been formed from the public domain.[N 1] The lands in these States had been subdivided into rectangular townships and sections according to an ordinance of May 29, 1785. These land lines became the boundaries between farms and, thus, were the lines of least resistance for local roads. The customary right-of-way for these roads was one chain wide, or 66 feet, each property owner donating 33 feet on his side of the section line. As in the East, these roads were normally maintained by statute labor.
In the Great Plains and the Far West, this tendency to fix the local roads on the section lines was strengthened in July 1866 by an act in which Congress granted a free right-of-way for public roads over unreserved public lands. A number of counties took advantage of this act by declaring all section lines in the county to be public roads, thus, reserving the right-of-way before the lands became private property. The Legislature of Dakota Territory passed an act making all section lines public roads 66 feet wide, to the extent that it was physically possible to build roads on these lines.[1]
Section line roads were easy to build in level country, but in hilly country it was impossible to stay on the section lines and preserve a reasonable gradient.[N 2] The rectangular pattern imposed considerable indirect traffic on those whose destination was diagonal to the land grid. Nevertheless, hundreds of thousands of miles of these section line roads were built as the public land States were settled. Initially, these roads were mere wagon tracks, but over the years many of them were graded and ditched, and some were graveled. This work was aided tremendously by the introduction of blade graders after 1878. Some of these were pulled by 6 horses and in easy country, a mile of ditched earth road could be built in a single day.
The years between 1850 and 1900 have been called the “dark age of the rural road,” yet in this period well over 1½ million miles of rural roads were built in the United States. It is true that, with insignificant exceptions, these roads were unimproved, or at best only ditched and graded, yet in the aggregate they represented a mighty public effort, particularly in the West where population was sparse and the people poor.
The Financing of Rural Roads
Until the early 1900’s, the main sources of local road funds were taxes on property, poll taxes and statute labor. In 1904 only 25 States had laws permitting counties, townships or road districts to issue bonds for road improvement, and in these the privilege was used sparingly and usually only to finance a particularly expensive purchase, such as a steel or concrete bridge. The total expenditures on rural roads from bond issues were only about $3.5 million in 1904.[3]
Property taxes levied for road support varied widely from State to State and from county to county within the same State. As the Office of Public Roads (OPR) observed in 1904,
Unquestionably the bitterest controversies in counties and townships in connection with the subject of road improvement are over proposed increases in the rates of property taxation for road purposes. It is common in many parts of the United States for uninformed though honestly-disposed citizens, to make a determined opposition to a very moderate and perfectly reasonable increase in the tax rate.[4]
The average tax rate of all counties reporting to the OPR in 1904 was 25.7 cents per $100 valuation, but this gives little idea of the tremendous variation between counties, some of which levied only 1.3 cents per $100 valuation and some as much as $1.60 per $100 valuation.[5] These taxes, together with poll taxes payable in cash, were by far the major source of funds for building and maintaining the country roads, yielding some $53.8 million in 1904. While this seems like a large sum, it amounted to very little when spread over 2.1 million miles of road.[6]
In 1904 11 States assessed an annual poll tax varying from $1 to $5 per person for upkeep of the roads. This tax could be paid in labor or in cash. In addition, 25 States retained the ancient statute labor system under which all able bodied male citizens of certain ages living along a road were required to work on its repair a stated number of days per year or pay the equivalent in cash.[N 3] Despite its inefficiency, the work rendered in 1904 by statute labor was valued by the OPR at $19.8 million, and amounted to about one-quarter of all rural road expenditures that year.[8]
Working out the road tax on a gravel road. Ten days labor or $5 tax was required by law in Alabama as late as 1913.
Most of the rights-of-way for county and township roads were donated by their owners to the local authorities, and these donations represented a very considerable part of the original cost of these roads. Over the years, these rights-of-way came to some 10.4 million acres of land, valued in 1904 at about $342 million.[9] The roads themselves probably represented an investment of at least a billion dollars.
- ↑ All States except the Original Thirteen, and Maine, Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and Texas.
- ↑ In 1900 there were more roads having excessively steep grades in Iowa than in Switzerland.[2]
- ↑ As late as 1889 no cash poll taxes or property taxes were levied for road purposes in Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico and Utah, and the rural roads in these States were built and maintained exclusively by statute labor.[7]
This large investment was, however, spread so thinly that very few rural residents enjoyed adequate road service. In the northern States, earth roads were quagmires during the spring thaw and became distressingly soft during rains at any time of year. Deep sand was a problem in many parts of the South.
- ↑ 43 U.S.C. Section 218 (1964).
- ↑ M. O. Eldridge, Good Roads For Farmers, Farmers’ Bulletin No. 95 (Office of Public Roads, Washington, D.C., 1900) p. 9.
- ↑ M. O. Eldridge, Public Road Mileage, Revenues and Expenditures, In the United States In 1904, Bulletin No. 32 (Office of Public Roads, Washington, D.C., 1907) p. 16.
- ↑ Id., p. 18.
- ↑ Id.
- ↑ Id., p. 16.
- ↑ Id., p. 20.
- ↑ Id., p. 16.
- ↑ Id., p. 14.
