History of Transportation

Today it's U.S. Route 30. In 1794, when it was completed, the Philadelphia-Lancaster Turnpike was the first turnpike constructed on the nation. Sixty-two miles in length, the turnpike provided a direct route from the nation's capital to its largest inland town.

In building the roadway, the newest techniques developed by Scottish engineer John McAdam were used. A hard, all-weather surface was created by compressing a layer of crushed stone atop a coarse stone base. A considerable improvement over the muddy, rutted paths of the day, the macadam surface ushered in a new era of road building.

Since 1792, 200 turnpike companies have been authorized by the Pennsylvania legislature.


Master Builder

It’s well known that John A. Roebling designed the Brooklyn Bridge. But few people know that the idea to build the famous suspension bridge was also his. Roebling was a builder in the true sense of the word. He not only conceived and designed bridges, he designed the machinery for making steel cable, he manufactured the cable, he trained the workmen, and he supervised the overall construction of his bridges. While he didn’t invent the suspension bridge, Roebling arguably perfected it by forcing the parallel development of both bridge and steel cable.

He completed his first suspension structure, an aqueduct for the Pennsylvania Canal, in 1845. It consisted of seven spans of wood flume, each one hundred and sixty-two feet long, carried by two continuous cables seven inches in diameter.

Roebling died in 1867, during the first year of construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. His son completed the work in 1883.


The "Ordinary Bicycle"

Symbolizing the notion of adventure for all classes of people, the bicycle was considered the first democratic means of transportation. It predated and contributed to the development of the automobile and led to the eventual improvement of roadways.

The "Ordinary Bicycle" was first introduced into the U.S. in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition and caught the attention of the American public almost at once. Bicycling’s popularity rose as men, women and children purchased this and other affordable models as quickly as they could be manufactured. What followed was the Golden Age of the Bicycle.

The high wheeler had a large front wheel 65" in diameter with a small steering wheel to the rear. A sudden stop, or a simple pothole in the road, could catapult a rider over on his head. The hardy clan of riders who mastered these vehicles soon formed the League of American Wheelmen. This organization grew in size and influence at the turn of the century, and supported by new automobile enthusiasts, put considerable pressure on local and state authorities to do something about the truly miserable condition of roads.

This influence was so strong in Pennsylvania that in 1879 an act was passed by the state legislature which provided for the appointment of "Side Path Commissioners" to supervise the "construction and maintenance of side paths along the highways of the townships of this Commonwealth for the use of bicycles..." These cinder paths 3-4 feet wide became much more practical for the general use of the public than the primitive dirt roads of the period.