Roads and Bridges

AS a part of the transportation system of the country, the humble rural road has seldom been given its due. ¹ In 1815 a great network of these roads covered the settled portion of the country. Unbelievably poor by mid-twentieth century standards, they were hardly more than broad paths through the forest. In wet places they presented a line of ruts with frequent mud holes, and, where dry, a powdered surface of deep dust. The largest stones and stumps were removed only so far as was absolutely necessary to permit passage. ² An early act of the Ohio legislature provided that stumps left in the road should not be more than a foot high. ³ In the most swampy places where mud rendered passage impossible, logs were laid side by side across the road to form what were known as corduroy roads. Across the rivers a few wooden bridges had been built, but for the most part fords or ferries were the only recourse.