August 22, 2013

One Hundred Years Ago Today in Transportation...

In a year during which states across the nation increasingly promoted the creation of better roads, the Good Roads movement took on even more urgency than usual in Arkansas. State officials in Little Rock formally called for the scheduling of a "good roads" day in Arkansas similar to one that had just been held in neighboring Missouri. The call to action on that Friday took place in the wake of Arkansas state highway engineer C.W. Highfall's visit to the Show-Me State, where he observed its high-profile "good roads" day activities. Those activities included having Missouri Governor Eliott W. Major wear overalls and perform roadwork. He had been joined in that endeavor by Kansas Governor George H. Hodges, who likewise donned overalls for the occasion and planned to hold a similar "good roads" day in his own state in the near future. While engaged in that manual labor, both governors were filmed for posterity by what several newspaper accounts characterized as "moving picture machines."

Arkansas officials were determined not to be left behind in the dust when it came to promoting better roads for its own citizens, a reaction that received a good amount of press coverage nationally, as the Centralia Daily Chronicle Examiner in faraway Washington State proclaimed in a headline, "Arkansas to Emulate Missouri's Example." Arkansas' own activities promoting good roads would take place early the following month, with Governor George W. Hays and various other prominent state citizens performing highway work not only with Major and Hodges but also Louisiana Governor Luther H. Hall. Arkansas upped the ante even further by not only having more governors in attendance than Missouri did but also having the good roads activities over the course of two days rather than just one. As at least one newspaper reported at the time, Arkansas was clearly determined to outdo Missouri when it came to promoting good roads.