net income from served for thirty-four years (1915–1949). — W. J. Morgan motor vehicle fees to highway improvements. Two-thirds of that Federal aid Funding the trunk lines revenue was thus allocated for trunk In 1917, New Hampshire received In 1911, an inspection of New line highway maintenance. The rest the first financial aid under the Fed- Hampshire highways by an engineer was to be used in cooperation with eral Aid Road Act of 1916, a law of the federal Office of Public Roads towns to maintain and support intended to improve mail delivery to revealed the fact that: “state-aid” roads. rural towns with populations under

28 New Hampshire Highways —JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2004 NHGRA 100th Anniversary Series Part I

The work of state government to promote tourism during the opening decades of the twentieth century was spurred to new heights by the growing popularity of the automobile. Shown here in 1918 at a guesthouse and farm in East Concord, a motoring club proudly shows off their vehicles.

New Hampshire Historical Society

2,500, and to improve roads in designated the Dartmouth College Four-season maintenance national forests. All but 27 of New Highway. Winter plowing of trunk line roads Hampshire’s 246 communities fell Route 6 started at Cape Cod, began in 1925-26, after a new law below this population. entering New Hampshire at Nashua, allowed the commissioner of the By 1920, using this funding, passing northward through Man- New Hampshire Highway Depart- Everett had carried out a number of chester, Concord, and Franklin, and ment to designate certain sections of experiments with asphalt binders ending at Colebrook; it coincided the trunk line system for snow and concrete pavements on the with the trunk line named the removal. trunk line highways. Daniel Webster Highway (Route 3). At first, a snow cover of four Route 18 started at Portland, Assignment of route numbers inches was left on these sections of entered New Hampshire at Conway highway to accommodate horse- In 1922, highway commissioners Center, and passed through Craw- drawn traffic. After deep frozen ruts from the New England states met ford Notch and Twin Mountain to made the roads nearly impassable and agreed to assign route numbers leave the state at Littleton; it corre- for all vehicles, however, snow was to the region’s principal roads. The sponded with the Theodore Roo- removed close to the road surface old names of New Hampshire’s sevelt Highway. during the season of 1926-27, when trunk line, cross-state, and state-aid Route 1, the great coastal route of over 1,100 miles of trunk line high- roads were now supplemented by the eastern United States, followed way were plowed. the interstate numbering system the the Newburyport Turnpike north- By the early 1930s, New Hamp- commissioners adopted at that time. ward toward New Hampshire, tra- shire’s trunk line roads were recog- Route 10, for example, began on versed the coastal region along the nized as reliable year-round conduits Long Island Sound and entered New Lafayette Road, and passed into of commercial and recreational traf- Hampshire at Hinsdale; in New Maine at Portsmouth. fic, and as one of the state’s proudest Hampshire, it followed the route assets.

New Hampshire Highways —JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2004 29