Long before the modern convenience of many miles of well maintained asphalt roads, a “road” was a different thing altogether. So far on Highway See we’ve covered a big picture of the history of Tennessee’s road system. With that in mind, now it is time to start diving into the answers to one crucial question. How did these roads come about? On this episode we’re going to step back into time to get a glimpse, through some invigorating historical documents and commentary, of the earliest days of road building and the communities involved across the state of Tennessee.

In this episode host Chris Hill guides us through these fascinating early days of roads:

• George Webb Reveals Some Fascinating Documents
• The First Roads Both Near and Far
• The History of Tennessee’s First Roads: The Avery Trace and The Walton Road
• The Rise of the Macadam Road
• The Beginnings of Tennessee’s Road Administrators
• The Rise of the Automobile
• The Memphis to Bristol Highway
• The State Highway Department and Commission
• George’s Great American Road Trip

Links

• Learn more about this episode at: https://highwaysee.com
• An Act to Cut and Clear a Waggon Road to the Settlements on the Cumberland River in the Mero District: https://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/tfd/id/531/
• MacAdamized Roads: https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Loudon-McAdam
• Tennessee’s First State Road: https://knoxfocus.com/archives/tennessees-first-state-road/
• Tennessee Virtual Archive Memphis to Bristol Highway:https://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15138coll23/id/53/rec/1