American Roads Started as Private Businesses Even the U.S. Department of Transportation has to admit, the first major U.S. roadways were not built by the government: The privately built Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Road was the first important turnpike and the first long-distance broken-stone and gravel surface built in America according to formal plans and specifications. The road’s construction marked the beginning of organized road improvement after the long period of economic confusion following the American Revolution. The road opened the territory northwest of the Ohio River and provided cheap transportation between the coast cities and the new Republic’s “bread basket” … Continue reading Before Public Roads