Plank Road (Hy. A) Traditional Cache

Plank Road --- Wonder why?

RACINE COUNTY — If you came to the growing City of Racine during the mid 1800s or early 1900s and it wasn’t by train or by boat, you may have spent at least a little bit of your time on a toll road. Owned and operated mostly by private companies, these “plank roads” were made of wood and travelers were required to pay a toll to gatekeepers who were housed at various intervals.

P -  Pleasant way to travel to Burlington

According to a history of Racine County published in 1916, the toll was about 2 cents a mile for a wagon and team of horses. Anyone traveling for a religious meeting or funeral did not have to pay, however.

Rather than disappearing, these roads transformed to become the thoroughfares drivers use to traverse the city today: the Racine and Rock River Plank Road became Washington Avenue; the Racine and Wilmot Plank Road became Taylor Avenue; and the Racine and Raymond Plank Road became State Street and Northwestern Avenue.