Getting Out of the Mud: The Alabama Good Roads Movement and Highway Administration, 1898-1928

The Good Roads Movement in Alabama aimed to improve market roads for farmers and highways for automobiles, using the power of the state to achieve its objectives. The movement began promoting farm-to-market roads, then highways that linked cities, and finally those that connected states. Federal matching funds for road construction after 1916 led state and federal governments to supplant the Good Roads Movement, building and administering the highway system that emerged by the late 1920s.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 264 pages
Publication date: 17 May 2022
Publisher: The University of Alabama Press

The Alabama Good Roads Movement, a progressive-era initiative in Alabama, aimed to improve market roads for farmers and highways for automobiles. This movement utilized the power of the state to achieve its objectives, marking a significant shift in the perception of the nation as a whole among Americans. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as national markets emerged, the idea of a unified nation gained prominence. Many Alabamians sought to travel beyond their local communities, but the inadequate state of rutted dirt roads posed significant challenges. The advent of the automobile age further emphasized the need for improved road infrastructure. The Good Roads Movement began by promoting farm-to-market roads, gradually expanding to highways that connected cities and states.

However, the movement faced significant obstacles, including strained resources and political opposition. The federal government's matching funds for road construction after 1916 provided a boost to the Good Roads Movement, leading state and federal governments to take over the administration of the emerging highway system by the late 1920s.

In his book, "Getting Out of the Mud: The Alabama Good Roads Movement and Highway Administration, 1898–1928," Martin T. Olliff delves into the history of the Good Roads Movement and investigates the nature of early twentieth-century progressivism in Alabama. He reveals how middle-class reformers secured political, economic, and social power by fighting against corporate domination and labor recalcitrance, as well as by proposing alternative projects like road improvement and identifying the interests of the rising middle class as being the most important to public interest.

The Alabama Good Roads Movement played a crucial role in shaping the transportation infrastructure of the state and the nation. It demonstrated the power of grassroots activism and the ability of the state to address pressing social and economic issues. The movement's legacy continues to be felt today, as the highway system it built remains a vital part of American transportation.

Weight: 197g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780817360603