The History of Roads in Michigan

"The History of Roads in Michigan," by Dorothy G. Pohl, former Managing Director for the Ionia County Road Commission (now the Ionia Co Roads Dept) and Norman E. Brown, retired MDOT Act 51 Administrator, was presented at the Association of Southern Michigan Road Commissions on December 2, 1997. The authors gave their permission to reproduce the article on this website. Jump to any of the five pages the article has been divided into by clicking the links below. Helpful navigation links are also included on the top and bottom of each of the five pages as well. Below the Contents on this page are links to Other Michigan Highway History Resources on this website.

Contents

• PAGE 1
  • Indian Trails
  • Farm-to-Market Routes–1805
  • Military Roads 1816
  • Early State-Sponsored Transporation Improvements–1835
  • Township Road Building Begins–1817
  • Private Turnpike Companies–1844
• PAGE 2
• Township Road Districts and Road Taxes
• Swamp Land Roads–1859
• Late 19th Century and Early 20th Century Reforms
• Impact of Bicyles
• PAGE 3
• State Highway Department Created–1905
• State Trunkline Act–1913
• Covert Road Law and Weight Taxes–1915
• Federal-Aid Road Act–1916
• Snow Removal Begins–1918
• Gasoline Taxes–1925
• PAGE 4
• McNitt Act–1931 (plus Dykstra Act)
• Horton Act–1932
• PAGE 5
• The 1940s
• Act 51 of 1951
• Bibliography

Other Michigan Highway History Resources

• Historical Overview page
• Development of Highway Systems in the Nineteenth Century and Development of Highway Legislation in the Twentieth Century – an excerpt from “Supplement to Transportation in Michigan–2000 A.D.: A Guide for Study Policy–Procedure,” prepared for John C. Mackie, State Highway Commissioner, December 1962
• Every Trunkline Route Listing also contains a complete history of each iteration of that route since 1913.

 

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The History of Roads in Michigan: Contents | Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5.