Old Plank Road - Toll Booth #1 - Washington School Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

Nomex: Hi
As there's been no cache to find for months, I'm temporarily archiving this to keep it from continually showing up in search lists. Just contact us when you have the cache repaired, [RED]and assuming it still meets the guidelines[/RED], we'll be happy to unarchive it.

Don't hesitate to email me via the link on my Profile if you have any questions. [red]Please be sure to include the cache name and GC Code, or better yet, the URL of the cache page.[/red]

Thanks for your cooperation!
Nomex
Northern California Volunteer Cache Reviewer

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Hidden : 10/5/2007
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

This series follows the route of one of Iowa’s most ambitious road building programs–the plank road between Burlington and Mount Pleasant. Several historical markers, placed by various chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution, commemorate the Plank Road route. Successful completers of the series can collect the clues to a special BONUS CACHE in the area.


This is the first in the plank road series. Don't blink, you may miss it. Congratulations to BJCheryl on first to find! Directly across the street from the cache location you will find the first stone. Information from this stone, in addition to a few more, will lead you to a BONUS CACHE in the area.

Toll Booth 1
 Toll Booth 2
Toll Booth 3
Toll Booth 4
Toll Booth 5
Toll Booth 6
Toll Booth 7
Toll Booth 8
BONUS CACHE

Plank Road Route and Landmarks
That portion of the road between Burlington and New London definitely followed the existing road, but that between New London and Mt. Pleasant bears little resemblance to the present route. The old abandoned grade could, as recently as 1957, still be traced through the pastures and fields west of New London. Tolls were assessed for use of the road and pay booths were placed every four miles. Starting with the one in Burlington, there were tollhouses in West Burlington, Middletown, Danville, Jimtown, New London, a spot four miles east of Mt. Pleasant known as the Billy Toll house and one at the east edge of Mt. Pleasant. These stations were manned by guards who accepted the fees. Occasionally they had to leave their stations to pursue a driver who had attempted to bypass the toll house via a cornfield. Several taverns and hotels were built along the road including 8 Mile House at Middletown, Duke Hotel (later called Jimtown Inn) Boaks Hotel in New London, plus Jobes and Grand hotels in Mt. Pleasant.

Rise and Fall of the Plank Road
In the late 1800s, while the idea of a railroad to the east of Burlington, IA was beginning to crystallize, the city faced the immediate problem of her trade with the interior. Lacking waterways west, she depended on inadequate roads which became impassable in wet seasons. Plank roads had originated in Russia and came to the United States by way of Canada. For a time, they seemed a panacea to solve the transportation problem. Introduced in New York in the mid-1840’s, “plank road fever" momentarily swept the nation.

Impressed with the success of plank roads in the East, a group of prominent businessmen began urging the construction of such a road from Burlington to Mount Pleasant, twenty-six miles to the west, the central point from which the surrounding back country sent its goods to Burlington. The Mt. Pleasant to Burlington Plank Road Company was organized and articles of incorporation published on February 8, 1848. Senator James Grimes was president of the company and Lyman Cook was treasurer. In January, 1849, legislative authority was granted to build a graded road 30 feet wide from Burlington to Mt. Pleasant via Middletown and New London. Groundbreaking was held at the outskirts of Burlington on July 4, 1849.

“Good Roads are undoubtedly a great convenience”, wrote the editor of the Fairfield Ledger, “and we congratulate our Mt. Pleasant friends on their good fortune in having so convenient an outlet to the river. We hope at an early day to celebrate the completion of the Fairfield and Mt. Pleasant Plank Road, and then won’t we have a great time! Hurrah for plank roads! They are the very thing.” The road was completed on Christmas Eve, 1851 and a celebration was held in Mt. Pleasant. Shortly thereafter, vehicles crowded the route seven days a week. The spring and the summer of 1852 was probably the heyday of successful operation for the Burlington and Mount Pleasant road. The tide of westward migration was high, and the development of agriculture was producing an ever increasing amount of east bound freight. For a season or two the new road accommodated the traffic promising a happy solution of local transportation problems. Not only was the plank road used for strictly utilitarian purposes, but for social and pleasure parties as well. On Sundays and holidays the wealthy people of Burlington, taking advantage of the excellent conditions of the new roads, traveled out to Mount Pleasant and back in their carriages.
The popularity of the road inspired [sic] Abrahams of Burlington to compose verses to the tune of Oh Susanna:

Oh, Mount Pleasant, you are the place for me, I won’t leave home til dinner time, I’m coming back to tea.

The following schedule of maximum rates was prescribed for travelers on the plank road:
4 horse vehicle per mile – 3 cents
For a 3 horse do, 2 ½ cents
For a one or two-horse do, 2 cents
For a four-ox do 3 cents;
for each additional yoke, 1 ¼ cents;
For a horseman, 1 ½ cents;
For each head of loose cattle horses or mules ½ cent;
For each head of hogs or sheep ¼ cent

The wet autumn and winter of 1852-53 proved to be disastrous for the new highway. The elements had played havoc on the grade and structure. Travel was precarious if not dangerous. To step on a plank at one end might make it fly up at the other, thus impeding progress and occasionally crippling horses and oxen. This caused much criticism of the management and great dissatisfaction on the part of the regular patrons of the highway. Moreover, the fault grew constantly worse. Replacement of warped planks was the only effective remedy, and the company finally gave up trying to keep the track in repair. The novelty of the new road had worn off and the farmers and tradesmen were traveling the non-toll roads near by. Meanwhile, the rumble of the “iron horse” was heard in the east. Sentiment in favor of railroads gradually increased. The B & M railroad was soon extended as far west as the Skunk River, thus eliminating the need for the plank road. The entire project was written off as a failure by 1858. It fell into disuse and eventually was abandoned. The planks were left to rot or were bought by farmers very cheaply for flooring of barns and stables, post for fences and for the first sidewalks in New London. Several Country school houses and farm buildings still standing in eastern Iowa have been built of lumber from the old plank road.


Information gathered for these cache descriptions from the following sources:
Wilson, Ben Hur; Iowa Historian. “Rise and Fall of Plank Road.” Published in the Palimpsest of the Iowa Historical Society.
Shane, George.“Iowa’s Plank Road a Boon to Pioneers.” Des Moines Register. Dec 15, 1957.
Boeck, George A. “A Decade of Transportation Fever in Burlington, Iowa, 1845-1855.” Iowa Journal of History. Vol 56, No. 2, Aprill 1958, pp. 129-52.
“Plank Road and Jimtown are Recalled” Source Unknown.
A special thank you to the Des Moines County Historical Society, Dover Museum, the Henry County Auditor, Henry County Engineer, Truie Clark Johnson, Jennifer Kohorst, Vernelda McCabe, Rich the helicopter builder, Loretta Thomann, Gina Anderson and Caroline Lehman for their assistance in researching this series.

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