Books review: “Yesterday’s Highways” and “America’s First Highways”

Prolific author Stephen H. Provost this spring released two books barely two months apart about the early history of American roads and the so-called golden age of U.S. highways.

“America’s First Highways” delves into the pre-1926 era when the nation’s main roads — including a precursor to Route 66 — were named and not numbered. “Yesterdays Highways” concentrates on the 1926-1956 era and the developments during that span, including on the Mother Road.

Both books come with hundreds of photos and weigh in at fewer than 300 pages in spite of Provost’s ample research on those topics. Provost also wrote books about Highway 101 and Highway 99 published in the past year, so road research seems to be in his wheelhouse.

If I had to give a nod between the two, it’d be to “America’s First Highways” because it contains a lot of information I hadn’t heard before. Both volumes prove well-written with few weaknesses.

“America’s First Highways” starts with the Good Roads Movement during the 1880s and 1890s that developed during a nationwide bicycling craze. The League of American Wheelmen published a travel guide to the best hotels and provided membership cards that could lead to discounts — much like the modern-day American Automobile Association, or AAA.

Isaac Porter, the big wheel of the Wheelmen, made the persuasive case that bad roads cost farmers at least $15 a year and prodded the nation to recommit itself to postal roads during the mid-1890s. Before then, mail wasn’t delivered to farmers if they lived on primitive paths.

Another key figure in early roads was John Loudon McAdam, who developed a crowned road surface that naturally drained and proved cheaper to build. The term macadam, or a layer of gravel to cover a road, comes from his surname. Another term, tarmac, or adding tar to the gravel, also is derived from his name.

The first semi-modern road in the U.S. was a 10-mile stretch in Maryland, then the 73-mile Cumberland Road a few years later in 1830. The latter eventually stretched Vandalia, Illinois, to become the National Road, which was called the Main Street of America decades before Route 66 wrestled away that tagline.

Roads eventually also were built with concrete, brick and asphalt. Concrete was deemed superior after field tests, but asphalt got extensive use — and does to this day — because it’s a lot cheaper.

“America’s First Highways” also reveals Edward Hines, who invented the highway centerline after seeing the effect of a milk spill from a truck. The first lines were painted onto Michigan Highway 5, and the centerline remains one of the most significant safety features in motoring history.

One also learns from the book about Henry Ford’s auto racing career during the early 20th century before he decided to more fully devote his energies in making cars, not racing them. But the Model 999 he piloted proved to be crucial for both automaking and racing innovations.

Provost explains the development of longtime and familiar automotive name brands such as Cadillac, Lincoln, Oldsmobile and Chevrolet, along with long-gone ones such as Mors, Stanley, Stutz Bearcat and Hupp.

Provost devotes pages to early cross-country auto races, or “reliability runs,” that included the Glidden Tour and the now-infamous Cannonball Run, where Erwin “Cannon Ball” Baker blasted from New York to Los Angeles in 53 1/2 hours in 1933 — a record that stood for 40 years. A 62-day Army convoy from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco in 1919 proved highly influential to one of its participants, Lt. Col. Dwight Eisenhower, to eventually developing the interstate highway.

The book dives into the history of some named roads — the U.S. once had more than 400 of them — such as the Lincoln Highway, Lee Highway, Jefferson Davis Highway, Jackson Highway, Jefferson Highway, Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway, Yellowstone Trail and Ozark Trail.

The Ozark Trail served as a precursor to Route 66 primarily in Oklahoma and Texas. William “Coin” Harvey essentially developed the Monte Ne resort hotel near Rogers, Arkansas, as a hub for his road. Obelisk monuments once marked key intersections of the trail. The only one surviving on Route 66 stands on a primitive stretch west of Stroud, Oklahoma.

One impression about these named highways was they were as subject to turf wars, skulduggery, backbiting, jockeying and political lobbying as the modern era, and I’m not even getting into the sometimes-capricious realignments of highways. It’s no wonder the federal government finally took the lead during the 1920s to standardize the criteria for a national highway system.

Provost devotes a few pages to tourist auto camps, where travelers could camp overnight for a quarter. A trailblazer was a municipal auto camp in Muskogee, Oklahoma, during the early 1920s. It contained space for 200 cars, had gas plates for cooking, electric lights and even a brass band for entertainment. Camps soon began building private cabins, which led to the development of auto courts, then motels.

The other book, “Yesterday’s Highways,” contains some overlap from “America’s First Highways,” especially sections about the development of roads and early named highways.

But “Yesterday’s Highways” gets into the nuts and bolts of the early U.S. highways, such as the development of bridges, gas stations, truck stops, diners, restaurants, motels, theaters, roller rinks, bowling alleys, miniature golf, billboards and tourist traps.

Outdoor advertising turns out to be the most interesting chapters. Though Meramec Caverns in Missouri once advertised on 400 barns in 40 states, the king of roadside advertising has to be Mail Pouch Tobacco, which totaled a staggering 20,000 ads on barns in 22 states. The book also talks about Burma Shave’s entertaining sequenced-sign campaigns.

Highways did get cluttered with billboards, however. One 30-mile stretch between Baltimore and Washington contained more than 2,400 signs. A 300-mile stretch in Florida contained 1,000 billboards. That excess led to the Highway Beautification Act of 1965, prompting the removal of more than a half-million signs in 20 years.

“Yesterday’s Highways” contains a few errors, such as the Gay Parita Station in Paris Springs, Missouri, being converted into a residence (the station actually is a re-creation of a station that burned down in the 1950s). Provost also states the oft-photographed cottage-style gas station in McLean, Texas, is a Pure gas station; the National Park Service insists it’s one of the first Phillips 66 stations.

Regardless, “Yesterday’s Highways” remains a fact-filled, entertaining and nostalgic look at U.S. highways. It also contains a lot more Route 66 content.

But in terms of longtime roadies looking for something more history-laden about the Mother Road’s roots, “America’s First Highways” is the book to have.

Recommended.

(Images of the book covers of “Yesterday’s Highways” and “America’s First Highways” courtesy of the author)