March 2019 • Nebraskaland 45
roads. It took decades of promotion to convince enough voters
and lawmakers that this was a good idea. Nobody wanted
their taxes to go up. Most roads long remained unimproved
as a result.
The bicycle craze faded, but automobiles grew more
popular year by year. In 1916, the number of cars registered in
Nebraska topped 100,000. By then, local groups were working
with multi-state organizations to promote "automobile
trails" – the beginnings of the modern highway system. Roads
such as the Lincoln Highway (more-or-less the future U.S.
Highway 30), the Detroit-Lincoln-Denver or D-L-D Highway
(U.S. 6), the Meridian Road (U.S. 81), and dozens of others
were cobbled together from existing local routes, marked by
painting telephone poles, and promoted
through maps and guidebooks. Here's
how the Automobile Blue Book described
a section of the Meridian Road between
Norfolk and Pierce in 1912:
"Turn left from business center and at the
fork ... bear left, following the angling road
straight out of city through edge of Hadar ...
bearing right with road ... Jog left and take fi rst
right. Turn left 1 mile, then right ½ mile. Turn
left 1 mile into Pierce."
Later, concrete markers were added to
guide adventurous motorists. Sharp-eyed
travelers can still spot some of these markers
along backroads around the state.
The federal system of numbered highways
was adopted in 1925, transforming the old
automobile trails into U.S. highways. That year, Nebraska
adopted a gasoline tax to raise money for roads. Auto travel
gradually became less of an adventure, but faster and more
reliable.
Adapted from "The Good Roads Movement in Nebraska"
by L. Robert Puschendorf, from the Winter 2015 issue of
Nebraska History. Visit History Nebraska's website at
history.nebraska.gov.
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Polk County was known for its good roads, which were overseen by a county highway commissioner and this road crew.
History Nebraska RG2407-5-3