In the early years of the 20th century, many roads were little more than trail rides that were muddy in the rain and dusty the rest of the time. A long trip by automobile required not only time, patience and ingenuity, but tire patching equipment, tools , spare parts and emergency food and fuel. And a growing interest in the road improvements was spurred by farmers who needed the roads to take there food to market. The introduction of Rural Free Delivery by the Post Office, and the burgeoning popularity of the personal automobile. Due to the rise of the automobile in the early 20th century, there became a demand to improve roads to acccommodate the automobiles that needed better roads.
The founding of the American Association and State Highway Officials (AASHO) in December of 1914 gave the states and effective voice for advocating a national road improvment program. President Wilson was an ardent advocate of good roads and Mr. Wilson affixed his signature on the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916. This act authorized $75 million dollars for federal aid improvements. The Senate approved the act and it provided federal money in 50-50 matching funds to the state to build up to 6% of ther roads state wide over the next 10 years.
This segment of road improvements was authorized by the Federal Aid of 1916. The marker you see here was established to detail the Construction Progect that wa assigned to improve this road in 1923. Thank you President Willson for BETTER ROADS.