This paper was written Spring Semester, 1999, under Michael Gagnon, in the History Department, at the University of Georgia, to fulfill the senior writing requirement for completion of the History major. The views expressed in this paper are strictly the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the instructor, the department, nor the university.

A HISTORY OF ROADS IN THE US WITH ATHENS AS A CASE STUDY

By Becky Brignac

INTRODUCTION

Roads in America date back to the times of the Native Americans, but the roads were not completely modernized until the twentieth century. The technology to pave roads existed, yet there were a few reasons that road innovations did not spread rapidly: money, socioeconomic class struggles, and the railroads.

Money was a major concern when discussing the institution of new roads. There were many arguments regarding who would pay for the new roads. For example, the South would not accept government funding after the Civil War, and many poor southerners saw the road modernization process as an unnecessary tax burden.

Socioeconomic class struggles retarded the road modernization process also. Unlike the lower classes, the upper classes wanted a system of paved roads in the United States. They saw the benefits that these roads had to offer and created an organization that led to the turning point for better roads. Only when the different classes agreed did the Good Roads movement really take off.

The third hindrance to road modernization in America was the railroads. The federal government spent a lot of money on private railroad companies and barely any on public roads in the 1850's. This spawned what is known as the "Dark Ages" of the public road system. When the railroad companies realized the benefits of modern roads, the "Dark Ages" came to an end.

In order to gain a working knowledge of this topic, it is important to trace the history of the road system in the country as a whole, as well as in a specific area for more detail. The case study presented here is the system of roads in Athens, Georgia.

There are records of roads in Athens as early as 1804, just a few years after the site for the city and university was chosen. Because Athens was the largest railroad depot in Northeast Georgia at for many years, many people that lived in the surrounding areas also used the roads into Athens. These routes were especially important to farmers that had to get their goods to market. ¹

J. W. Barnett was the city engineer that took responsibility to try to pave the roads in Athens. He recognized the importance of good roads. Barnett knew that by paving the roads and keeping them well-maintained Athens had the opportunity for huge financial growth.

There were several other benefits that came from the paving of roads in Athens as well as in the rest of the United States. Among these benefits were the creation of a federal commission to research the best methods of road development, and the institution of a rural mail delivery system. Each of these was extremely important to the entire county because they were able to increase commerce, literacy, and communication.

This study ends with the onset of World War I. During the War, very little information was printed on this subject due to the county's involvement in the war effort. The economy was mobilized for war, and there was little money left over for anything else.

A HISTORY OF ATHENS, GEORGIA

In 1801, the Sanatus Academicus, a committee commissioned to choose a site for a center of higher learning in the state of Georgia, chose a site on the north tip of the Oconee River. The new city was to be called Athens and was to be the home of the University of Georgia. ²

The location of the newly chartered city and University was ideal. The aesthetically pleasing site on the Oconee River allowed room for the physical expansion of the city. "Initially the town grew to the north and west while the University grew to the south." Expansion to the east was limited due to the Oconee River. ³

The actual city limits expanded in a one-and-a-half mile radius from the University Chapel on the main campus of the University. The University and the city were to face each other on what is now known as Broad Street (formerly known as Front Street). the growth of the University assisted in the growth of the city. By the 1880's, Athens was the largest city in northeast Georgia and was home to several businesses and manufacturers. This growth provided a need for better roads for travelling and transportation of goods from the country to the city.⁴

As a result of the population and business growth, there became a need for industrial growth also. Railroads, telegraph and telephone services, sewerage and water works, electrification, street planning, railways, and even public schools began to appear. These were things that the people in Athens had much pride, as they became part of this new industrial city.

On October 1-6, 1900, there was a carnival in Athens that celebrated the city and its progress. According to the souvenir book from the carnival, Athens was one of the most desirable places in the world to live by 1900. This city souvenir book describes all of the reasons that people would want to live in Athens. This included natural aspects such as the climate and physical beauty as well as man-made aspects such as the road system and the beautification efforts by the city government. ⁵

The growth of Athens was unsurpassed. At this time, The city government owned the electric company and the water works. This included a comprehensive drainage system that cost up to $35,500, quite expensive for the time period. Not only was there an extensive unit of paved roads by 1900, but there was also a working electric railway system that helped to develop the suburbs.

All of the favorable conditions were bringing more and more families to the city of Athens. There, the families could live and possibly work while their sons attended the University of Georgia.

ROADS

There is evidence of roads in America before Christopher Columbus' arrival to the West. These roads, constructed and used by Native Americans, were very primitive and seldom consisted of anything more than a cleared path. Soon after the arrival of the Spaniards, many more roads were built to accommodate the use of horses which were introduced to the new world by Columbus in 1494 and re-introduced by De Soto in 1538. ⁶

When America was still a British colony, the road system was modeled after that of the British. Under this system, each county court was in charge of building and maintaining a system of roads. Due to the time period, very few roads were modernized.⁷

Roads were paved as early as 1625 in Pemaquid, Bristol Township, Maine. This region was paved so early because it was used as a commercial center for fishing industries. Many foreign boats were able to dock there and trade. This caused good reasons for its quick expansion. This road system led to the very first highway legislation of the British Colonies. In 1632, this legislation stated that highways were to be laid out in important areas of development that were to be chosen by the commissioners and Parish officials. The only problem with this was the terms in the legislation. They were so vague that only one man was designated to decide which areas were important enough to build roads. ⁸

These new roads had many benefits for the townspeople when situated in the correct places. They allowed for the passage of horses as well as some wheeled carriages. However, these roads could not withstand the forces of nature very well. Thus, the British government set a new law in 1657-8 stating that the repair of the roads must be maintained annually by court assigned persons. Again, there was a problem with the terms in the legislation here. This meant that not everyone would have to help with the new road system. ⁹

As trade and commercial products increased, so did the use of the roads for travelling. Therefore, high commerce areas such as Maine, Pennsylvania and Virginia began building turnpikes in the late 1700's. The new rural roads and the older commercial ones were often used to transport troops in addition to trade. These roads were still difficult to travel on due to the fact that they were unpaved and very primitive. ¹⁰

Like most cities in the United States, Athens, Georgia began an organized system of roads soon after the site for the city was commissioned. According to Ernest Hynds, there have been roads leading from Athens since about 1804. Yet, much like the roads of the 1850's, they were very difficult to keep up. Severe weather made them nearly impossible to pass, which caused great inconveniences to the citizens of Athens and the surrounding towns. These roads were so unstable that "a day of rain could turn a rural road into a quagmire for a full week." There was a definite need for road improvements but several arguments over how to achieve the repairs. ¹¹

By the 1820's, the Southern states refused to accept federal funding for building new roads or repairing the pre-existing ones. Southerners thought that the money for new roads meant that they would have higher taxes, which they did not want. Another reason that the Southern states refused federal funding for state roads is because they thought that this would give the federal government too much control, which infringed on their state rights. Southerners were still very bitter over the outcome of the Civil War and adamantly refused government funding. ¹²

Many city governments had to institute some regulations to keep their costs down. In the 1840's, a system was instituted to help protect the roads and sidewalks in Athens. For example, there was a ten-dollar fine instituted for those who were caught damaging the roads or moving the dirt in order to help the county pay for the burden. Also, there were other fines to help the sidewalks and the streets remain in good condition.

Those convicted of driving a vehicle on a sidewalk, or obstructing streets or sidewalks with boxes and bales were subject to a one-dollar fine. Anyone convicted of riding a horse or mule on the sidewalk was fined fifty cents. Everyone was required to walk horses, carts, and other vehicles over the bridges with wheels locked. ¹³

Road repairs were a main concern for many years by this time. A lot of cities instituted laws for road repairs as Athens did, but many more cities around the country established legislation that instituted enormous taxes for the new roads. Instead of paying heavy cash taxes, especially in rural areas where people could not afford them, many states had laws requiring each male citizen to do road work each year. Among these states were all original Confederate States. The only problem with this law was that the people who actually did the road work had no knowledge about roads. They used farm equipment and any available resources to do the repairing. They often did more harms than good. ¹⁴

1850 started what is called the "Dark Ages" of public roads in the US, not even the North was getting much federal funding for roads. During this time, railroads were the primary source of transportation and travel. Therefore, even with railroad tracks totaling 8,500 miles and surfaced roads totaling 71,000 miles, the majority of national public funding was given toward the advancement of the locomotive. The US Government was sinking so much money into private railroads that there was not any money left to go toward public highways. ¹⁵

The lack of federal funding for roads caused many problems throughout the country. First of all, there was no system proposed to connect the states to each other by means of public roads. This created transportation and import/export problems. To complicate matters further, at this point, the jurisdiction of secondary roads was granted to the various counties. This created more problems because the counties did not have the technology or the knowledge of how to correctly build or repair roads. Another problem was with the continuity of the roads throughout the states. Many roads went through counties and then stopped. The roads were not always connected due to differences in opinion in the different county governments. ¹⁶

In addition to roads leading to nowhere and other county bureaucracy, during this time in Athens, another problem plagued the city government. Until 1857, the streets in Athens were nameless. According to A. L. Hull, there was simply no need for names. After all, Athens was a small community in which everyone knew where to find everyone else. With problems arising as the city grew, places were hard to locate using other people's lots or local businesses as reference points. The city council then decided that in 1857, there needed to be a systematic way for naming streets. Warden A. A. Franklin Hill instituted a committee to choose street names. These newly named city boundaries made Athens more accessible to outsiders. Naming the streets was only the first step in the long process to modern roads in Athens, Georgia. ¹⁷

In the 1860's the problems with the roads in Athens were similar to the problems with the roads in the rest of the South. There was still no money for street repair due to the financial situation that resulted from the war. During this time, Deputy Marshal Shirley was "town marshal, street commissioner, city engineer, and chief of police all at once" due to the lack of funds. Therefore, it seems obvious that there was not much advancement in road paving during Shirley's term. To keep the roads even passable, Shirley would take a shovel and the town mule to the ruts in the streets and proceed to fill them in with dirt or any other available material. This was never enough, though, because the ruts were not the only problem with the roads. ¹⁸

The sanitation of the streets at this time was particularly bad. Due to the fact there were no fence laws for stock owners, animals such as cows and sheep herded in the streets at all times. Because there was no sewage system in Athens, people dumped their sewage and trash right onto the streets. As a result of this, the sidewalks were also in horrible condition. With the sewage everywhere, sidewalks and roads were difficult to pass. ¹⁹

In 1872, the dirt was broken to welcome the North Eastern Railroad, which proposed an answer to the waste problem in Athens. Under the supervision of Calder Turner, chief engineer, the project began. The city spent over $100,000 on the North Eastern Railroad. This investment proved worthwhile because it led to the industrial growth of the city. This was so because now trash could be transported out of the city and more goods could be exported from Athens at cheaper rates than the previous years. ²⁰

The building of North Eastern Railroad brought about other benefits associated with the roads in Athens. It resulted in the lengthening of a major street in Athens, College Avenue. The streets were widened and College Avenue was called "one of the prettiest streets in the city." This is relevant because it shows that even though the people in Athens were protesting road building, they still appreciated the results. ²¹

The first road paved in Athens was in 1885, which was early compared to most of the South. Rather than typical paving as we know it, the street (a small section of Broad Street) was laid with Belgian block. There were not any other paved roads for a few years due to the expenses and lack of public support. ²²

While there was a huge movement against the paving of roads by the lower classes, the upper class started the Good Roads movement. The Good Roads Movement was a turnaround point in the construction of public roads for the country. This movement took shape in 1890 when a group of wealthy, organized bicyclists campaigned for better roads. The organization responsible for all of this was called the League of American Wheelmen; the men were known as the fathers of the Good Roads Movement. The new bicycle clubs turning up all around the country caused the need for more passable roads. Until this time, many roads were unfit for any sort of wheeled vehicles. ²³

Due to the political pressure from the wealthy men in The League of American Wheelmen, Congress passed legislation guaranteeing a national highway commission to coerce the federal government into paying for an extensive public road system. In 1892, this bill was passed, but due to the adjournment of Congress, it was not enacted. The next year, however, Representatives Allen C. Durburow of Illinois and Clark Lewis of Mississippi helped to pass the Agriculture Act of 1893 which appropriated money to investigate ideas about the costs of creating and maintaining federal roads. Thus, the Office of Road Inquiry (ORI) was created. ²⁴

The Department of Agriculture began the Office of Road Inquiry in 1893. The ORI was a group funded by the federal government that conducted research on road paving. Although the ORI did not actually pave roads at first, the creation of this group was the turning point in America's quest for better roads in both the city and the country.²⁵

The Office of Road Inquiry, later known as the Office of Public Roads Inquiry (OPRI), did several things over the next few years to increase the national awareness on the importance of road building to help the industrialization process. The ORI published many bulletins on the subject and also worked very hard at compiling a road map of all of the macadam roads in the country. The Good Roads movement was well on its way to changing the national road and highway system.²⁶

The Good Roads movement spread rapidly through the United States. Like every other commercial growth aspect, though, the North was the first to see the benefits. The first brick pavement was laid in Wooster Pike, Ohio. Drains were put in on each side of the road for further protection against damage. But, at $16,000 per mile, this was too expensive in 1893. Luckily, the ORI had more successful ideas.²⁷

In 1893, bicycle groups of this sort became very popular in Athens for the extremely wealthy. The Good Roads movement began to take shape there due to the high number of bicycle accidents. Yet, even though riding on the primitive roads hurt many people, there was not enough support for the movement to gain any momentum.²⁸

By the 1890's, a new law passed in hopes of changing the condition of the roads in Georgia. This new law proposed the paving of modern roads, similar to how we see them today. Unfortunately, many Athenians were in strong opposition to the paving law. The citizens saw the paving of roads as an unnecessary expense that they would have to pay for in heavy taxes. Many Athenians did not realize how much the paving of the roads would actually benefit the citizens.

Once this law was enacted, people in Athens began to see tremendous benefits. They saved tax money by paving the roads rather than just repairing them often. Rural property values were raised by fifty per cent. And now, farmers could transport their goods to the city and buy new farm equipment at cheaper rates.²⁹

People that lived in rural towns in the rest of the country held the same beliefs as the Athenians. At first, they did not want more modern roads because of the proposed tax increase. But, as soon as the rural farmers began to see the benefits that the Good Roads movement had to offer, town meetings turned away from social issues and toward the advancement of better roads. ³⁰

This change of thought resulted in many positive actions by the rural farmers. These farmers banned together to form the National Farmers' Union. They began to see that the benefits of the new roads exceeded the tax increases. This change of opinion helped the Good Roads movement because it now had more support from the growing Populist Party; now the lower class was partaking in the movement.³¹

The people in the cities and the people in the rural areas of the United States stood to gain much advancement through a system proposed by the ORI. In 1896, the first Rural Free Delivery (RFD) route was approved. This mail system allowed for mail carriers to bring mail to the rural residences. By 1897, there were 44 routes in operation. By 1903, over five million people in rural areas had mail delivered to them. In the rural areas surrounding Athens, the modernization process was not a popular one until the instillation of Rural Free Delivery. ³²

Rural Free Delivery helped the Good Roads movement. The League of American Wheelmen pushed for this system because a prerequisite for RFD was that the roads had to be in gravel or macadam. The Postmaster General made a rule that in order for someone to receive Rural Free Delivery, the roads had to be in good shape. And, he would have an engineer survey the area to see if the road was acceptable. Therefore, counties often could not have this without grants from the government.³³

Rural Free Delivery had many other benefits for Americans, especially those who lived in rural areas. One benefit of the expansion of RFD was that communications were increased. This is so because now people in the country had a cheap and easy way to correspond with people in the city. Because people were now apt to write more letters, the literacy rate also increased. This also caused tremendous economic benefits. For example, the value of farm land increased and farmers were now able to compare prices to get supplies for the best price.³⁴

In addition to higher property values and easier transportation of goods, the people living in the outskirts of Athens saw yet another benefit for the continuation of the modern system of road paving throughout the old city and the new suburbs. This was for the instillation of the RFD system in Athens. Congress had appropriated one million dollars for RFD in Clarke County in 1900. This money would go toward the betterment of the roads so that Athens, too, could see the benefits associated with RFD. ³⁵

Many cities in the United States saw more benefits from the ORI than just RFD. The Good Roads movement led to the "Good Roads Train" which, from 1901-1902, "ran from New Orleans to Chicago as road experts gave lectures and built object-lesson roads along the route." These roads were constructed using state-of -the-art machinery made for road construction rather than farm equipment. ³⁶

The communities in which they were built as well as the local railroad companies funded the object-lesson roads. The reason that the railroad companies also helped to pay for this was because of the widespread travel at the time. People were looking for aesthetically pleasing places to travel for vacations or to bring their businesses to. Therefore, the railroad companies would actually help the towns that they ran through to increase their own business. ³⁷

One example of object-lesson roads was sand-clay roads. These roads were often used in the South as an inexpensive means of paving roads. This method entailed mixing clay with sand roads. This mixture would become sticky in the rain and prevent the roads from getting large ruts. The sand-clay method was a solution to the paving problem in the South because it was inexpensive and because the materials were easily accessible. ³⁸

Popularity was growing for the modernization of roads, which helped city officials gain advancement in this area. In Athens, Captain Barnett, the city engineer, was the man to begin the paving process. He was able to convince Athenians of the benefits of rural towns being paved, so paving began in Athens. On November 12, 1897 details on financing the new roads were printed for the townspeople to see. The proposed paving and improving conditions of College Avenue, from Clayton to Washington was as follows:
Grading. . . . . . . . . . . $45.86 1/2
Paving. . . . . . . . . . . $903.35
Curbing. . . . . . . . . . . $263.41 3/4
Brick Guttering. . . . . . . $218.27 1/2

The roads were completely modernized because the plans involved curbing and guttering rather than just paving.³⁹

Captain Barnett gained popularity because the paving mentioned above was completed for a substantial amount less than what he proposed. The reason that the costs of paving were kept low in Athens, compared to the rest of the country, was that the city owned all of the paving companies and materials. Therefore, according to Barnett, the city engineer credited with the paving of Athens; the city was actually saving thousands of dollars by doing this project themselves. In fact, Athens was paying thirty-five cents less per square yard than Atlanta was. Most of the cost, however, would be charged to the local businesses or people that occupied the area of land to be paved. ⁴⁰

Due to the huge success of the road paving, Barnett was able to convince that they needed more paved roads to increase their businesses. In 1897, College Avenue and Clayton Street were next in line for paving. To pave the highly traveled areas, Barnett used more durable methods such as Belgian Block. He used the cheapest methods on residential neighborhoods because there was less traffic. With the growing popularity of paving, the city needed to figure out a faster way to do this. ⁴¹

In 1899, the city government purchased a rock crusher from the Good Roads Machine Company in Pennsylvania. The citizens of Athens saw this new rock crusher as a great advancement for the city. It was one-third bigger than the old rock crusher and could crush up to twenty more cubic yards per day. At this point, the Athens Daily Banner stated that, "everyone and everything connected with the paving of the streets seems to be in fine working order and very few delays will be made from now on. The system of work is well established." ⁴²

By 1900, Athenians began to realize the benefits of paving the city roads. By February, there were plans to pave parts of Prince Avenue, Clayton Street, and College Avenue, the main borders of the city. Prince was to be paved in macadam, College in Belgian Block, and Clayton in bricks. By February 1900, paving estimates had been viewed for Prince Avenue from Pulaski to the city limits. The only problem with this was that the city would not pay for the complete paving. The citizens owning the property along the new paving cite had to pay one-fourth of the cost. ⁴³

As construction was underway on the new roads, the attitude of the Athenians changed. Instead of viewing the road paving as a step to modernity, it turned into a series of social events. All of the local newspapers focused more on who was there and what they were wearing rather than the details of the actual paving. On April 4, 1900, the Athens Daily Banner reported on the scene of the paving of Oconee Street. It was called a "brilliant spectacle," and was written about as if it were the social event of the season. ⁴⁴

The "Dark Ages" were over. With the help of the Massachusetts Highway Commission, the ORI worked on a new form of macadam roads in 1907. This innovation was a huge success for the technology of road building. This new way of paving had several benefits. Besides being substantially cheaper, the new paving method also reduced the amount of dust in the air from the old roads. This created more sanitary conditions, which helped in general health improvements, especially in large cities. Another good thing about the macadam roads was that the repair rate was much lower than on the dirt roads. This is because there was now no problem with water damage. ⁴⁵

Other cities throughout the country began paving their roads in a different manner than Athens. The ORI was the department that helped the individual states pave their roads in the most efficient manner. Starting in 1908, the head of the OPR, Page, sent his engineers to as many state counties as he could in order to teach them how to pave the roads in the most efficient manner. This was so productive that by 1918, Page had helped 28 states to modernize their road paving.⁴⁶

Around 1914, many newspapers stopped reporting on the conditions of the roads because there was so much to cover regarding World War I. Therefore, the only thing published on this subject for the next few years were articles relating to the various city governments' misuse of money.

In 1914, there were scandals regarding the city budget in Athens. This posed a problem because citizens of Athens were angry with the county officials for not using the bond money allotted for road paving and for education. In their defense, some city officials published an article of clarification. ⁴⁷ Here, it was stated that all money under the current administration was accounted for with a notarized affidavit from the city treasurer. There still remained some missing money, however. The current officials said that they could not comment in the matter because that money was spent the year before, under different city officials. ⁴⁸

Other problems that arose during the early twentieth century were those dealing with speed limits and auto collisions. In particular, there was the well-known problem with the mixing of autos and carriages. Among these problems were the reaction of the horses, automobiles frightened them. There had also been several reports of accidents and speeding problems. During this time, many traffic and speed laws were written in state governments. ⁴⁹

With the automobile, the suburbs were able to expand even more. This was the scenario of every city in the country during the 1920's. A new culture arose and people used the suburbs to get away from problems contingent with cities. ⁵⁰
Street Railroad

It is important to consider the role of the street railway when discussing the roads in any city or town. From 1870-1900, the street railroads, or the trolleys were the reasons that suburbs existed. Due to the white flight from the downtown areas into the newly built suburbs, people needed a more convenient way to travel to work (or into town). This need caused the sprouting up of street railroad companies, which caused a huge growth in the number of suburbs in the United States.⁵¹

These cars were first pulled by horses, and later made into electric cars. They often began by transporting goods to railroad stations and later became cultural icons as we see them today in places like New Orleans and San Francisco.⁵²

In Athens in 1870, according to Hull, W. P. Dearing built and managed the Athens Street Railroad. These flat cars pulled by mules were used to transport freight for the manufacturers in order that the materials could be brought to merchants. The owner of this company, Gann and Reeves made a fortune by charging high prices to the merchants who had no other way to move their goods due to the lack of good roads.⁵³

The old street railway previously mentioned never carried people. In 1885, a man from Texas, Mr. Snodgrass, built street railroads in cities all over the country that did not have them. The city officials in Athens agreed to institution of this system, and the Classic City Railway Company was created. In order to pay for this, Snodgrass sold bonds. These bonds were quickly purchased, and the construction began. ⁵⁴

This system was not very successful due to the horrible condition of the roads. In the rain, for example, the ruts would be so large that the mule driven cars could not run without the mules getting stuck in the muck. In 1889, the arrivals of he new cars by the Klein and Martin Company were announced. The first car, to be called the Lucy Cobb, was unlike anything many Athenians had ever seen before. The side of the car would have the road names painted on the side, and there would be a turntable at each end to allow the car to run both ways on the track. A party was also planned for the arrival of the new car. ⁵⁵

The new electric cars that arrived in Athens in 1881 had just a few problems. They were too heavy for the horses to pull. Many people were quite distraught because they thought that this would interfere with the commencement ceremony of the Lucy Cobb School. The Klein and Martin Company assured that the cars would be fixed by the first of June, and that there would be no problems. ⁵⁶

Snodgrass realized that his profits were considerably less than he would have liked due to the rebuilding of these cars. He sold the company to E. G. Harris and the line was converted to an electric line. After many problems with this line, the line was sold again to W. S. Holman, A. P. Dearing, W. T. Bryan, and J. Y. Carithers. An electric plant at Mitchell Bridge, which also assisted in lighting the city and other important industrial aspects, powered the electric rail. The Athens Electric Railway was a success. ⁵⁷

The institution of the electric rail led to the formation of suburbs in Athens just as in other cities and towns throughout the country. This way, people could live on less expensive property and still be able to get to the city for work. The area around Boulevard and Barber streets is the first suburb of Athens. Later, in 1888, Robert L. Bloomfield began to put together a new suburb for the middle class by Milledge Avenue. This area was very popular due to its aesthetics from the landscape and the picturesque trolley. ⁵⁸

In the late 1880's the Street Railway Company was doing even more to help the beautification and betterment of Athens. When no one would bid to help build the new City Park, the Street Railway Company agreed to do so. Manager of the company, Mr. Voss, agreed to put up $30,000 to build a new park for the city of Athens. This caused the upper and middle classes of Athens to "overlook" any wrongdoing of the Street Rail Company. ⁵⁹

The Street Rail Company did many things to help the beautification of Athens; it seems that there were selfish reasons behind these actions, though. The electric railways were not always the best mode of transportation. The Athens Banner Herald tells of an incident in 1894 when an electric rail car caught on fire. Luckily, Athens had a fire department, and not too much damage was done. In some instances, the electric rail caused fatal accidents to people and animals.⁶⁰

The evolution of the electric rail in Athens resembled the evolution of the electric rail in many other cities. In New Orleans, for example, many types of cars were experimented with before the final decision to make them electric. Yet unlike the city of New Orleans, the trolley did not last in Athens. With the advent of the automobile, the roads in Athens were modernized, and it was cheaper to use cars.

CONCLUSION

Building and repairing roads has been a very important step in the modernization and industrialization of the United States. This process eventually helped poor rural farmers more than wealthy citydwellers. The process of achieving the final outcome was very long and difficult.

Many issues retarded the road modernization process. People in the South wanted better roads but would not accept government funding and they could not afford it themselves. The poor people did not want to pay for the roads, yet the wealthy had more influence in the government. Later, the government would not fund public roads because they were spending all of their money on railroads.

Athens seemed to follow the modernization process very well at first. Towards the latter part of the century, though, Athens began lagging behind larger cities such as Atlanta. Yet, people in Athens were always proud of their city and her accomplishments. In an article published in 1893 in response to an angry Athenian over Atlanta becoming more industrialized, a man wrote, "So, if our industries do not immediately materialize, let us hope that the day is not far distant when Athens will rise 'and shake her mighty locks' and demonstrate to all mankind the truth that what Atlanta has done on one red hill in Georgia, Athens can do on another." ⁶¹

Endnotes

1. This is discussed in much detail throughout the paper.
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2.Ernest C. Hynds, Antebellum Athens and Clarke County Georgia (Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 1974) 35-37.
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3.Augustus Longstreet Hull, Annals of Athens, Georgia 1801-1901 (Athens, Ga by the author, 1906; reprint, Danielsville, Georgia: Heritage Papers, 1978) 1-2. Frances Taliaferro Thomas, A Portrait of Historic Athens and Clarke County (Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 1992), 10.
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4.David Charles Cullison, Jr., "J. W. Barnett, The Influence of the Architect and City Engineer on the Physical Development of Athens, Georgia 1889-1930" (University of Georgia, Historic Preservation Masters Thesis, 1995), 12.
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5. ibid., 14-16.
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6. "Handbook of Athens and Souvenir of the Carnival (October 1-6, 1900)"
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7. U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, "America's Highway" ( Washington, D.C. , 1976) 3-10.
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8. American Association of State Highway Officials, "Public Roads of the Past" ( Washington, D. C., 1952) 15-18.
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9. ibid., 21-22.
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10. ibid., 22-23.
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11.U.S. Dep. Of Trans., 8-25.; Howard Lawrence Preston, Dirt Roads to Dixie (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1991), 12.
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