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The E. S. C. Quarterly VOLUME 11, NO. 3-4 SUMMERSALU 1953 Vorth Carolina Was A Pioneer in Railroad Building; Is A National Leader in Trucking; Excellent Bus and Air Lines jMMflflil ^^^^^^^^^^^R^^^^^W ££P f ? < III **-*'*• -'^ lbs --t^^.t^^^'^: ' : —Most of photos by N. C. Dept. of Archives and History Methods of travel and transportation of yesteryear in North Carolina (Descriptive lines Page 66) PUBLISHED BY Employment Security Commission of North Carolina RALEIGH. N. C. PAGE 66 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY Summer-fall, 195; Ther E. S* C. Quarterly ' , ' '.Formerly The U.v\C\ Quarterly) Volume -lLfN urr.be os 3'-4 Summer-Fall, 1953 . ' - ' Issued at Raleigh, N. C. by the EMPLOYMENT SECURITY COMMISSION OF NORTH CAROLINA Commissioners: Mrs. Quentin Gregory, Halifax; Dr. Harry D. Wolf, Chapel Hill; R. Dave Hall, Belmont; W. Benton Pipkin, Reidsville; C. A. Fink, Spencer; Crayon C. Efird, Albemarle. State Advisory Council: Public representatives: James A. Brid-ger, Bladenboro; James A. Gray, Robersonville; W. B. Hor-ton, Yanceyville; Mrs. R. C. Lewellyn, Dobson, and Dr. J. W. Seabrook, Fayetteville; Employer representatives: A. L. Tait, Lincolnton, and W. A. Egerton, Enka; Employee repre-sentatives: Melvin Ward, Spencer, AFL, and H. D. Lisk, Charlotte, CIO. HENRY E. KENDALL Chairman R. FULLER MARTIN Director Unemployment Insurance Division ERNEST C. McCRACKEN Director North Carolina State Employment Service Division M. R. DUNNAGAN Editor Public Information Officer Sent free upon request to responsible individuals, agencies, organizations and libraries. Address: E. S. C. Informational Service, P. 0. Box 589, Raleigh, N. C. CONTENTS Page North Carolina Transportation 66 Kendall Again Chairman ; Gregory, Wolf Renamed ; Efird New 67 'Tweetsie', in Song and Story, at Boone, Now in Virginia 68 Transport Workers Double in Decade ; Bulk in Ten Counties 69 By Mrs. Grace Z. Moen Early Trails, Trading Baths; State Breaks Traffic Limits 70 Blank Roads Hailed as 'Farmer Railroads'; Lasted a Decade 72 N. C. Early Leader in Railroad Building ; Many Short Lines 73 State Develops Modern 67,000 Mile Toll-Free Road System 75 By Margaret Burk Intracoastal Waterway Pleasure Craft, Freight Boat Artery 78 Blue Ridge Parkway, One of World's Remarkable Scenicways 80 By R. Getty Browning Wilmington, Morehead Ports Improved to Increase Shipping 81 Public Transportation Systems Regulated by State 62 Years 83 By Fred C. Hunter Motor Carriers Develop Rapidly Into Vital State Industry 84 By Jeff B. Wilson Officers and Directors, N. C. Motor Carriers Association 85 McLean Becomes Largest Trucking Firm in Southeast States 87 By George E. Spaulding Akers Motor Lines Becomes State's Second Largest Carrier 89 Associated Transport Absorbed N. C. Units, Nation's Largest 90 Trucking Firms: Central Motor Lines, Pilot Freight Carriers, Great South-ern, Overnite Transportation, Miller Motor Express, Thurston Motor Lines, Johnson Motor Lines, Fredrickson Motor Express, Hennis Freight Lines, Turner Transfer, Youngblood Truck Lines, Kilgo Motor Freight, Lewis & Holmes Motor Freight, Harris Express, S. & W. Motor Lines, New Dixie Lines, W. R. Candler Transfer, Jocie Motor Lines, Colonial Motor Freight, Dickson Transfer, C. S. Henry Transfer, Neal Hawkins Transfer, Blue Ridge Trucking, D. & L. Motor Lines, Edmae Trucking; Associated Petroleum Carriers, Rojster Transport, Maybelle Transport, Quality Oil Transport, Petroleum Transportation, Waccamaw Oil Transport, H. W. Miller Trucking, Barnes Truck Line, North State Motor Lines 92-109 Newspapers, Picture Films, Dated Items Need Quick Delivery 109 Observer Transportation Co., Citizens Express, Carolina Delivery Service Utilities Commission Regulates 455 Truck Common Carriers Ill Piedmont, Only N. C. Airline, 'Best Little Carrier' in Nation 112 N. C, Base of First Flight, Becoming Air-Minded ...113 Luxury Busses Carry Passengers Locally and Nation-Wide 115 Carolina Coach, Atlantic Greyhound, Queen City Coach, Smoky Moun-tain Stages, Seashore Transportation, Southern Coach, Smoky Moun-tain Tours—City Busses State Licenses, Regulates 130 Bassenger Motor Bus Lines 123 Plantation Pipe Line Brings Petroleum Products to State ....124 Transcontinental Pipes Natural Gas Distributed in State ..126 Public Service Co. of N. C. Several 'Firsts' and Little Known Facts About Railroads 128 By James M. White (N. C. Railroad Association) Four N. C. Counties Never Had Rail Lines 129 Southern Largest Railroad Operating in North Carolina 130 (Carolina & Northwestern) Col. A. B. Andrews—N. C. Railroad Classifications 133 Atlantic Coast Line Operates Large Rail System from N. C 134 President Davis, Old Bell, Rockingham Railroad, Va. and Carolina Southern, East Carolina Railroad, Black Mountain Bailroad. Clinch-field Railroad Seaboard Air Line's System Started with Short N. C. Lines 138 By C. E. Bell Norfolk Southern Has 90% of Operations in North Carolina 140 Norfolk and Western Operates Three Lines into N. Carolina ... ...142 Winston -Salem Southbound Many Independent Short Line Railroads in North Carolina 144 Atlantic & East Carolina, Piedmont & Northern, Durham & Southern, High Point, Thomasville & Denton, Aberdeen & Rocklish, Alexander NORTH CAROLINA TRANSPORTATION Transportation in North Carolina was difficulj during the settlement and colonization period an! on up past the turn of the century- Banks along th{ coast interfered with shipping and shallow sound hindered any but small boats. Rivers and othe streams had to be forded, ferried or bridged. Moun tains in the west could be scaled only at gaps. North Carolina passed through the trail and trad ing path periods and the period of poorly improve) and maintained roads, noted for their ruts and roots) Plank roads were hailed as the "farmers' railroads'" but their span of existence was brief. This Stat went into the lead in construction of railroads dur ing the quarter of a century before the War Betweei the States, and again marched forward during th last quarter of the last century. During the past 3i years the State has again forged forward in the con struction of a State-wide, county-wide system of all weather highways. In the past 25 years North Carolina has developet bus and truck systems which are second to none ii the country, extending to every county in the Stat and reaching areas not formerly reached and servec by railroads. Shipping by water is being expande( through development of modern port facilities at tw< coastal cities. One important air transportatioi company has been expanding its services from thi; to other states, in addition to numbers of other com panies that have established routes in North Caro lina. Two large pipe lines, one for petroleum prod ucts, the other for natural gas, have been built int< or through the State. North Carolina has an estimated 46,000 individ uals engaged in transportation industries, 20,00(! of them covered by the Employment Security Law, approximately 18,000 subject to the Railroad Retirement Board, with probably 8,000 not covereq by either agency. Salaries and wages of these workj ers probably reach $135,000,000 a year. The 20,00( workers covered by the Employment Security Lav drew wages and salaries of $65,826,000 and consti tuted 2.8 percent of the covered workers in the Stat< in 1952. Transportation is the life line of Nortl Carolina industry and an important and growing in dustry within itself. FRONT PAGE PICTURES First row, I. to r.—The Ad-Vance, blockade runner during the War Betweei the States, named for Governor Vance's wife; The Raleigh, one of the firs locomotives to operate on the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, completed in 1840 Second row, I. to r.—Covered wagons on wagon lot around turn of century on what is now Pack Square, looking down Patton Avenue, Asheville; Th first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, Orville Wright at controls and Wilbu Wright alongside; Rubber-tired buggy of some 50 years ago, occupant late became Mrs. R. Getty Browning, wife of chief locating engineer, N. C. High way Department. Third row, I. to r.—"Tobacco Road", yoke of oxen pulling tobacco hogs head, provided by H. W. Miller Trucking Co. for American Tobacco Co., usei in Durham Centennial parade; Solid rubber tired 1920 Auto-Car, two-toi truck, owned by A. H. Candler Transfer Co., Asheville. Fourth row, I. to r.—Coach of 50-150 years ago with two white horses used in Raleigh parade in 1940; A ferry boat, typical of hundreds used ove streams, the current providing the power; Car of government agent stuck ii mud some 40 years ago in Johnston County. (Airplane, locomotive, ship, wagon lot, ferry, coach and stuck car photo N. C. Dept. of Archives and History). Railroad, Laurinbirrg & Southern, Atlantic <fc Western, Carolina South-ern, Clirt'side Railroad, Cape Fear Railways, Warrenton Rail Road, Tallrrlah Falls Railway, Beaufort & Morehead, Graham County Railroad Many N. C. Railroads Abandoned in Past Half Centrrry 15: First 'Diesel', Lawndale-Shelby, Carthage, Locomotive Left Highlights of Winston-Salem's Industry and Employment 1511 By Mrs. E. DeKay Johnson N. C. Licensed Over 11-3 Million Motor Vehicles in 1953 15<| Raleigh-Norfolk Rail Traffic Opened in 1853 15; Railroad Notes and Folks Summer-fall, 1 953 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 67 Kendall Again Chairman; Gregory, Wolf Renamed; Efird New Henry E. Kendall was reappointed to another four-year term as chairman of the Employment Se-curity Commission by Governor William B. Umstead last July after serving seven years in this position, the longest period of any chairman since the Com-mission was formed near the end of 1936. At the same time Crayon C. Efird, Albemarle, was appoint-ed a member of the Commission, succeeding Bruce E. Davis, Charlotte, and Mrs. Quentin Gregory, Hali-fax, and Dr. Harry D. Wolf, Chapel Hill, were re-appointed to four-year terms. Chairman Kendall, Mrs. Gregory, Dr. Wolf and Mr. Efird were administered the oath of office by Associate Justice Jeff D. Johnson in the Governor's Office July 14. Since Governor Umstead could not attend this swearing-in ceremony, the members of the Commis-sion met with him in his office during their meeting in Raleigh September 10, 1953. He extended greet-ings and talked with them briefly. R. Dave Hall, Belmont; Charles A. Fink, Spencer, and W. Benton Pipkin, Reidsville, are holdover members with two more years to serve. Chairman Kendall, at the 17th annual convention held September 28-October 1, 1953, at Wentworth-by- the-Sea, New Castle, New Hampshire, was elected president of the Interstate Conference of Employ-ment Security Agencies for the ensuing year. This is an organization of the Employment Security Agen-cies of the 48 states and four other units. During the previous year he had served as chairman of the Legislative Committee and two years before that he had been Regional Vice-President of Region IV, em-bracing North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. At its annual meeting in Wilmington in August the State Federation of Labor elected Mr. Fink to his 17th term as president of the organization. In July Mrs. Gregory was selected as 1953 "North Carolina Mother of the Year" by the National Golden Rule Foundation. Biographical sketches of Chairman Kendall, Mrs. Gregory, Mr. Hali, Mr. Fink and Mr. Pipkin have been carried in this publication in recent years. Sketches are now presented on Mr. Efird, the new member, and Dr. Wolf, reappointed, about whom a sketch ap-peared twelve years ago. ciate professor of Economics in 1928, continuing as such until 1936 when he became a full professor of Economics, the position he still holds. Since 1946 he has been director of the Institute of Industrial Relations in Chapel Hill. In 1935 he was regional labor advisor of WPA and in 1943 he was associate member of the National War Labor Board, serving as public member of the Fouth Regional War Labor Board, 1943-45. During World War I, Dr. Wolf saw overseas service as private in the United States Ma-rines, 1917-1919. When a special Unemployment Compensation com-mittee was provided by legislative action and ap-pointed by Governor Ehringhaus in 1934, Dr. Wolf, a member, was made executive secretary of this com-mittee, made the study and drafted the report made to the governor as the result of extensive studies conducted. In 1941 he was appointed a member of the Employment Security Commission by Governor Broughton and has been reappointed by each suc-ce i m> g< vernor to 4-year terms on the Commission. Dr. Wolf is a member of the American Economics Association, the American Academy of Arbitrators, the Industrial Relations Research Association and the American Association of University Professors. He is also a member of three professional and schol-astic societies, Pi Kappa Delta, Kappa Delta Pi and Delta Sigma Pi. In addition to serving as associate editor of the Southern Economics Journal since 1939, Dr. Wolf has written several important treatises on economics and labor conditions, including the Rail-road Labor Board, 1927, and Collective Bargaining on the Railroads in How Collective Bargaining Members of Employment Security Commission of North Caro-lina. Front row, left to right. Crayon C. Efird. Albemarle, new member; Mrs. Quentin Gregory, Halifax; Colonel Henry E. Kendall, Raleigh, Chairman; Second row, I. to r., W. Benton Pipkin, Reidsville; Dr. Harry D. Wolf, Chapel Hill; C. A. Fink, Spencer; R. Dave Hall, Belmont. DR. HARRY D. WOLF Dr. Harry D. Wolf, Chapel Hill, was born in Sheldon, Illinois, March 14, 1895. He received his B.S. degree at Kansas City State Teachers' College in 1922 ; his M.A. degree at the University of Chicago in 1923, and his Ph.D. degres from the University -of Chicago in 1926. He was associate professor of Social Science at Illinois College, Jacksonville, 111., in 1923-24, and professor of Sac al Science at the same institution in 1926- 28. Dr. Wolf joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina as asso- PAGE 68 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY Summer-fall, 195; Works, Twentieth Century Fund, 1942. In 1926 Dr. Wolf married Miss Edna Gilmore. They have two sons, William Thomas and Charles Parker Wolf. He is a Presbyterian. CRAYON C. EFIRD Crayon C. Efird, Albemarle, was born in Stanly County, September 28, 1904, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry P. Efird. He graduated from the Albemarle High School and attended the University of North Carolina for two years. He then joined his father in the firm of H. P. Efird Co., Inc., dealer in Inter-national Harvester farm equipment. He is now treasurer of this organization. In 1933 Mr. Efird represented the 19th Senatorial District in the N. C. General Assembly and repre-sented Stanly County in the House of Representa-tives in 1939. For several years Mr. Efird was chairman of the Stanly County Democratic Execu-tive Committee. He served as a member of the N. C. National Guard in 1926-27. During Governor Broughton's administration he served as assistant director of the North Carolina Division of Purchase and Contract, his term extending from September 1, 1941, to February 1, 1946. Mr. Efird is a member of the First Presbvterian Church in Albemarle and is president of the Jim Harris Bible Class of this church. He is a Scottish Rite Mason and a former president of the Stanly County Shrine Club. In addition to being treasurer of H. P. Efird Co., he has extensive farm interests and is president of the Albemarle Oil Co., president of the Power City Bus Line and president of Lake View, Inc., real estate holding company. In 1940 Mr. Efird married Miss Annabel Vester of Soring Hope. They have two children, Crayon C. Efird, Jr., 11, and Sally Efird, 6. TWEETSIE', HERALDED !N SONG AND_ STORY AT BOONE, NOW IN VIRGINIA "Tweetsie" is the pet name applied to several small wood-burning engines, with or without the trains they pulled ope-rating for many years on the East Tennesee and Western North Carolina Railroad, a narrow gaua;e railroad 6G miles long between Boone, N. C, and Johnson City, Tenn. "Tweetsie" has been applied to several of these locomotives running in numbers from one to fourteen (but minus 13), but number eleven is probably the most famous in the group since this "Tweetsie" is now pulling passengers on a one mile scenic and fun railroad near Harrisonburg, Va., week ends and holi-days. The first unit of the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad was built from Johnson City. Tennessee, to Cranberry in Avery County, two or three miles across the North Carolina line, a distance of 34 miles, around 1884. Iron mines were being developed at Cranberry and a smelter was established there to extract the iron and produce pig iron. Later the smelter was moved to Johnson City and the ore hauled there from the mine. Later the road was extended to Pineola, a distance of 12 miles, where the Whiting Lumber Co. operated a sawmill. Still later, around 1918, a branch road, 19 miles long, was built to Shull's Mill, also a lumber plant. In 1921 Watauga County issued $27,000 in bonds to extend the road five miles further northward to Boone. In the early days the road from Cranberry to Boone was operated as the Linville River Railway Co. Floods in 1940 damaged the roadbed and caused abandon-ment of the line from Boone to Cranberry, a distance of 34 miles. Around that time passenger service was abandoned on the remainder of the line from Cranberry to Johnson City. During World War I iron ore again became important and the Cranberry Mills were again in operation. About three years ago the few miles in North Carolina and part of the main line in Tennessee were abandoned. Several years ago "Tweetsie" No. 14 was sold to an Alaskan lumber firm and later reports were that it had been destroyed in a forest fire. "Tweetsie" number 11 was sold to a Vir- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many sources have been tapped for information for thi issue on transportation. Oral, written and printed mate rials have been assembled in an effort to present a fairl; complete picture of the development of transportation methods in North Carolina. Thanks are extended to all wh< contributed to the information herein enclosed. Specia thanks are extended to some of these sources. Clarence H. Noah, Parks M. Low, railroads; M. Broadu Glover, trucks; Eugene A. Hughes, Jr., busses, and V. L Choate, accounting, of the N. C. Utilities Commission. John H. Andrews, former traffic schedule expert of tin Southern Railway and son of Col. A. B. Andrews. L. Polk Denmark, N. C. Highway Dept., railroad map. Articles on railroads and plank roads in a special issue o the Sanford Herald, 1953. Article on plank roads by Robert B. Starling in N. C. His torical Review, Vol. XVI. Chester S. Davis, special articles in Winston-Salem Jour nal and Sentinel. Annual reports of N. C. Utilities (Corporation, Railroad] Commission. "The Story of Durham," by Dr. W. K. Boyd. Duke Uni versity Press, 1925. "A State Movement in Railroad Development" by Dri Cecil Kenneth BroAvn, UNO Press, 1928. "Ante-Bellum North Carolina" bv Guion Griffis Johnson UNC Press, 1937. "N. C. Roads and Their Builders" by Capus Waynick, pub lished by Superior Stone Co., Raleigh; Edwards and Brough ton, printers. 1952. ginian who secured the mile of track and laid it about five miles east of Harrisonburg, Va., at Penn Laird. This locomo tive is now pulling three or four coaches on a scenic and fur run a mile long. The round trip is 50<? and reports are thai the railroad with the imposing name, The Shenandoah Centra Railroad, is earning money and furnishing fun in the Shenan doah Valley. A ticket on the road is almost as long as the line (actually 17 inches long) and contains a dozen notices such as "Confederate veterans ride free"; "Carpetbaggers paj double fare"; "Political arguments not permitted in cars; Bryan and McKinley are both good men" and "No elephants checked as baggage; this is no trunk line". The track is three feet wide and the "Tweetsie" has ten wheels, the driver's about three feet high. "Tweetsie" is possibly the best advertised locomotive in the country. In the January issue of "Trains—A Popular Maga-zine of Railroading", "Tweetsie's" picture appears on the front and inside is a feature story on "Tweetsie's Last Trip", filling three pages and with six pictures of "Tweetsie" coming from a tunnel, crossing a trestle, puffing at Elk Park and in other poses. Thousands of visitors have made excursion trips through the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina on trains pulled by "Tweetsie" and many columns have been writ-ten about the operation of this railroad. James E. Miller, Boone, was an engineer on this road for 25 or 30 years. "Tweetsie", famous nation-wide on the mountain railroad in Avery and Watauga counties, and her longtime fireman-engi-neer, James E. Miller, Boone. This locomotive now serves the scenic railway in Virginia. UMMER-FALL, 1953 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 69 [Yansport Workers Double in Decade; Bulk in Ten Counties By Grace Z. Moen, Research Analyst, Bureau of Research and Statistics, ESC Transportation industries covered by the Employ-lent Security Law in North Carolina include enter-rises engaged in passenger and freight transporta-on by highway, water, or air, and those which fur-ish services related to transportation. Many of lese industries are semipublic in nature in that, to certain degree, they are regulated by some form f public authority as to rates or prices they may large and the services they may render. Employ-lent in railway transportation is not considered ere, because it is exempt from coverage by this par-cular law. However, based on the 1950 census, lere are approximately 18,000 workers in railroad rid railway express service. During 1952 an average of about 20,000 workers rere employed in covered transportation industries l the State, constituting 2.8 percent of the 708,496 )tal covered employment in that year. These work-rs received around $65,826,000 or about 3.4 percent f total earnings paid to eovered workers in North arolina. In addition to these, other transportation rorkers were covered in the utilities group. A fair stimate of all transportation workers in the State rould be around 46,000, including covered and non- Dvered employment. Both covered employment and wages in the trans-ortation industry have made rapid strides over the ast eleven-year period. Specifically, in January 942 covered employment of the group was just un-er 10,000 in approximately 350 employer units. By lovember 1952, however, employment in covered ransportation establishments had more than dou-led, having reached a peak of 21,100 workers in bout 500 firms. Earnings of transportation work-rs advanced by even a greater proportion, for by 952 the payroll had more than trebled that of 1942. t is true that hourly wage scales have advanced onsiderably over the past decade, but the volume of ransportation, passenger and freight, has been re-ponsible for longer workweek schedules as well as icreased employment. This general upward trend of covered employment i the transportation group of industries over the leven-year period (1942-1952) may be seen in the ccompanying chart. From an irregular trend in 942, employment went through its seasonal changes nth slight variation until 1946, when it began to limb ; and with reasonably uniform pattern, contin-ously pushed upward to higher levels. The greater portion of the industry is concerned /ith the handling of heavy and bulky merchandise, ousehold furniture, farm produce, and other com-mercial goods. The employment trend in the truck-ing and warehousing group therefore, largely de-termines the employment trend of the total covered transportation group (railroad workers excluded), because it constitutes more than 70 percent of the industry's total covered employment, which amount-ed to 13 to 15 thousand workers in 1952. At the beginning of each year, employment in trucking and warehousing usually experiences a re-duction after the holiday traffic; then it levels off until May or June when fruit, vegetables, and other farm produce are ready to be transported. The trend then rises sharply through the remainder of the year to meet increased trucking operations. For example, furniture manufacturers ship more than 60 percent of the year's production in the five-month period after the July furniture markets. Likewise, a heav-ier volume of other merchandise is hauled for fall and winter delivery to trade establishments. Also hauling and storage of leaf tobacco begins in early August; then cotton, grain, vegetables, livestock, and other products in September and October. Closely allied to the trucking industry is freight forwarding and furnishing services to water trans-portation companies such as dock operations, steve-doring, and operating waterfront terminals. Cover-ed employment in this industry group fluctuates ac-cording to the schedule of loading and unloading at the waterfront. Normally operations move along slowly until enough volume is accumulated to make a load, or a ship comes in with a load. Fortunately the ups and downs are not simultaneous in all of the divisions of this particular industry group. Thus employment often shifts from one to the other with a balancing tendency, resulting in only two or three months out of the year with greatly lowered employ-ment in the group of industry services allied to trans-portation. (Employment in 25 firms ranged from 875 to 1400 during 1952.) Employment in passenger transportation has had varied trends depending upon the nature of the activ-ity. For instance, there has been little change in the employment trend in local bus line transportation since 1946. The average number of covered workers in 31 reporting local bus establishments was 790 in 1946 and 793 in 1952. Covered employment in taxi transportation declined about 6 percent; and em-ployment in highway bus passenger service dropped around 36 percent. These industries were at their peak in 1946 and 1947. Since then the employment trend has been downward. The growth of these phases of transportation, no doubt, has been stifled by the ever increasing use of privately owned auto-mobiles. On the other hand, covered employment in air transportation has lunged forward since 1946. There are now six commercial airlines with 14 major airports serving North Carolina. One of these is a North Carolina corporation enjoying rapid expan-sion. Employment in its home offices contributes strongly to total employment in air transportation industries in the State. An idea of the employment spread among various phases of transportation activities may be gained PAGE 70 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY Summer-fall, 1953 from the table below which shows the percentage distribution of monthly average covered employment in 1952 and the range in each group. Avg. Mo. Covered Em-ployment in Transportation Employment Rarge Activity Incl. 1952 1952 Percent to Total Number High Low All Covered Transportation 100.0 20,176 21,109 19.173 Local Bus Lines 3.9 790 820 766 Trucking and Warehousing for Hire 69.7 14,056 15.022 13,077 Other Transportation Except Water* 20.5 4,144 4.333 4,062 Water Transportation .4 82 105 60 Services Allied to Transports, ion N. E. C- 5.5 1,104 1,429 878 "Includes non-local bus lines, taxicabs, common carrier air lines, and pipe-line rai spor a icn (except natural gas). As evidenced, transportation industries have made great progress since 1942, with phenomenal employ-ment gains in the past four years (1949-1952)— recording an increase of nearly 35 percent. This is significant when compared with only a 16 percent increase in total covered employment in all indus-tries, 14 percent in manufacturing, and 14 percent in trade in the State. An employment increase such as that experienced by the transportation industry in North Carolina is understandable, because segments of the industry such as air-freight and passenger service, o, freight, and waterfront activities are still in their infancy. It is believed that these phases of the trans-portation industry really have just begun to scratch the surface. With enlarged landing fields, improved highways and seaport terminals, and continued in-dustrial development in North Carolina, the trans-portation industry should continue to expand its employment in the State. STATEWIDE North Carolina has come into its share of the de-velopment of freight and passenger transportation services. The transportation industries have ex-panded their systems in the State to provide East- West and North-South transportation. These facili-ties have enabled North Carolina industries to com-pete in markets near and distant. The demand for truck service has promoted its rapid growth. It has been said that virtually all commodities, whether eaten, worn, or used in home or industry, sometime between the raw material state and the finished prod-uct, are moved and handled by motor truck services. The favorable highway and road system in North Carolina has given impetus to advancement of high-way transportation, not only to the motor freight business, but also to passenger service. Likewise the development of seaports, with ample rail and high-way connections, has provided increased facilities for export trade, especially tobacco. The North- South inland waterway along the Atlantic Coast has} benefited large commercial users and many small craft owners as well. Although still in an early developmental stage, commercial airlines within North Carolina have crossed the mountain barrier in the Western section of the State, thus connecting a convenient network of airlines within the state of North Carolina with the Ohio river valley. Today there are six scheduled air carriers offering convenient connections to Northj. Carolinians to all sections of the nation. Every county in North Carolina is now being serv-ed by some means of public transportation. Not all counties, however, have transportation establish-ments of sufficient size to be covered by the Employ-ment Security Law. About one-third of the 100 counties in the State have no covered workers in the transportation industry, not even on a voluntary basis extended to establishments employing fewer than eight workers. On the other hand, nearly two-thirds of the 20.000 covered workers in transporta-tion establishments are concentrated in ten counties. Examination of the occompanying table will further reveal that more than half of the covered workers in the industry are reported from only five counties viz., Mecklenburg, Forsyth, Gaston, Guilford, and Wake counties. Covered Workers and Earnings in Ten Counties Having Heaviest Transportation Employment 1952 Covered Employrrert Earnings County Monthly Avg. 1952 Year 1952 Mecklenburg— Forsyth Gaston Guilford Wake New Hanover- Cabarrus Buncombe Wilson Alamance 3.285 2,923 1,618 1 , 480 1,089 727 611 540 455 358 11,087.553 10,936.773 6.256,868 4.538.615 3.279,409 1.945,737 2,145,696 1.483.624 1 207.068 1.123,719 Total of Ten High Counties All Covered Transportation % High Counties to All Covered Transpor a ion. 13,059 20.176 64.7% 44,005.062 65.826,246 66.8% All Covered Industries % Covered Transportation to all Covered Inf. 708,496 2.8% .911,675,821 3.4% Earnings of the 20,000 covered transportation workers amounted to more than $65,826,000 in 1952 or 3.4 percent of earnings of covered workers in all industries in North Carolina. Early Trails, Trading Paths; State Breaks Traffic Limits Transportation, the movement of people and things between places, was for many years a deterrent to colonizing and developing the area now known as North Carolina. The sand banks along the coast, the marshy lands further in, numerous streams in the center and Piedmont areas and the mountains in the west all proved effective barriers in preventing normal traffic into and within this area. Most of the settlement of the State came from Virginia and South Carolina. Early settlers in the northeastern or Albemarle area came from Virginia and settled along sounds and rivers with ready access to water transportation. These water courses were their main highways for about 50 years. Around 1700 settlers began pushing westward and others came from northern areas. Their only routes were trails, most of them estab-lished by Indians and little road work was done for many years. Trading paths, mere trails, had been established, most of them in the Albemarle area. By 1733 only one trail went into the western section of the State, passing from Virginia by the Weldon area on Roan-oke River through Hillsboro and on into the moun-tain country. Seven trails were marked on the maps of that day from Virginia into the Albemarle area. Four of these became short toward the Eclenton area and another went to the Elizabeth City area. Summer-fall, 1953 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 71 Current propelled ferry over the Yadkin River in Davie County some 30-odd years ago. H. K. Witherspoon photo. From the Edenton and Plymouth area one trail went westward to the Roanoke River in the Weldon area, on northwestward with the river to the North-ampton County area. Another started from the Ply-mouth area and went southward toward the Wash-ington area. Another one extended from the Pamlico River, also in the Plymouth area, to Washington and New Bern and on southward, one prong north of the Trent River area and the other south of the river. This trail extended on to Wilmington and into South Carolina. Intercourse between small scattered communities was tedious and rare. When some form of govern-ment was established in a community the magistrate named overseers and required all males within cer-tain ages, usually about 15 to 60, to spend so many days a year, usually six, in helping to improve com-munity roads. Usually a man could send a substi-tute or a horse and plow to take his place. This method of improving highways, very inadequate, continued until people now living can remember making their contribution thus to road betterment. By 1790, the first census, North Carolina had a popu-lation of 392,000, fourth in size in the United States. Yet many of them seldom got outside their own com-munities. Several post roads had been established in North Carolina by 1796, roads over which the United States mails were carried. Four principal roads came into this State from Virginia and two of them continued into South Carolina. One of these came from Suf-folk to Edenton by way of Plymouth, Washington and New Bern to Wilmington. Another came into Northampton County to Tarboro. A third branching from this road above the Virginia line touched War-renton, Louisburg, the Raleigh area, Fayetteville, Lumberton and to Cheraw, S. C. The fourth came from Martinsville to Salem. Numbers of other post roads branched off, crossed and wound around to various centers of population. One from the Suffolk-Edenton road went westward by the Weldon area to Warrenton, Oxford, Hillsboro, the Greensboro area, Salem, Wilkesboro and to Mor-ganton. From there the road headed backward to Lincolnton and then south to York, S. C, another branch going to Charlotte and into South Carolina. From Charlotte a road went northward to the States-ville area and to Salisbury, while another road went from Charlotte via Concord to Salisbury. From Salisbury two roads led to Fayetteville, one via Mont-gomery and Rockingham counties and the other ap-parently by Asheboro and the Sanford area, while another short line went from Salisbury to the Lex-ington area. A post road led from the Hillsboro road north to the Roxboro area and westward to Yanceyville and Rockingham County to the Martnsville-Salem road. One road went from Plymouth to Windsor, while another went from Plymouth via Washington and from Halifax to Warrenton. A post road extended from Washington via Tarboro to Louisburg. An-other road went from New Bern via Kinston, Smith-field, Raleigh area, Chapel Hill to Hillsboro. Two Wilmington roads led to Fayetteville, one via the Duplin County and Clinton area, the other via Eliza-bethtown on the south side of the Cape Fear River. Internal improvements, particularly turnpikes, canals and other arteries, along with improved water transportation, were stressed for many years with only limited results. During the 1800-50 period many movements were made to build canals, water-ways, turnpikes and to make other tyDes of trans-portation improvements as is shown by the numerous charters granted by the general assembly. Only a few of these projects were ever completed. In the last 15 years of this period scores of railroads were chartered but only a few were built. Even so, in the 1837-61 period North Carolina forged ahead and led the nation in railroad building. During the decade, 1850-60, charters were granted to 84 companies for building plank roads in the State, resulting in about 15 roads with total length of about 500 miles. Plank roads and railroads are treated more fully elsewhere. Turnpikes continued as the Drinfipal artevies of travel for a number of years although they were not too satisfactory and the number was limited. One famous road was the Asheville Turnpike which came across South Carolina from Charleston. One of its important contributions was handling the movement of wealthy Charlestonians to the Henderson County area where many summer homes were established. This road later extended via Hot (Warm) Springs, through Tennessee and into Kentucky. Droves of hogs, cattle, sheep and other animals moved over this turnpike from Kentucky and Tennessee to the Charleston market. Streams, especially larger rivers, offered obstacles to free movement of wagons, buggies, coaches. Fords were established when waters were not too deep. Hundreds of ferries were chartered and established throughout the State. Many of these ferry boats, carrying wagons, buggies and other vehicles, were propelled by the use of poles when streams were not too swift. Others were pulled across streams with heavy ropes attached to the ends and connected with windlasses on the bank. The more popular ferries utilized the force of the stream to propel the ferry boats across. This was accomplished by stretching heavy wires across the stream attached to trees or heavy posts. On these wires were two pulley frames with ropes connecting one to each end of the ferry boat. The front rope would be shortened and the rear rope lengthened so the front of the boat would be headed at an angle upstream. The force of the cur-rent against the side of the boat would push it across. In making the return trip the process would be re-versed— the front ropes shortened and the rear rope lengthened. This process was slow but sure. Prac-tically all of these ferries have disappeared—bridges PAGE 72 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY Summer-fall, 1953 taking their places. Before the turn of the century rural free delivery mail roads were established in North Carolina, as elsewhere. These roads, traveled daily, had to be improved to allow the mail to go by. Still there was no surfacing in the rural areas and most roads con-sisted of throwing earth to the center with ditches along the sides for drainage. Around this time the Macadam type of road made its appearance in this State. This provided a surface of rock with gravel filler. Mecklenburg County pioneered in this type of construction, building several roads toward near-by towns. Guilford County followed with several Macadam highways. The automobile began to make its appearance in North Carolina around the turn of the century. As the number of automobiles increased so did the de-mand for highways over which to operate them. North Carolina still had the community road system with inadequate inter-community roads. But the desire for improved traffic conditions began to take form. A distinct impetus was given in 1916 by the provision for Federal Aid to strategic roads within the State. Several good road movements had been started and their activities continued. The general assembly of 1921, as a result of a pop-ular demand, authorized $50,000,000 in bonds for the allowed purpose of connecting every county seat and principal town in the State with dependable all-weather highways. In the years that followed North Carolina again took the lead in building highways resulting in the splendid system of today. This ii described elsewhere in this issue. The improved highways resulted in increased traffic and travel. Individually owned automobiles increased rapidly and public busses and trucks made their appearance. Schedules were established and travel promoted. A natural step was handling freight. By 1920 one and two-ton trucks had begun operation, first with solid rubber tires. Later pneumatic tires were sub-stituted and as roads were made more substantial truck sizes increased. And North Carolina again took the lead in truck transportation. This State now has two of the largest trucking firms in the na-tion. They and many others have developed to the extent that North Carolina is probably the leading trucking State in the nation. Details of truck and bus operations appear elsewhere in this issue. Just 50 years ago the Wright brothers constructed and flew the first heavier-than-air plane from Kill Devil Hill in Dare County. In the 50-year period since that day, December 17, 1903, airplanes have de-veloped into important and speedy methods of travel and traffic. Numbers of airplane routes serve North Carolina with many schedules daily. Moreover, this State has developed one of the important and grow-ing airplane companies now serving the nation. This also is given in more detail elsewhere in this issue. The people of North Carolina have thus overcome a very heavy handicap and have established remark-ably safe, speedy and economical systems, supple-menting the boats on the coast and in inland water-ways, the railroads with their network of lines, the trucks and busses operating over the State's splen-did highway systems and pipe lines which bring into the State petroleum products and natural gases. The transportation handicap has thus been surmounted. Plank Roads Hailed as 'Farmer Railroads'; Lasted a Decade Plank roads in the decade prior to the War Be-tween the States were looked upon by many North Carolinians as the method, of solving the State's serious transportation problem. Railroads had start-ed in the State more than a decade earlier, but the high cost of construction and limited lines added impetus to building plank roads, known as the "farm-er railroads". During the period from 1849 to 1860, the General Asspmblv granted 84 charters for p]an v roads, two in 1849 and one in 1860. But only a small percentage of these roads were finally constructed. Approximately 500 miles of plank roads were built in this period at a cost of nearly $1,000,000. These included 13 stretches of road completed and four roads partially built. Fayetteville was the most plank road conscious, located at the end of naviga-tion on Cape Fear River and with poor prospect of railroad connection. The people of that communitv built plank roads radiating in five different direc-tions. The longest, the Fayetteville and Western road, went through Salem to Bethania, headed to-ward Mount Airv and the Virginia coal fields. This road, 120 miles loner, was chartered on the same dav as the North Carolina Railroad, but was being com-pleted while the road was being started. Among the last records of plank road operation in the 1864 period, stretches of road were taken over for mili-tary purposes. Most of the plank roads followed a general pat-tern with local subscriptions frequently supplement-ed by State aid. Toll houses, costing around $300, were erected on right-of-way sites each 10 or 12 miles and toll collectors were paid around $150 a year. Many travelers devised methods of free travel by constructing cutoffs around the toll houses. Most of the roads paid well in the earlier years, some of them declaring dividends up to 10 or 12 percent. Occasional repairs and rebuilding stretches of road were undertaken but many of the roads were allowed to wear out with little thought of repairs. Usually when roads were abandoned in the early 1860's, the General Assembly would provide that they be taken over by county commissioners and made free of tolls. As noted, the Fayetteville and Western road was the most important built. More details are given below. Two interstate roads were constructed, one from Yanceyville to the Virginia line to meet the road from Danville; th^ other from Rocky River, near Center, via Wadesboro to the South Carolina line where it joined the Cheraw road. Another interstate road, from Asheville to Greenville, S. C, was par-tially constructed and became a military road in 1864. Other plank roads constructed in the State were as follows: The Greenville and Raleigh road, com-pleted to Wilson in 1853 but not extended to Raleigh the Wilmington and Topsail road, 20 miles, from Wilmington northeastward to near the New Han-over- Onslow County line; the Western Plank road SUMMER-FALL, 1953 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 73 rom Charlotte to Lincolnton, completed in 1853 ; the ayetteville and Southern road, 15^2 miles, to Lum- >er Bridge, open to traffic in 1852, entering Fayette-ille on two streets, Gillespie and WhHow; Fnvette-r ille and Center road, from Fayetteville to the Pee Dee River (Yadkin), completed around 1853; Fay-etteville and Northern road, intended to reach Ral-igh, built about 10 miles to Kingbury and not Extended to Raleigh; Charlotte and Taylorsville i'oad, opened in 1853-54 to a point a little beyond Davidson, not completed; Salisbury to Statesville •oad, built eight or ten miles in 1852 and not com-peted ; Clinton to Warsaw road, opened in 1862. The Washington and Tarboro and the Haywood md Pittsboro roads, chartered in 1852, were built !or only a few miles.—Data largely from article by lobert B. Starling in North Carolina Historical Re-new, Vol. XVI, No. 1 and 2. FAYETTEVILLE & WESTERN The Fayetteville & Western plank road, built between 1844 ,nd 1854, extended to Bethania, a few miles west of Salem, to lecome what was regarded as the longest plank road in the i-orld—129 miles long. This plank road became briefly a very mportant artery of transportation to the western part of the !tate. Its dominance and prosperity were short-lived. A three-day public meeting began in Fayetteville April 11, 849, for the purpose of providing transportation into the torthwestern section of the State. The organization decided o build a plank road by way of Murchison's Factory (Man-hester) to Deep River, Carthage, Asheboro and on into west-rn North Carolina. Later the decision was reached to build he road to Salem, with Mount Airy as a future point. The .ope was entertained to extend it on into Virginia and the oal fields. By legislative act the State was to subscribe to 120,000 of stock. Private subscriptions soon reached $80,000. The first section was built largely by contract and slaves rere frequently used by contract. Major Dougald MacDougald ad the contract to build the road through the Cameron com-lunity and used his neighbors' slaves. Incidentally, an epi-emic of typhoid fever struck and many slaves died, resulting n heavy financial loss. Duncan Murchison's crew of 15 laid ,000 feet a day near Spout Springs in Harnett County. Start-tig at the Market House in Fayetteville in 1849, the plank oad was finished to Little River early in 1850 and was put n operation in April of that year. Duncan Murchison built lie next six miles and Col. Alexander Murchison built 22.5 pies to Carthage. Five steam sawmills were built by the ompany and operated day and night by the contractors in reparing timber for the road. In the process the bed was prepared and graded with an levated center and ditches were dug along the side for rainage. Four sills were laid, five or six by eight inches, hewed from small pines. Planks, eight feet long and three or four by eight inches wide, were laid at right angles to these sills. Oak sills were used as the road progressed. No nails were needed to hold the planks in place. Toll houses and gates were erected about 11 miles apart. The first one was about lVc miles from Fayetteville. Charges were y2 tf a mile for rider and horse; 1^ for horse and wagon; 2$ for a two-horse team and 4^ for a six-horse team. Joy riding was de-lightful and frequent over this mudless plank road. A report in 1854 showed that 20,000 wagons passed over this plank road in a year. The trip from one end to the other took about two weeks and extra horses were carried along for spelling purposes and trading. Other stock was transported over the road. Products hauled included hay from Forsyth County; tobacco, apples and other farm products, such as cotton, cabbages and flour. Tobacco was transported in hogs-heads with large hoops as runners and poles through the center to which gear was attached for hitching the horses. This, too, was "Tobacco Road". Stage coaches used this plank road for carrying passengers, packages and mail. Their ap-proach was announced by tallyho buglers and was the occasion tor the gathering of large crowds at the stopping points. The plank road was finished to a point near Salem in Jan-uary, 1852, and was extended seven miles beyond to Bethania and toward Mount Airy in 1854. In January, 1853, prepara-tions were made for a branch road from a point near Cameron to Gulf and from Gulf a spur to Evans Mills, now Carbonton. At Gulf the road connected later with a separate plank road from Graham to Gulf. These lines were built with the expecta-tion of hauling coal from the mines in the vicinity. This plank road was prosperous and paid dividends during the two years 1854-55. Because of their success much more was expected as a result of its operation. Great public interest was aroused. New homes and business places were built along the line and property values increased extensively. In 1854 income amounted to $27,420 and in 1855 the amount was about $26,820. From that period revenues began to decline. Poor crop years and the panic of 1857 played havoc with the road. The North Carolina Railroad was completed about this time, offering quicker transportation and cheaper rates to commun-ities in the western section. It was not necessary then to make the trips to Fayetteville for supplies. Receipts decreased grad-ually until they were exceeded by upkeep and repairs. The road began to lose money and repairs were not kept up. Approach of the War Between the States caused further loss of interest in this type of transportation. In 1862 the charter was amended to allow the counties through which the plank road passed to abandon any part or parts to public use, pro-vided no tolls were charged. The last act of the General Assembly relating to the Fayette-ville- Salem plank road came in April, 1869, by which the county commisisoners of the counties of Forsyth, Davidson and Guilford were to take charge of the road in their respective counties, to appoint overseers and to keep it repaired for toll-free use. Only in isolated places today is there evidence that such a road ever operated.—Data from the Progress Edition of "The Sanford Herald", Sanford, N. C, 1953. f. C. Early Leader in Railroad Building; Many Short Lines North Carolina did not wait long after the first 13 miles f railroad was built in the United States in 1828 to start the evelopment of railroad transportation in the State. With a lodest beginning in 1833 North Carolina carried out a road uilding program in the 25-year period from 1835 to 1860 rhich was not equaled anywhere in the country. Before the Var Between the States started, North Carolina had built close o 700 miles of railroad line, of which 352 miles were included a the east-west line from Morehead City to a point near Mor-anton and 236 miles in the Wilmington and Weldon and Sleigh and Gaston Railroad. The longest railroad built up EXPERIMENTAL RAILROAD North Carolina's first railroad, actually, was what has become known as ie "Experimental Railroad", a l'/4 mile line from the State Capitol to what (known as the "Rock Quarry" on the edge of Raleigh, a line constructed in 831-32 for the purpose of hauling ?t-ne to rebuild the burned Capitol. This pad cost $2,700 to build. It had wooden rails covered with iron strips one-ixth of an inch thick. Horses were used to draw the cars. This road was not supposed to make profits, but it did. In the first nine lonths, a 10% dividend was earned and in the next six months the road arned 25%. In addition to hauling stone, the road was used to haul outing arties on Sundays and holidays. It developed into a social attraction. At ie time, this was the only railroad in North Carolina. to 1840 was the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, 161 miles with 48 miles of straight track, now part of the Atlantic Coast Line system. North Carolina leaders were extremely sensitive in the early days of railroad building over the dominance of Virginia and South Carolina in trade and traffic and sought to construct east-west lines which would divert trade to North Carolina ports to be handled through the State and on into the west. It was particularly irritating that the first line of railroad came into the State from Virginia and that practically all rail-roads built in the early days were turned into feeders for both Virginia and South Carolina. The first mile of railroad built in this State was constructed by the Petersburg Railroad Co. from Petersburg, Va., to Blake-ly, a point on the north bank of the Roanoke River, opposite Weldon, and near Garysburg. About seven miles of this line, built in 1831-33, were in this State. The Petersburg road was built to take into Virginia farm and forest products produced in the Roanoke River area and to divert this trade which would pass down the Roanoke River, much of it finding its way to Norfolk by water. PAGE 74 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY Summer-fall, 1952 The Petersburg Railroad gave the proper impetus to road building in North Carolina. The "Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad, chartered in 1833, was built in sections from Wil-mington. As construction progressed, Raleigh people were not sufficiently interested to subscribe to stock to complete the road to the Capital City and from Faison the line swerved to a more northerly course and continued to Weldon where a ferry connection was made in 1840 with the Petersburg Rail-road and also with the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad from Portsmouth to the northern bank of the Roanoke River. In 1835, two years after the Wilmington and Raleigh Rail-road, later the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, had been chartered, a charter was secured for the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad. In 1844 this line was opened to Gaston and eight years later the line was extended a few miles from Gaston to Weldon where it connected with the other three railroads already built to Weldon. By 1843 a bridge had been construct-ed across the Roanoke River to Weldon which was used jointly by the Petersburg Railroad and the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad to Portsmouth. Thus, Weldon became the first and for a number of years the most important railroad center in North Carolina. Meanwhile the sentiment for east-west transportation con-tinued and movements were started to build a railroad from Beaufort Harbor across the State and to extend into Tennessee. The North Carolina Railroad was chartered in 1849 and by 1856 the road had been completed from Goldsboro via Selma, Raleigh, Durham, Hillsboro, Burlington, Greensboro, High Point, Lexington, Salisbury, Kannapolis and Concord to Char-lotte, a distance of 223 miles, three-fourths of which was owned by the State. The Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad, char-tered in 1S52, was completed and opened in 1858 from Morehead Citv through New Bern and Kinston to Goldsboro. Also in 1852, the Western North Carolina Railroad was chartered to extend from Salisbury westward to the Tennessee line at Paint Rock and to Murphy. This line was completed to within 13 miles of Morganton by 1861 when the war halted activities. During the war about 10 miles more were constructed. The Carolina Central Railroad, succeeding the Wilmington. Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad, chartered in 1855, started construction westward from two points along this line from Navassa, near Wilmington. The construction was completed for 112 miles to Rockingham and from Charlotte 31 miles were completed to Lincolnton early in 1861. The Chatham Railroad constructed a line about 30 miles long from Raleigh to Haw River, near Moncure, into the Chatham-Moore coal field area. Before the war several other short stretches of road were constructed. This included the Atlantic, Tennessee and Ohio railroad, chartered in 1855, which completed a line from Charlotte to Statesville in 1860. During the War the rails used on this line were taken up and used in 1863 in building the Piedmont Railroad from Greensboro to Danville as a war measure. The Wilmington and Manchester Railroad, chartered in 1847, had built only about 15 miles of road near Wilmington by 1851 and probably did not extend the line into South Carolina until after the war. The Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad. chartered in 1846, opened a line into South Carolina in 1852, 11 miles of which were in North Carolina. Apparently, too, the Kings Mountain Railroad, chartered in 1849, had built a line from Chester to Kings Mountain, completed in 1852. The Cape Fear, Yadkin and Pee Dee Railroad, chartered in 1833, broke ground for building this road but work was aban-doned. The Western Railroad Co., chartered in 1852, built a 43 mile stretch of road from Fayetteville to Egypt in 1860. This later became a section of the Cape Fear and Yadkin Val-ley Railroad, built after the war from Wilmington to Mount Airy. As noted, the Piedmont Railroad, chartered in 1862, was built in 1862-63 from Greensboro via Reidsville to Danville, Va. Otherwise, the war halted railroad building and it was several years before construction was started again. During the war the railroads already constructed were al-lowed to deteriorate for lack of attention and numbers of bridges, stations, warehouses and other properties were de-stroyed by the armed forces. Very little improvement and new railroad building was done during the decade following the close of the war. The State's economy continued at a low ebb and money was not available for improving and extending the railroad system. Finally construction was resumed grad-ually and the 25-year period, 1875 to 1900, proved to be a heavy railroad construction era. The North-Western North Carolina Railroad, chartered in 1868, completed a line from near Greensboro on the Nortt Carolina Railroad to Salem in 1873 and reached North Wilkes boro in 1890. The Yadkin Railroad, chartered in 1871, was completed in 1891 from Salisbury to Norwood with a brand extending later from Hall's Ferry Junction to Whitney anc later on to Badin. The State University Railroad, charterec in 1873, was built from University Station to Chapel Hill (Carrboro), 10 miles, in 1881. The Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railroad, 248 miles long from Wilmington to Mount Airy with about 90 miles of branch roads included the 43 miles from Fayetteville to Egypt, buill before the war. In 1S79 the road was extended for four milfj from Egypt to Gulf. By 1884 it had reached Greensboro, and by 1888 it had been built to Mount Airy a d graded for m further with a plan to connect with the Norfolk and Western Railroad. A branch was extended from Factory Junction tc Millsboro and another to Madison. Also in 1884 a line was built from Fayetteville to Maxton, about 40 miles. Then in 1 1890 the road was built between Fayetteville and Wilmington. 82 miles. The Cheraw and Salisbury Railroad, chartered in 1857, opened a line from Cheraw to Wadesboro, 15 miles in North Carolina, in 1880. The Western North Carolina Railroad which had reached a point near Morganton before the war met many difficulties. It had reached Old Fort in 1S69, Swannanoa in 1879 and Asheville in 1880. In that year this line, starting in Salisbury, was sold to W. J. Best and associates and soon taken over by the Richmond and Danville Railroad (Southern) which as-sumed the indebtedness and agreed to complete the lines ac-cordingly. The road from Asheville to Paint Rock on the Ten-i nessee line, 185 miles from Salisbury, was completed in 1882. In 1891 the line was completed from Murphy Junction neari Asheville to Murphy, a distance of 124 miles. The Chatham Railroad, with a line from Raleigh to Moncure, became the Raleigh and Augusta Air Line in 1871 and by 1877 the line had been extended to Gibson, total length 107.27 miles. The Pittsboro Railroad in 1886 built a 12-mile connecting line from Moncure to Pittsboro. The Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad took over the Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad which had built a line into Charlotte in 1852. This road leased the lines built by the Chester and Lenoir Railroad and the Atlantic, Tennessee and Ohio Railroad. The Chester and Lenoir Railroad, char-tered in 1873, a narrow gauge road, consolidated with the Kings Mountain Railroad and built an extension of the Kings Moun-tain Railroad to Lincolnton, 63 miles, in 1880. In 1884, the Chester and Lenoir Railroad opened up a line from Chester to Newton and from Hickory to Warrior, a few miles northwest of Lenoir. From Newton to Hickory this narrow gauge road used the Western North Carolina Railroad's standard gauge road for this 10 mile link. On the track in this link a third rail was laid to accommodate the narrower Chester and Lenoir equipment. This 62 miles of road (with the 10 mile link) became a subsidiary of the Southern Railway. The Atlantic, Tennessee and Ohio Railroad completed in 1860 from Charlotte to Statesville, 45 miles, whose rails were removed in 1863 for use on the Piedmont Railroad, was relaid in 1871. The lease to the Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad was assigned to the Richmond and Danville Rail-road (Southern). The Asheville and Spartanburg Railroad, formerly the Green-ville and French Broad Railroad, combined with a South Caro-lina railroad in 1874 and in 1879 opened the road from Spar-tanburg to Hendersonville. This line was completed to Ashe-ville in 1886 by the Richmond and Danville Railroad ( South-ern). Carolina Central Railroad, chartered in 1873, which had taken over the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad, completed the line built from Meare's Bluff, near Wilmington, via Lumberton, Maxton, Laurinburg, Hamlet and Rockingham, extending it via Wadesboro and Monroe to Charlotte and ex-tended the road already built from Charlotte to Lincolnton via Shelby and Bostic to Rutherfordton. This road also became half owner of the Wilmington Railroad Bridge Co. which con-structed 2.4 miles of line, largely on bridges, to connect Meare's Bluff with Wilmington. This line, 265 miles long, later became a part of the Seaboard. The Norfolk Southern Railway Co., started as the Elizabeth City and Norfolk Railroad, chartered in 1870, built the line from Norfolk to Elizabeth City and on to Edenton in 1881. It became the Norfolk and Southern in 1883 and was reorganized in 1891 under its present name and consolidated with the Albe-marle and Pantego Railroad from Mackie's Ferry to Pantego (Belhaven). This road expanded to 641 miles to become one UMMER-FALL, 1953 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 75 f the "Big Four" in North Carolina. The Roanoke and Southern Railroad, organized by Winston-ialem and Martinsville and Roanoke, Va., leaders, chartered n 1887, built the line from Martinsville through Mayodan, ladison and Walnut Cove to Winston-Salem, completed and pened in 1881. This line, 60 miles long, 46 miles in North larolina, became part of the Norfolk a^d Western. The Lynchburg and Durham Railroad, chartered ii 1887 and iromoted largely by Durham tobacco interests, 43 miles in forth Carolina. Later the road, 29 miles long, was built from izen Creek Junction in the edge of Virginia to West Jefferson, "hese three lines are owned or leased and operated by the forfolk and Western Railway. The High Point, Randleman, Asheboro and Southern Rail-oad, chartered in 1887, 27 miles, built this road and opened t in 1889. It is operated by the Southern. Among the other lines constructed during the period prior o 1900 are the following: Aberdeen and Rockfish, the "Blue Road", started at Aber- .een in 1892 as a lumber road, extended finally to Payetteville. Aberdeen and West End Railroad, the "Page Road", was pened in 1890 from Aberdeen to West End, later extended to Candor, Star, Biscoe and Asheboro. Norfolk Southern. Atlantic and Danville Railroad, 26% miles, in Person, Cas-rell and Granville counties, along the North Carolina-Virginia ine. Part of Southern. Carthage Railroad, built in 1888, from Carthage to Cameron, perated by W. C. Petty, later hotel operator. Seabr^rd. Danville and Western Railroad, opened in 1882 from Cas-ade Junction, Va., to Leaksville, eight miles in North Caro-ina. Durham and Northern, 42 miles, opened in 1889 from Dur-lam to Henderson. Seaboard. East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad, built rom Johnson City, Tennessee, to Cranberry, three miles in forth Carolina, in 1891. Extended to Boone later. Abandoned. Georgia, Carolina and Northern Railway, 15 miles in North Carolina, Monroe to Lawrenceville, Ga. Seaboard. Palmetto Railroad, opened in 1887, Cheraw to Hamlet, seven niles in North Carolina. Seaboard. Statesviile and Western Railroad, chartered and opened in 887, Statesviile to Taylorsville, 20 miles, now Alexander Rail-oad. Warrenton Railroad, three miles, Warrenton to Warren 5lains, organized 1876. Wilmington, Chadbourn and Conway, organized 1883, 28 niles in North Carolina, operating to Hub, N. C, and Conway, 5. C. ACL. Wilmington, Onslow and East Carolina, chartered in 1885, Vilmington to Jacksonville and extended to New Bern, 76 niles. ACL. Wilmington Sea Coast, organized and completed 1888, Wil-mington to Ocean. Jamesville and Washington Railroad Co., chartered in 1869, opened 1877, Jamesville to Washington, 22.57 miles. Although more miles of railroad line have been abandoned than have been built since 1900, several important lines have been constructed. Probably the longest and one of the most important of these was the Charleston, Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad, operated as the Clinchfield Railroad by the ACL. This road passes through the State from Charleston, S. C, via Forest City, Marion, Little Switzerland, Spruce Pine and Kona to Erwin, Tennessee, with 64% miles in North Carolina, completed in 1910. Graham County Railroad Co., Robbinsville, organized in 1924, built railroad from Topton to Robbinsville. Beaufort and Morehead Railway Co., Beaufort, organized in 1935 to take over 3.17 miles of road between Beaufort and More-head City, built by Norfolk Southern Railway. Piedmont and Northern Railway, Charlotte, opened in 1912 between Charlotte and Gastonia. Durham and Southern Railway, organized in 1904, extended a former road giving line from Durham to Dunn and Erwin. Tallulah Falls Railway Co., Cornelia, Ga., then owned by Southern Railway, extended line from Georgia to Franklin in 1907, 16 miles in North Carolina. Cliffside Railroad Co., Cliffside, built road from Cliffside to the Seaboard, three miles, in 1905 and a branch to Avondale, .7 miles, in 1916. The Norfolk Southern built several links, among them in 1911-12, Varina to Colon, 23 miles, and Mount Gilead to Char-lotte, 51 miles. The Winston-Salem Southbound, 95 miles, from Winston- Salem to Wadesboro, was built in 1911, owned jointly by ACL and Norfolk and Western. The High Point, Thomasville and Denton Railroad is another important local line. The company was organized in 1923 to take over and operate an old line and has been successfully operated. The Virginia and Carolina Southern, Lumberton to Hope Mills, organized in 1903 is owned by the ACL. The Rockingham Railroad, Rockingham to Gibson, was com-pleted in 1911 and is owned by the ACL. Laurinburg and Southern, organized in 1909 the "McNair Road", operates from Raeford to Johns, via Wagram and Laur-inburg. Cape Fear Railways, organized in 1926, operates lines con-necting with other roads from the Fort Bragg Reservation. Several other short lines have been built in the last 50 years but some of them have also been abandoned. State Develops Modern 67,000 Mile Toll-Free Road System By Margaret Burk, Public Relations, N. C. State Highway and Public Works Commission From a meagre beginning, North Car-ina has built, or become custodian of a 57,000 - mile toll - free road system, stretching from the mountains to the ;ea. As recently as 35 years ago, North Carolina was still "languishing in mud md despair" ; her roads were alternately lust and mud beds. The story of Tar Heel roads shows the workings of many lands and the reality of many dreams. In the late 19th century, the road system compris-ed a few earth and plank roads, as well as part-earth and part-topsoil roads. The establishing of Rural Free Mail Delivery by the Federal Government at the turn of the century gave impetus to a Good Roads Association in North Carolina. In 1901„> na-tional promoters took a Good Roads Train on a tour 3f the nation; it made stops in Winston, Asheville and Raleigh, building strips of road and propagan-dizing as it made its journey. —Photos supplied by N. C. Highway Dept. and State News Bureau. N. C. Highway Commission 7)iembers. Front row, left to right, J. F. Snipes, Marion; Harry Buchanan, Hendersonville ; Chair-man A. H. Graham, Hillsboro; H. Maynard Hicks, Snow Hill; M. E. Robinson, Goldsboro; J. Emmett Winsloio, Hertford. Second row, I. to r., James A. Gray, Winston-Salem; James A. Hardison, Wadesboro ; Forrest Lockey, Aberdeen; John (Jack) Van Lindley, Greensboro ; Ralph W. Winkler, Boone; June F. Scarborough, Statesviile ; C. A. Hasty, Maxton; Dennie A. Sorrell, Durham; C. Heide Trask, Wilmington. By 1915, the counties participated in roadbuilding to a limited degree. That year, the General Assem- PAGE 76 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY bly authorized an appropriation of $10,000 and the appointment of a six-member State Highway Com-mission. Most of the appropriation went for educa-tional and promotional activities. In 1917, the General Assembly gave the Commis-sion the proceeds from motor vehicle registrations. Meanwhile, Congress passed the first Federal Aid highway law. Two years later, the General Assem-bly enacted the State's first highway act. It created a Highway Commission composed of a fulltime chair-man and three commissioners and provided that all motor vehicle registration fees collected in the State be used for the construction and maintenance of roads. Passage of the Doughton-Connor-Bowie Act in 1921 created a nine-member Highway Commission headed by a full-time chairman and served by a full-time state highway engineer to supervise all road-building work by the State. It gave the new Com-mission direct jurisdiction over 5,500 miles of roads and provided for a serial bond issue of $50,000,000, the proceeds to be applied to road construction. The Legislature also levied a tax of one cent per gallon on gasoline and gave the Commission broad powers of determining which roads should comprise the highway system. It also instructed the Commission to build a system of roads connecting all the county seats and principal towns in the State. Roadbuild-ing was stimulated; the new Commission employed more than 3,000 men and bought one million dollars worth of equipment. The 1923 Legislature voted to float an additional bond issue of $15,000,000 and upped the gas tax from one to three cents a gallon. In 1925, the General As-sembly floated a third serial bond issue of $20,000,- 000 and added another cent to the gas tax. In 1927, it issued $30,000,000 more bonds, raising the total outstanding to $115,000,000. By the end of the Twenties, under the inspired and courageous leadership of Highway Chairman Frank Page, the new construction had spread across primary arteries of traffic so swiftly (using bond and gas tax money) that North Carolina's roads be-came nationally known. Governors of five states plus 200 highway engineers and administrative offi-cials from 55 nations toured North Carolina to see her roads. Tar Heels dubbed the travelcade con- Handsome new Morehead City-Atlantic Beach bridge over Bogue Bound and Intracoastal Waterivay, opened last September, cost $1,500,000. Modern underpass on Lexington bypass and 7( ducted for the visitors, "Frank Page's Traveling Road Show." After 1927, the State reverted to a "pay-as-you-go' policy for highway financing. No more bond issue; were passed until Tar Heel voters in 1949 in a specia election approved a $200,000,000 secondary roa( bond issue designed to help hard-surface 12,001 miles and improve by stabilization another 35,00( miles of rural roads. The 1929 Legislature raised the gas tax from fou: to five cents per gallon and set aside the extra reve nue from the additional one cent tax as a county roa( fund. During the depression crisis, the State stepped ou ahead of the nation by placing the entire county roa( system—45,000 miles—under the exclusive jurisdic tion of the Highway Commission. Financial inabil ity of the counties to fulfill road obligations anc general sentiment favoring more centralized contro of county roadbuilding influenced the change. Ii 1931, the Legislature authorized the use of count? prisoners on the road system and raised the gasolim tax from five to six cents. The fifth cent tax whicl had been allocated to county government reverted t< the Highway Commission. In 1933, the Legislature placed the State Prisoi System under control of the Highway Commissioi and gave it authority to use the labor of the prisonerij on the roads. Thus, North Carolina became one o: the very few states in which the prison system i: directly linked with the road system. Economic conditions limited activities of the Com mission from 1931 to 1935. During the years 1934 1937, the Legislature diverted $4,000,000 from the! Highway Fund to the General Fund to help the stati ,-.. I . mmmiS^m New bridge over Northeast Cape Fear River and straightenei highway, Routes Jt2t and 111 to Wilmington. Summer-fall, i 953 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 77 through an economic crisis. In 1947, the Legislature banned any further diversions of that nature. The decade from 1931 through the beginning of World War II saw the State's highway system stead-ily expanding as increased use of roads brought more gasoline tax income. The war years slowed highway construction to a virtual standstill with shortages of manpower and steel for bridges. Highway main-tenance was meager, weather took no holiday, and truck weights were increased. An ambitious farm-to-market road program was launched just after the war ended. With the guid-ance of Highway Chairman Sandy Graham and the late Vance Baise, then chief engineer, more than 5,000 miles of secondary roads were paved from 1945 to 1949. Although highway revenue continued to rise as motor vehicle use increased, costs of road-building soared even higher. The 1949 General Assembly passed a bill author-izing the $200,000,000 secondary road bond issue if the people approved, and also raised ihe State's six-cent gas tax to seven cents in January, 1950, and di-rected that proceeds from the extra cent pay interest on the money borrowed. By approving the secondary road bond issue, Tar Heel voters charged Dr. Henry Jordan as Highway Chairman and W. H. Rogers, Jr., as chief engineer with a vast responsibility. Under their direction the State Highway Commission from January 1, 1949, to June 30, 1953, had hardsurfaced 14,550 miles of secondary roads and stabilized another 19,600 miles of roads for all-weather use. Of the $200,- 000,000, only $1,777,787 now remains for allocation to rural road projects. With the conclusion of the current secondary road bond program, North Carolina will have issued some $316,000,000 in highway construction bonds over a 35 year period and spent untold millions in current revenue on roads. During the 1953 session, the Legislature empow-ered the Governor to appoint a five-member study group to decide if and how the organization of the State Highway Commission should be revised. As a result, the committee and the Governor recommended that the State's 100 counties be regrouped from ten geographic divisions into fourteen divisions. Since the middle thirties, the State had been divided into ten highway divisions. When Governor Umstead created the 14-member State Highway Commission in May, 1953, he ap-pointed A. H. (Sandy) Graham, chairman. The Gov-ernor appointed a prominent group of businessmen Modern uouuie-iatie mgnwuy on nouie 04 eusi uj n-aizign. to serve as Highway Commissioners for the next four years. W. H. Rogers, Jr., is State Highway Engineer, a post he has held since 1949. Many of the State's top engineers—department heads and division engi-neers— have more than 25 years experience in road-building and are therefore well qualified to direct their phase of highway activity. Graham returns to his highway post after the busiest four years in rural roadbuilding in the State's history. He and his Commission have the task of keeping these lately improved secondary roads in good condition, maintaining all other portions of the State's 67,000-mile systems, and at the same time, vigorously pushing ahead the expanded primary highway improvement program. A recent survey showTed that over $365,000,000 was needed to modernize the State's rural primary highways and make them adequate for present traf-fic needs. There has been a phenomenal increase in total traffic volumes and weights that call for wider highways and thicker pavements. However, during the last decade the State has built by-passes for through car and truck traffic around West Asheville, Lexington, Thomasville, the north side of Durham, Siler City, Hickory, Wendell, Ply-mouth, Shelby, Pembroke, Waynesville, Concord, Asheboro, Chapel Hill, Henderson, Fayetteville, Wil-son, Weldon, Clinton, Burgaw, Golclsboro and Lenoir. By-passes are now under construction on US 29 and 70 around High Point, Greensboro, Burlington, Graham and Mebane ; on US 64 around Statesville and Asheboro ; on US 74 and 601 around Monroe ; and on US 15 and NC 158 around Oxford. Recently the relocation of US 1 by-passing Wake Forest, Franklinton and Youngsville was completed. The cost of primary highways now ranges from $35,000 to $60,000 a mile for a two-lane road. This figure does not include the costs of right-of-way, Grading on the new four-lane super highway between Old Fort and Ridgecrest. Relocation of 6.15 miles on U. 8. 10 will cost about $3,225,000. 'The Governor Umstead", a converted Navy landing craft, now a 22-car ferryboat, operating around Oregon Inlet. PAGE 78 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY SUMMER-FALL, 1953 grading, bridges or any items other than paving. The cost of paving varies according to types, terrain, and other factors. In mountainous areas, roadbuild-ing is necessarily slower and costlier while long bridges and swamps add to the cost of coastal road-building. Of necessity, major improvements on the primary system must be made in short sections for three rea-sons: traffic need, availability of funds, and avoid-ance of serious traffic disruption. Spurred on by a road-conscious Governor and an experienced chairman, the State Highway Commis-sion is striving to modernize its primary highway system. Much more planning and effort must yet be made to bring today's highways—many tnat were built in the Twenties for lighter and slower-moving vehicles—up to the standards required. As funds become available, the Commission plans to rebuild more miles of the State's overburdened, and in many cases, outmoded primary routes. Intracoastal Waterway Pleasure Craft, Freight Boat Artery North Carolina contains within her eastern bor-ders 308 miles of the Atlantic Intracoastal Walk-way, an important sea level artery of water traffic extending from a point 23 miles northeast of Boston, a few miles inland from the ocean along the Atlantic Coast, to the beginning of the Florida Peninsula and thence southward to Key West, Florida. A connection link across Florida beginning with the St. Johns River and reaching to Brownsville, Texas, was authorized by Congress in 1942. Both routes are portions of some 28,000 miles of navigable inland waterways in the Continental United States. The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, formerly known as the Inland Waterway, has become a valua-ble channel of trade, especially vital during the war periods while submarines infested the water along the Seaboard. In addition to carrying a large and increasing amount of freight traffic it is also ideal for the thousands of small pleasure craft which use its facilities each year. Its channel has been devel-oped by the U. S. Army's Corps of Engineers over a long period of years and is available without coll charges for commerce and pleasure to any individual or firm in the U. S. desiring to make use of its ad-vantages. Sections of the inland waterway have been devel-oped almost since the beginning of the republic and the entire project, as such, is still not complete. It is recalled that George Washington made a survey for a Dismal Swamp canal in Virginia in 1755. Opened in 1820, this canal branches off southeast-ward from the Elizabeth River through Deep Creek to the Dismal Swamp Canal then into the Pasquotank River by Elizabeth City into Albemarle Sound. The two routes intersect at a point 70 miles south of Nor-folk and just west of the highway bridge across Cur-rituck Sound. The first work done by the Federal Government —All photos by Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army Pleasure craft and charter boats anchored on the Intracoastal Waterway at Morehead City. ~+Y N[W *V- / V^ovW' Map showing principal routes of Intracoastal f~ \ # Waterway through sounds, rivers and land cuts along eastern North Carolina Seaboard. was in 1828 and in 1837 a survey was authorized between the southern end of the Dismal Swamp canal in North Carolina and Winyah Bay in South Caro-lina. The Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal, con-necting those sounds from the vicinity of Norfolk southward, cutting through Elizabeth River, Deep Creek, the Virginia Cut and into Currituck Sound and through North River to Albemarle Sound, was begun in 1856 as a private enterprise. Then in 1873 the Federal Government began a consistent movement toward a comprehensive and connected waterway. In the years which followed, the Federal Government began the adoption of waterway improvement projects which continue through the years. Many of these were at first local and not related. Records show that in the decade 1880-89 a dozen projects were adopted. In later decades additional projects were adopted as follows: 13 in 1890-99 ; 7 in 1900-09 ; 16 in 1910-19 ; 6 in 1920- 29 ; 23 in 1930-39 ; 31 in 1940-49. Additional projects have been approved since this last report. Although inland waterways were developed from the Boston vicinity through to New York and other points south, the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway actually starts at Trenton, N. J., running the Dela-ware River to Philadelphia, Wilmington and Salem, crosses by canal at Chesapeake Bay, runs through 'iUMMER-FALL, 1953 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 79 ihis bay to Hampton Roads ; then as stated by way If Norfolk into Currituck and later Albemarle jjound. [ This is the principal route, but the old Dismal JSwamp Canal route may also be used from Norfolk nto the Pasquotank River by way of Elizabeth City, md thence into Albemarle Sound. Continuing in ^orth Carolina it enters Alligator River, then hrough the Alligator-Pungo Canal, 22 miles long, nto Pungo River, across Pamlico River and by way >f natural streams and land cuts to Beaufort Harbor. ?rom there it goes by sounds, marshes and cuts hrough Bogue Sound, Topsail Sound, by way of Wrightsville and through a land cut, 13 miles below Wilmington, into the Cape Fear River. A branch ingles off to Wilmington while the main channel :ontinues to Southport and westwardly to Little Riv- ;r at the South Carolina line, ending as stated at Key West, Florida. From the Intracoastal Waterway in North Caro-ina several branches and water connections are ivailable and maintained to various points along the Seaboard. Points connected by waterway include ^denton, Plymouth, Elizabeth City, Winton, Mur-xeesboro, Windsor, Hamilton, Columbia, Washing-on and on to a point near Greenville; New Bern, Mental, Jacksonville, Swansboro and from Wil-nington to Fayetteville, up the Cape Fear River in vhich three locks are used. Numbers of other points ilso have access to the Intracoastal Waterway. The Intracoastal Waterway has been constructed md is maintained by the Corps of Engineers. The otal cost of new construction in North Carolina, as ihown in a recent report, is $9,401,800 and the esti-nated annual maintenance is some less than $400,000 i year. Width of the canal is 90 feet in land cuts and ip to 300 feet in open water. A twelve-foot channel s maintained normally but only a ten-foot depth las been maintained, because of economy reasons, imce the Korean war began. Reports indicate that probably more than 50 miles )f the channel in North Carolina has been cut hrough land. Principal among these are the cut )etween the Virginia line and the North River Bar, ;ix miles; Alligator-Pungo land cut, 22.5 miles; joose Creek-Bay River land cut, 3.8 miles, and \dams Creek-Core Creek land cut, 6.3 miles; Core >eek land cut, 2.2 miles. Several short land cuts ire not listed. In addition, the Corps of Engineers nust dredge many miles in sound, rivers and marshes ;o provide controlling depth. In other places dams Mr vieiv of bridge over Intracoastal Waterway at Coinjock, Currituck County. Bulkheads anchored to shore to protect structure. Tug pushing barge over Intracoastal Waterway near Coinjock. Wheel house jutting upward allows pilot to see above deck of barge. are built to retain water at the required level. Some parts of the waterway in North Carolina are affected by lunar tides which cause a variation in depth as high as 6 to 7 feet in some portions passing through open water. Historically, the portion of the waterway between the Virginia line and Beaufort was commenced in August, 1923, and completed in February, 1930 ; the channel between Beaufort and the Cape Fear River was commenced in March, 1927, and completed in December, 1932 ; an eight by 75-foot channel from Cape Fear to Little River, S. C., was dredged between 1932 and 1939 and enlarged to 12 feet by 90 feet between 1939 and 1940. Feeder channels were pro-vided during this period to several points near the waterway. As provided, under local cooperation, North Carolina was required to acquire right-of-way, including land for the land cuts, and turn it over to the Federal Government without cost. The lone ex-ception was Snow's cut between Wilmington and Carolina Beach. Land for this cut was acquired by the State and deeded to the Federal Government. Other conditions, such as building and operating draw bridges of the waterway after it was establish-ed, must be met. Fourteen bridges cross the waterway in North Carolina. Five of these were in operation before the waterway was established, all of them north of Beaufort. The Federal Government built and main-tains five of the bridges, including the bridges at Coinjock; Fairfield: the Wilkerson Creek Bridge near Belhaven ; the Hobucken Bridge and Core Creek Bridges north of Beaufort. The Beaufort and More-head City Railway Co., owns, operates and maintains the railroad bridge on its line. Bridges built since the waterway was established and operated by North Carolina are the Morehead City Bridge, the Atlantic Beach Bridge, the Sears Landing Bridge near Holly Ridge, the Wrightsville Beach Bridge, the Carolina Beach Bridge (built by the Federal Government and given to the State) , the Long Beach Bridge near Southport and the Holden Beach Bridge, the latter now being constructed. Another bridge, the Hurst Beach Bridge, now under construction, is owned and operated by the Marine Corps for Camp Lejeune. Freight and passenger traffic over the waterway have shown large and consistent increases in recent years. The average annual commerce handled over the North Carolina section, designated the Wilming-ton District, was 1,201,080 short tons. Partially PAGE 80 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY Summer-fall, 1953 broken down this commerce amounted to 873,063 tons in 1947; 1,073,718 tons in 1948, and 1,325,029 tons in 1949. The 1951 figures show commerce of 1.478,- 500 tons, the last figures readily available. Figures for 1952 and 1953 are expected to show continued increases. Passenger traffic reached 2,200 in 1947, dropped to 2,000 in 1948, and in 1949 increased to 2,500. Later years are expected to show even great-er increases. Figures for 1949 show that 73 steamers, 7,744 motor vessels, 1,801 barges, and 771 other types of craft, making a total of 10,389 vessels, made trips through the waterway. Approximately 4,600 of these were pleasure craft drawing less than four feet of water. The balance, approximately 5,800 vessels, drawing from five to twelve feet of water, were pre-sumed to be freight carriers. These figures give some indication of the importance of this waterway not only within the boundaries of North Carolina but for its entire length along the Atlantic Coast.—Revised by H. E. Hicks, Chief Technical Liaison Branch, Corps of Engineers U.S. Army, Wilmington District / \JPm7 L Blue Ridge Parkway, One of World's Remarkable Scenicways By R. Getty Browning, Chief Locating Engineer, N. C. Highway Department The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the most re-markable highways in the United States or in the world for that matter. The plan to build this Parkway originated from a consideration of the best means that could be pro-vided to drive from the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee. The con-clusion was finally reached that a Parkway from which commercial traffic could be excluded would offer a far better means of visiting these parts of the country than would the ordinary highways which carry such a heavy volume of mixed vehicles that they cannot be considered recreational highways in any sense. In projecting the highway through Virginia and North Carolina, the Interior Department requested that the Highway Departments in these states sug-gest a route which they thought would be suitable for such a Parkway and that they donate the desired right-of-way width to the Government without cost. f V 1 GHAHAW / J—-£r_jh. L<—•* Note: Blue Ridge Parkway is really Mr. Browning's "baby". In 1934 Mr. Browning mapped the route for the Secretary of the Interior, based on information obtained by actually walking over it. Even though this was done before any surveys were begun, the finished parkway follows the route almost exactly. The committee, appointed by Secretary lo'ies to recommend to him the most suitable route for the parkway, approved a route extending from Blowing Rock, N. C, to Gatlinburg, Tenn. This decision appeared so unfair to North Carolina because of the great superiority of the scenery and the much higher elevations on the North Carolina route that Mr. Browning made a personal appeal to Secretary Ickes, which, with the detailed information offered, proved so effective that the North Carolina route was adopted. Map shows course of Blue Ridge Parkway through Norih Caro-lina. Solid lines shoto completed highiuays; dotted lines show incomplete but passable on other roads, and parallel lines unim-proved stretches not yet opened. Dotted oval outlines Great Smoky Mountains National Park. North Carolina met this request by plotting a map through the most outstanding mountainous scenery in the State, and agreed to furnish at least 125 acres of land per mile for the right-of-way and also to make all the necessary surveys and to carry out all negotia-tions for the right-of-way without charge. Since there is more than 250 miles of the Parkway in North Carolina, it is readily seen that the State was assum-ing quite an obligation and in so doing officials dem-onstrated their belief that the immense value of the Parkway to the State as a whole would be justified. It was felt that by the construction of this beautiful drive between the parks many visitors would be at-tracted to the State from all parts of the country. I artWF- 5,::-:;. —Photos by State News Bureau. Skimming mountain crests near Grandfather Mountain on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. Mount Mitchell, highest peak, in Eastern America, is seen above the clouds from the Blue Ridge Parkway. SUMMER-FALL, 1953 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 81 The total length of the Parkway is 477 miles. It ias a twenty-foot pavement with five-foot shoulders hi each side, guard rails where necessary, and it is andscaped by utilizing the indigenous shrubs and lowers to the best advantage. The boundaries of the right-of-way are so flexible ;hat they were expanded where desired to take in some beautiful area or to protect a crossroad from ;he possibility of unsightly buildings, and in some nstances it was reduced in width to a minimum of 200 feet to reduce the right-of-way damages which )therwise would have been excessive. Along the route of the Parkway there are consid- 'vabiy more than 100 varieties of trees and over 100') iifferent kinds of shrubs and wild flowers. The ele-ction ranges from about 2700 feet to over 6000 feet ibove sealevel, and since it passes through the most nagnificent scenery to be found anywhere in the country, it has become a most popular automobile ;our. In the spring when the flowers are coming in bloom it different times on different levels, and in the fall when the foliage is changing in the same fashion, sooner in the low ground, and then moving upward n the higher mountains, the traveler is amazed and LuUimn view of Blue Ridge Parkway near Doughton Park in Wilkes County. Tunnel on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville. delighted to view the vast areas of beautiful coloring which is to be seen on every side. Frequent overlooks are provided where one may park and view the scenery, take pictures, or enjoy a picnic lunch without being hurried or disturbed in any way. There is probably no similar Parkway in existence where one may enjoy so much freedom, security and entertainment as on this one. In sum-mer the climate is delightfully cool, frequently being fifteen or twenty degrees cooler than in the nearby valleys, and since one may drive as slowly as he de-sires and stop as frequently as he wishes, it makes a very delightful place to spend a vacation. During last year more than five million people en-joyed the Parkway and since there are at least one hundred million persons living within less than one thousand miles of it, which is only a three-day drive, it is obvious that as the Parkway becomes better known, it will attract more and more visitors each year. 4,000,000 VISITORS IN 1953 Almost 4,000,000 visitors to the Blue Ridge Parkway had been recorded by the end of October, an increase of 16.4 percent over the number at the same date last year, and Parkway officials estimated that between 300,000 and 500,000 more people would visit the scenic drive before the year closed. Records show that visitors came from almost every state and from nearly two dozen foreign countries in 1953. North Carolina led all states, with one-third of the total, while North Carolina and Virginia furnished considerably more than half of the visitors. States along the eastern Seaboard sent most of the visitors, as usual, but Ohio and Illinois were not far behind. Wilmington, Morehead Ports Improved to Increase Shippin; N. C. State Ports Authority, created in 1945 to develop shipping facilities at Wilmington and More-head City primarily, made preparations during the four years until 1949 when the General Assembly authorized the issuance of $7,500,000 in bonds. Since that time port facilities second to none on the Atlan-tic Coast, have been constructed and have made ex-tensive progress in handling outgoing and incoming products produced by and needed by North Caro-lina's important industrial firms. North Carolina had long been handicapped by lack of adequate port facilities and many steps have been taken seeking to improve the few ports along the Eastern Seaboard which were available for develop-ment. Sandbars along the coast served as a barrier to prevent development of shipping facilities. Two major exceptions are found at Wilmington and More-head City but these ports needed extensive develop-ment before they could be brought into profitable use. Governor Morrison, during his administration (1921-24) , sought to improve the ports by a proposed bond is?ue but the proposal failed. In 1933 the Caoe Fear River Association was formed and in 1935 the Wilmington Ports Commission was created by the General Assembly. Ten years later that body au-thorized the State Ports Authority, but it was four years later before the $7,500,000 bond issue provided funds for port development. Many other movements had proven inadequate and unsuccessful. Development of the Port of Wilmington started January 1, 1948, when the State Ports Authority se- PAGE 82 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY cured a fifty-year lease from the United States Ma-rine Corps for about 50 acres of waterfront on the northern end of the shipyard at Wilmington. Since that time approximately 29 acres costing around $30,000, have been secured, adjoining the leased site. This area is located at Wilmington, 30 miles up the Cape Fear River from the Atlantic Ocean. The chan-nel is wide and the depth is 32 feet at mean low wa-ter. Built on 3,000 concrete piles, 43 feet deep, is a wharf 1,510 feet long and 200 feet wide, with space for three ships at a time. Two railroad tracks and gantry cranes are located on shipside and two transit sheds, each containing 79,000 square feet are adjacent to the berths. Behind these sheds is a storage warehouse containing 98,000 square feet. All of these are of fireproof construc-tion, all brick, steel and concrete. A fumigating plant was added recently with four vacuum chambers 6x9 feet for fumigating tobacco, cotton or other products requiring this treatment. A scale house, fitted with motor tread scales, and railway track scales, was constructed. An existing building was remodeled to provide office space and maintenance shops. A water system, for fire protection, ships' water and other uses, includes a 200,000 gallon ele-vated tank. Most of the $5,000,000 earmarked for this development has been expended. Ocean Terminal at Morehead City was allotted $2,- 500,000 of the bond proceeds. Here some port facili-ties had already been developed and the State Ports Authority purchased the site and buildings from the Morehead City Port Commission for $201,800. The general contract for construction of new facilities amounted to $2,002,555. Construction included a steel sheet pile bulkhead and timber relieving plat-form or dock 1,200 feet long. A large fireproof tran-sit shed, containing 60,000 square feet and two stor-age warehouses of 35,640 and 51,840 square feet. Work also included dredging in front of the docks, paving, landscaping and other development. More-head City already had a dock 1,350 feet long and one transit shed. This wharf has been reconstructed and the transit shed repaired. Two Morehead ware-houses are leased to the U. S. Navy and three other firms rent space, bringing in satisfactory revenues. The revenues from operation of the two ports bv the end of May, 1953, reached $151,180. The first ship to dock at Wilmington was the steamship South-port in May, 1952. Within one year, to May 22, 1953, 25 additional ships had docked with varying cargoes. Two ships had gone out of the port loaded with 3,867 hogsheads of tobacco, destined for foreign ports. More recent figures show that 225 ships had docked Wilmington terminal of State Ports Authority showing ship-side storage and rail and truck approaches to warehouses. and about 150 ships including military vessels, had sailed up to Nov. 1. The State Ports Authority is seeking to establish as many regular sailings from the Wilmington and Morehead City ports as possible, and by so doing, use the splendid terminal facilities to greater advantage. Heavy exports of tobacco, cotton and other products of farms and factories are expected to develop. Among the exports the ports hope to develop are long staple cotton, mahogany logs and veneers, foodstuffs, bauxite, fertilizer, chemicals and numerous other products. The ports are expected to develop into important feeders for inland ports, particularly those available to the Intracoastal Waterway, such as Fay-etteville, Edenton, Greenville and others. In accordance with legislative act of 1945 Govern-or Cherry appointed a seven-member board (the board elects its officers) including R. B. Page, Wil-mington (chairman) ; A. G. Myers, Gastonia (vice-chairman) ; W. O. Huske, Fayetteville (secretary-treasurer) ; J. H. White, Winston-Salem; H. S. Gibbs, Morehead City; S. B. Frink, Southport; T. Henry Wilson, Morganton. A nine-member board was provided in 1949 and Governor Scott named to this board Mr. Myers (chairman) ; Nello L. Teer, Durham (vice-chairman) ; Mr. Huske (secretary-treasurer— replaced soon afterward by Staley Cooke, Burlington) ; George Ross Pou, state auditor, ex offi-cio ; Mr. White ; David Q. Holton, Edenton ; W. Avery Thompson, Hallsboro ; Henry Vann, Clinton, and W. J. Bason, North Wilkesboro. Again in 1953 the General Assembly reduced the number of members from nine to seven and Governor N. C. State Ports Authority terminal at Morehead City can accommodate five ships at berth. The S.S. August Bolten, Hamburg, unloads bulk fertilizer ma-terials at Morehead City State Ports terminal. Summer-fall, 1953 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 83 Umstead named to four-year terms A. G. Myers, Gas-tonia (chairman) ; Edwin Pate, Laurinburg (vice-chairman) ; W. Avery Thompson, Hallsboro (secre-tary- treasurer) ; Harvey W. Moore, Charlotte; J. Harvey White, Winston-Salem, and Raymond Bryan, Goldsboro. Mr. Myers, leading Gastonia banker and textile executive for many years, resigned as chairman and member of the board due to his health after 71/2 years as a member and 4^ years as chairman. Ed-win Pate, vice-chairman, was appointed chairman to succeed him at a meeting on October 20, and Ray-mond Brown, Goldsboro, was named vice-chairman. Col. George W. Gillette, native of Onslow County and for many years a colonel in the Army of Engi-neers, located much of the time in the Wilmington area, was elected executive director of the Ports Authority and set up his office in the Trust Building, Wilmington, January 1, 1948. During the first half of the five years he has been executive director, Col-onel Gillette devoted much of his attention to sur-veys and plans and publicizing the value of using this State's ports. Much of the last half of the period has been devoted to construction of facilities at the two ports and in beginning operations in handling incoming and outgoing cargoes. Colonel Gillette re- NJ / i / .... . . Large Argentine Transport -freighter recently loaded with $15,000,000 worth of tobaeco from Wilmington docks for an English tobacco company. signed as executive director at the October 20 meet-ing, his resignation becoming effective December 31. Note—Col. Richard Searl Marr, 52, recently retired after 30 years in the U.S. Army, Infantry, was named director of the State Ports Authority to succeed Col. Gillette at a meet-ing of the board Dec. 31, 1953. Public Transportation Systems Regulated by State 62 Years By Fred C. Hunter, Commissioner, N. C. Utilities Commission The transportation of property and people has been a matter of public concern and of some degree of governmental regu-lation for centuries. Law-making bodies were trying to find ways and means of assuring the public of adequate transpor-tation long before the coming of airplanes, motor vehicles, or railroads. Regulation of transportation was the subject of legislation in England long before we became a nation. It was a matter of such public concern as to require legislation and regulation in the days of the Roman Empire, and it is a matter of deepest public concern now in this country and in every country. Without it great cities could never have been built in any age, and without an adequate system of trans-portation they certainly could not survive under conditions existing today. Factories could not produce goods; markets could not be maintained; and commerce and trade as we know it now could not exist. Without an adequate working system of transportation we would soon be in want and in distress. Through preference and discrimination transportation has the power to make or destroy individuals and communities. It has made millionaires and it has made paupers. It has made cities grow and prosper, and has consigned them to decay. It has the power to fix the status of one area of the nation as a producer of raw materials and to make cities in other areas great manufacturing centers. By a difference in service and in rates all these things have been done. The public cannot exercise its choice in selecting its trans-portation service as it may do in selecting its lawyer, its doc-tor, or its merchant. If the merchant on the corner does not conduct his business as you think he should, you may refuse to trade with him. If his services are not satisfactory, or his prices are too high, you may walk across the street and trade with another. But, if you want to ride a train to a certain point, or ship goods to a certain point, your public transporta-tion service is limited. Perhaps only one railroad or one motor carrier service is available. Schedules are fixed, charges are fixed, and your only choice is to take the service as offered or provide your own means of transportation. Because of the vast potentialities of transportation, its effect upon individuals and communities, and its power to make or destroy other business enterprises, it has been classed as a business "affected with the public interest" and has been placed under some governmental supervision and control. Pub-lic carriers operate under franchise rights which give them certain privileges not given to the public in general. They N. C. UTILITIES COMMISSION The five members of the N. C. Utilities Commission, regula-tors of utilities, including public transportation, are: Stanley Winborne, chairman; Fred C. Hunter, Edward H. McMahan, Harry T. Wescott and Sam O. Worthington. John Hill Paylor, Assistant Attorney General, is assigned to the Commission, and Mrs. Mary Laurens Richardson is chief clerk. Other key officials are Dorothy Austell, budget and personnel officer; Vern W. Chase, telephone engineer; Virl L. Choate, director of accounts; M. Broadus Glover, director, Motor Freight Transportation; Eugene A. Hughes, Jr., director, Motor Passenger Transportation; LeRoy M. Keever, electrical engi-neer; C. H. Noah, director, Traffic; Edgar Womble, consultant, Water, Gas and Telegraph Service. have the right of eminent domain and to some extent are pro-tected from competition by other carriers seeking to enter the field. A merchant, a farmer, or a manufacturer will not be heard to complain about competition, but rail carriers and motor carriers have a legal basis for objecting to competition. They have a legal right to require others seeking to enter the trans-portation field to show that a public demand and need exists for the proposed service in addition to like services presently being rendered. An ordinary private enterprise would have no standing in any court on a plea that another like business is not needed in the community and would be injurious to existing business of the same kind, but a common carrier will be heard on such a plea and his business protected from destructive competition. These special privileges carry with them corresponding obli-gations and duties to the public. Railroads and motor car-riers that operate under franchise rights must continue to operate. They are not at liberty to discontinue business and wait for better times, and they are not at liberty to choose their patrons. They are required to provide reasonably ade-quate transportation service at reasonable rates for all who come, and they are required to serve all alike without favor, preference, or discrimination. Their rates and charges must be approved before they are placed into effect, and these rates and charges cannot be increased nor their services curtailed without the consent of the governmental agency by which they PAGE 84 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY Summer-fall, 1953 are regulated and controlled. Transportation has been described as the blood streams of the nation. Those who enter this field as common carriers are clothed with a part of the sovereign power of the State, in order that these blood streams may continue to flow. They are entrusted with the duty of moving the products of the soil, of the mines, and of the factories, and if they fail in this duty the battles on all the fronts will have been lost. The development of transportation is one of the very inter-esting chapters in the history of the progress of mankind. It is interesting to us because it is predominantly one of Amer-ica's contributions to the world. Within about one hundred years America has developed transportation from where it was when the Pyramids were built to where it is today. Through all the centuries, from Jehu to Paul Revere, man never trav-eled over the earth any faster than a horse can run. Railroads are only a little more than a hundred years old, and they have developed to their greatest efficiency in this country and within the memory of people now living. Trains are now being operated approximately 900,000,000 miles per year in this country; carrying about 600,000,000 passengers and about 3,000,- 000,000 tons of freight. The gross revenue of the railroads of the United States from freight traffic in 1950, the latest complete figures available, was $7,933,764,000. If North Carolina paid freight bills in the ratio of its population to the population of the United States, it paid $213,814,000 in 1950 for railroad freight service. During the same year the citizens of this State paid $91,476,700 for electric power and light service and $43,540,300 for telephone service. Freight transportation charges begin with the trans-portation of the raw products of the fields, the forests, and the mines, and include every movement from the producer and manufacturer to the consumer. A freight charge is included in every electric light bill and in every telephone bill, and in the price of every box of matches and in the price of every tube of dental cream. Every business and every individual make a contribution to the payment of railroad freight charges. That contribution in 1950 amounted to $52.63 for every man, woman, and child in North Carolina. To this we may add that approximately 54,000,000 motor vehi-cles are now in use in the United States, and they are operating more than a billion miles over the streets and highways of this country every day. Of this total, more than 1,300,000 motor vehicles are now licensed in North Carolina and they operate approximately 30,000,000 miles in this State every day. The airplane adds yet another chapter to America's con-tribution to transportation. Since the airplane made its first flight in North Carolina fifty years ago, travel by air has be-come commonplace and at an increasing speed that approaches the speed of sound. The railroad, the motor vehicle, and the airplane are all largely American contributions to transporta-tion. They are the products of the inventive genius and or-ganization of the American people and have made this country the wonder of wonderlands and the envied people of the earth. America has made another significant contribution to trans-portation in the field of regulation. Regulation of transporta-tion by a commission created by statute for this purpose had its inception in this country, and it is peculiarly an American system of regulating carrier and other public service agencies. North Carolina is one of the pioneers in providing for regula-tion of carriers of property and passengers by a commission. Sixty-two years ago the North Carolina Farmers Alliance gained control of the General Assembly in this State to the extent that the General Assembly of 1891 is known to this day as the "Farmers Legislature." It created the Board of Railroad Commisisoners now designated as the North Carolina Utilities Commission, and gave it full power and authority (1) to pre-scribe just and reasonable rates and charges to be observed by all railroads operating in this State, ( 2 ) to make rules and regulations necessary to prevent injurious discrimination in the transportation of freight nad passengers, and (3) to make rules and regulations to "prevent the giving, paying, or receiv-j ing of any rebate or bonus, directly or indirectly, and from] misleading or deceiving the public in any manner as to the real rates charged for freight and passengers." This "Farmers Legislature" of 1891 also provided by a later Act at the same session "that the railroad commissioners elected at this session of the General Assembly and (their) successors in office be and they are hereby created and consti-tuted a court of record inferior to the Supreme Court . . . and, as such, shall have all the powers and jurisdiction of the court of general jurisdiction as to all subjects embraced in the Act creating such railroad commission heretofore passed." Under this Act and subsequent acts of the Legislature, the North Carolina Utilities Commission now has under its jurisdiction,1 and subject to its regulations with respect to service and rates, 34 railroads which operate a total of 4,554 miles within the: State, 454 motor carriers of property, and 139 motor carriers of passengers. This commission system of regulation has been established in every State in the United States and is a system of regu-lation of carriers and public utilities that has no parallel in any other country. Under this system billions have been in-vested in transportation facilities, and we have the finest service and the soundest investment in freight transportation to be found anywhere in the world. While this great success story in the development of transportation was being written in North Carolina and throughout the nation, the railroads have been nationalized or taken over by the government in nearly every other country in the world. As vital to the pub-lic as transportation is, we still hold to the idea in this country that transportation under our system of regulation provides better service to more people than is possible under any system of government ownership. Motor Carriers Develop Rapidly Into Vital State Industry By Jeff B. Wilson, AT. C. Motor Carriers Association The North Carolina trucking industry has banished the "eco-nomic isolation" of many smaller places. In fact more than 1800 Tar Heel cities, towns and com-munities depend entirely on truck transportation for every-thing they eat, wear and use. North Carolina is a state of small farms and small cities and towns. It ranks 10th in the United States in population, but has only one city of more than 100,000 population- Charlotte. Yet the Tar Heel factories are within over-night truck delivery distance of great Eastern and Southern markets. And, built arond this flexi-ble door-to-door truck service, Charlotte itself has become a great metropolis, supplying the many needs of the South. Immediately following World War I, with the ad- New officers of N. C. Motor Carriers Association, Inc., 1. to r., ./. T. Outlaw, executive vice-president, Raleigh; J. K. Glenn, second vice-president, Winston-Salem ; W. W. Miller, Jr., first vice-president, Charlotte; C. Grier Beam, president, Cherryville, being congratulated by M. Webster Henry, Rocky Mount, re-tiring president. vent of more and better highways, a type of trans-portation was born which could and did give to the American public a quicker and better freight service Summer-fall, 1953 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 85 is well as passenger service at less cost ; this was mown as the truck and bus industry. North Carolina :ame in very definitely for its share of the develop-nent of this new industry to its fullest extent. The first World War, with all its tragedy and leartaches, gave to this nation the internal combus- ;ion engine and rubber tires. Automobiles, though ;carce to a great degree prior to the War, became a node of transportation for most of the American public. Immediately on its heels, through further use of :he internal combustion engine and rubber tires, was 30m the trucking industry. Its first development iame through the changing from the horse and wag- >n days to small capacity motor trucks, confined vir- ;ually to intra-city use. In the early 20's the rubber ndustry developed pneumatic tires that could carry i fairly heavy load with no damage to the highways, md with this development, through the manufacture )f trucks, came an engine capable of maintaining a .airly high speed—approximately thirty miles per lour—and the Hotchkiss Drive to replace the old nodel chain drive. These two developments in the :ire and motor industries opened up new avenues for the movement of freight over great distances. With this change our present Motor Carrier indus- ;ry first came into its own. Every development in this country that has given ;o the public a better service for less money has had ts ups and downs and the Motor Transportation industry is no exception to this rule. Starting with a very humble beginning it had ob-stacle after obstacle to surmount. In the late 20's motor truck people banded together into an associa- ;ion for their own interests. This Association was formed in 1928 with H. D. (Buddy) Horton, Char-otte, as its first president. About 1926, the textile industry in our state was NEW OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS OF N. C. MOTOR CARRIERS ASSOCIATION C. Grier Beam, president, Carolina Freight Carriers Corp., Dherryville, was elected president of the North Carolina Motor Harriers Association, Inc., at the Association's 22nd annual convention at the Carolina Hotel, Pinehurst, October 6. He succeeds M. Webster Henry who is secretary and treasurer of 3. S. Henry Transfer, Inc., Rocky Mount. Edwin Gill, State Treasurer, installed the new officers. About 400 delegates at-tended. Other officers include W. W. Miller, Jr., president, Miller Motor Express, Inc., Charlotte, first vice-president; J. K. Glenn, Quality Oil Transport, Winston-Salem, second vice-president; I. T. Outlaw, Raleigh, executive vice-president, and John M. .\kers, executive vice-president of Akers Motor Lines, Inc., Grastonia, State vice-president of the American Trucking Asso-ciation; H. L. Netly, chairman, accounting council; E. W. Fredrickson, chairman, council safety supervisors; R. H. Booe, Ir., chairman, customer relation council, all of Charlotte. Directors elected for the ensuing year include W. C. Honey- Jutt, Black Mountain; John M. Akers and W. W. Akers, Jr., Grastonia; J. A. Barnwell, Burlington; R. L. Brinson, Jr., David Piske and W. D. Lewis, High Point; R. L. Burns, Sanford; A D. Burton, Albemarle; C. S. Burton, Reidsville; Harwood Cochrane, Richmond, Va.; G. W. Dehart, Hickory; B. J. Forbes and D. J. Thurston, Jr., Wilson; George H. Hall, III, and W. E. Sisson, Wilmington; M. W. Henry, Rocky Mount; J. W. Jones, Fairmont; E. W. McLeod, Jr., Henderson; G. D. Thompson. Greensboro; J. F. Boone, A. E. Clontz, H. R. Dowd, Pat Haral-son, L. Worth Harris, H. D. Horton, P. H. Johansen, J. D. Kluttz, Leo J. Molloy, Emory Morris, W. E. Wilkinson, Tom Peacock and Fred Mayer, all of Charlotte; William R. Davis, E. G. Lackey, S. H. Mitchell, J. P. McLean, M. P. McLean, R. Y. Sharpe and George Lentz, all of Winston-Salem. N. C. WINS TROPHY FOURTH TIME Around 100 officials and members of the N. C. Motor Car-riers A scciaaon, Inc., and prominent guests gathered for a dinner in the Robert E. Lee Hotel in Winston-Salem on Thurs- ,, day evening, November 19, for the presenta-tion to this organization of the National Truck-ing Safety Trophy for the fourth time since it was inaugurated in 1946. The first trophy was to be awarded perma-nently to the State Association winning it for the third time. North Cai-olina won that tro-phy three different years and has it in perma-nent possession. This year, the eighth year of presentation, North Carolina won the new trophy for the first year, starting on the road to permanent possession. The presentation was made by James F. Pinkney, general counsel, American Trucking Association, Inc., Washington, D. C, and the award was received by C. Grier Beam, Cherry-ville, president of the North Carolina group, who presided as toastmaster. Mr. Pinkney was introduced by James K. McLean, Winston- Scheidt, Commissioner of Department of Motor Vehicles, Raleigh, spoke on the State Safety Program, com-mending the Motor Carriers Association for the splendid record achieved. He was presented by M. Webster Henry, Rocky Mount, immediate past president, NCMCA. baiem. fast coming into its own, as well as tobacco produc-tion and cigarette manufacture. To these industries, the Motor Transportation industry began to give out-lets to the eastern markets for the raw materials pro-duced and grown in North Carolina, such as they had never had before. Prior to this time, East-West transportation in North Carolina was a matter of five to ten days' duration. The amount of money, being required by the man-ufacturers and the producers to carry inventories sufficient to justify a five to ten day transportation loss, was so great that during the early 30's, when our country was going through an economic chaos, it was necessary that some type of transportation be afforded them to cut down this tremendous outlay of money. The trucking industry proved its worth in its store-door delivery and overnight transportation to almost any point in the state. Great industries, such as chain groceries, chain cotton mill manufacturers, lumber and tobacco manufacturers, immediately saw the possibilities in the trucking industry and gobbled up their services. The little businesses took on new life, and life was made more modern for each indi-vidual. It could almost be said that the Motor Car-rier industry was cradled in the lap of the depression and its worth was proved during a period of eco-nomic chaos. It grew further and faster from 1930 to 1935, probably, than any other industry in America. In fact the growth was sufficiently great that in 1935 the industry saw that its services could be better given to the public through the supervision of the Federal Government and in 1935 the Motor Carrier Act of the Interstate Commerce Commission became a reality. This Act, which was patterned after its predeces-so, the Rail Act, has served to police the industry in the same way. Certificates were issued on the basis of convenience and necessity and allowed certain terri-tories and certain commodities to be handled by the carrier as stipulated in his certificate. The first of these certificates was issued to Mr. John L. Wilker-son of Carolina Transfer and Storage Co., Charlotte, PAGE 86 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY Summer-fall, 1953 and from this beginning, has spread to a net-work of inter- and intra-state operations covering virtually every nook and corner of the state. With the development of the Motor Carrier indus-try, the North Carolina highway fund tax collections mounted. With each four to ten miles traveled by each vehicle, six cents tax on another gallon of gaso-line went into the State Treasury. License fees for motor carriers were increased. A six per cent gross receipts tax on revenue earned by common carriers soon followed. In 1935 the commercial motor vehi-cle carriers paid license and gross receipts tax of $2,156,828.00, exclusive of gasoline tax. For the year 1948, the commercial vehicles' license and gross receipts tax had increased to $9,726,891.00, still ex-clusive of gasoline tax. Three special taxes paid by the motor carrier in-dustry for the year 1948, including gasoline tax (bas-ed on a low estimate) , license tax and gross receipts tax was $21,820,284.00. This amount was enough to pay for all maintenance of state primary highways for 1948 (not including country roads) and in addi-tion enough to pay for more than one-half of new road construction on state highways for the year, notwithstanding the fact that hundreds of miles are restricted and prohibited from use by the heavier motor vehicles. The counties were similarly bene-fitted. An investigation of taxes paid to the counties by the railroads and by the owners of commercial vehicles indicate that the amounts are comparable. During the entire year of 1952, North Carolina's 227,669 trucks were owned by businessmen of all kinds. Farmers owned more t
Object Description
Description
Title | E.S.C. quarterly |
Date | 1953 |
Publisher | Raleigh, N.C.: Employment Security Commission of North Carolina,1947-1975. |
Rights | State Document see http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p249901coll22,63754 |
Language | English |
Digital Characteristics-A | 92 p.; 16.89 MB |
Digital Collection | North Carolina Digital State Documents Collection |
Digital Format | application/pdf |
Title Replaces | U.C.C. quarterly** |
Audience | All |
Pres File Name-M | pubs_serial_escquarterly19511954.pdf |
Pres Local File Path-M | Preservation_content\StatePubs\pubs_serial_escquarterly |
Full Text |
The E. S. C. Quarterly
VOLUME 11, NO. 3-4 SUMMERSALU 1953
Vorth Carolina Was A Pioneer in Railroad Building; Is A
National Leader in Trucking; Excellent Bus and Air Lines
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—Most of photos by N. C. Dept. of Archives and History
Methods of travel and transportation of yesteryear in North Carolina
(Descriptive lines Page 66)
PUBLISHED BY
Employment Security Commission of North Carolina
RALEIGH. N. C.
PAGE 66 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY Summer-fall, 195;
Ther E. S* C. Quarterly
' ,
' '.Formerly The U.v\C\ Quarterly)
Volume -lLfN urr.be os 3'-4 Summer-Fall, 1953
.
' - ' Issued at Raleigh, N. C. by the
EMPLOYMENT SECURITY COMMISSION OF
NORTH CAROLINA
Commissioners: Mrs. Quentin Gregory, Halifax; Dr. Harry D.
Wolf, Chapel Hill; R. Dave Hall, Belmont; W. Benton Pipkin,
Reidsville; C. A. Fink, Spencer; Crayon C. Efird, Albemarle.
State Advisory Council: Public representatives: James A. Brid-ger,
Bladenboro; James A. Gray, Robersonville; W. B. Hor-ton,
Yanceyville; Mrs. R. C. Lewellyn, Dobson, and Dr. J.
W. Seabrook, Fayetteville; Employer representatives: A. L.
Tait, Lincolnton, and W. A. Egerton, Enka; Employee repre-sentatives:
Melvin Ward, Spencer, AFL, and H. D. Lisk,
Charlotte, CIO.
HENRY E. KENDALL Chairman
R. FULLER MARTIN Director
Unemployment Insurance Division
ERNEST C. McCRACKEN Director
North Carolina State Employment Service Division
M. R. DUNNAGAN Editor
Public Information Officer
Sent free upon request to responsible individuals, agencies,
organizations and libraries. Address: E. S. C. Informational
Service, P. 0. Box 589, Raleigh, N. C.
CONTENTS Page
North Carolina Transportation 66
Kendall Again Chairman ; Gregory, Wolf Renamed ; Efird New 67
'Tweetsie', in Song and Story, at Boone, Now in Virginia 68
Transport Workers Double in Decade ; Bulk in Ten Counties 69
By Mrs. Grace Z. Moen
Early Trails, Trading Baths; State Breaks Traffic Limits 70
Blank Roads Hailed as 'Farmer Railroads'; Lasted a Decade 72
N. C. Early Leader in Railroad Building ; Many Short Lines 73
State Develops Modern 67,000 Mile Toll-Free Road System 75
By Margaret Burk
Intracoastal Waterway Pleasure Craft, Freight Boat Artery 78
Blue Ridge Parkway, One of World's Remarkable Scenicways 80
By R. Getty Browning
Wilmington, Morehead Ports Improved to Increase Shipping 81
Public Transportation Systems Regulated by State 62 Years 83
By Fred C. Hunter
Motor Carriers Develop Rapidly Into Vital State Industry 84
By Jeff B. Wilson
Officers and Directors, N. C. Motor Carriers Association 85
McLean Becomes Largest Trucking Firm in Southeast States 87
By George E. Spaulding
Akers Motor Lines Becomes State's Second Largest Carrier 89
Associated Transport Absorbed N. C. Units, Nation's Largest 90
Trucking Firms: Central Motor Lines, Pilot Freight Carriers, Great South-ern,
Overnite Transportation, Miller Motor Express, Thurston Motor
Lines, Johnson Motor Lines, Fredrickson Motor Express, Hennis Freight
Lines, Turner Transfer, Youngblood Truck Lines, Kilgo Motor Freight,
Lewis & Holmes Motor Freight, Harris Express, S. & W. Motor Lines,
New Dixie Lines, W. R. Candler Transfer, Jocie Motor Lines, Colonial
Motor Freight, Dickson Transfer, C. S. Henry Transfer, Neal Hawkins
Transfer, Blue Ridge Trucking, D. & L. Motor Lines, Edmae Trucking;
Associated Petroleum Carriers, Rojster Transport, Maybelle Transport,
Quality Oil Transport, Petroleum Transportation, Waccamaw Oil
Transport, H. W. Miller Trucking, Barnes Truck Line, North State
Motor Lines 92-109
Newspapers, Picture Films, Dated Items Need Quick Delivery 109
Observer Transportation Co., Citizens Express, Carolina Delivery Service
Utilities Commission Regulates 455 Truck Common Carriers Ill
Piedmont, Only N. C. Airline, 'Best Little Carrier' in Nation 112
N. C, Base of First Flight, Becoming Air-Minded ...113
Luxury Busses Carry Passengers Locally and Nation-Wide 115
Carolina Coach, Atlantic Greyhound, Queen City Coach, Smoky Moun-tain
Stages, Seashore Transportation, Southern Coach, Smoky Moun-tain
Tours—City Busses
State Licenses, Regulates 130 Bassenger Motor Bus Lines 123
Plantation Pipe Line Brings Petroleum Products to State ....124
Transcontinental Pipes Natural Gas Distributed in State ..126
Public Service Co. of N. C.
Several 'Firsts' and Little Known Facts About Railroads 128
By James M. White (N. C. Railroad Association)
Four N. C. Counties Never Had Rail Lines 129
Southern Largest Railroad Operating in North Carolina 130
(Carolina & Northwestern)
Col. A. B. Andrews—N. C. Railroad Classifications 133
Atlantic Coast Line Operates Large Rail System from N. C 134
President Davis, Old Bell, Rockingham Railroad, Va. and Carolina
Southern, East Carolina Railroad, Black Mountain Bailroad. Clinch-field
Railroad
Seaboard Air Line's System Started with Short N. C. Lines 138
By C. E. Bell
Norfolk Southern Has 90% of Operations in North Carolina 140
Norfolk and Western Operates Three Lines into N. Carolina ... ...142
Winston -Salem Southbound
Many Independent Short Line Railroads in North Carolina 144
Atlantic & East Carolina, Piedmont & Northern, Durham & Southern,
High Point, Thomasville & Denton, Aberdeen & Rocklish, Alexander
NORTH CAROLINA TRANSPORTATION
Transportation in North Carolina was difficulj
during the settlement and colonization period an!
on up past the turn of the century- Banks along th{
coast interfered with shipping and shallow sound
hindered any but small boats. Rivers and othe
streams had to be forded, ferried or bridged. Moun
tains in the west could be scaled only at gaps.
North Carolina passed through the trail and trad
ing path periods and the period of poorly improve)
and maintained roads, noted for their ruts and roots)
Plank roads were hailed as the "farmers' railroads'"
but their span of existence was brief. This Stat
went into the lead in construction of railroads dur
ing the quarter of a century before the War Betweei
the States, and again marched forward during th
last quarter of the last century. During the past 3i
years the State has again forged forward in the con
struction of a State-wide, county-wide system of all
weather highways.
In the past 25 years North Carolina has developet
bus and truck systems which are second to none ii
the country, extending to every county in the Stat
and reaching areas not formerly reached and servec
by railroads. Shipping by water is being expande(
through development of modern port facilities at tw<
coastal cities. One important air transportatioi
company has been expanding its services from thi;
to other states, in addition to numbers of other com
panies that have established routes in North Caro
lina. Two large pipe lines, one for petroleum prod
ucts, the other for natural gas, have been built int<
or through the State.
North Carolina has an estimated 46,000 individ
uals engaged in transportation industries, 20,00(!
of them covered by the Employment Security
Law, approximately 18,000 subject to the Railroad
Retirement Board, with probably 8,000 not covereq
by either agency. Salaries and wages of these workj
ers probably reach $135,000,000 a year. The 20,00(
workers covered by the Employment Security Lav
drew wages and salaries of $65,826,000 and consti
tuted 2.8 percent of the covered workers in the Stat<
in 1952. Transportation is the life line of Nortl
Carolina industry and an important and growing in
dustry within itself.
FRONT PAGE PICTURES
First row, I. to r.—The Ad-Vance, blockade runner during the War Betweei
the States, named for Governor Vance's wife; The Raleigh, one of the firs
locomotives to operate on the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, completed in 1840
Second row, I. to r.—Covered wagons on wagon lot around turn of century
on what is now Pack Square, looking down Patton Avenue, Asheville; Th
first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, Orville Wright at controls and Wilbu
Wright alongside; Rubber-tired buggy of some 50 years ago, occupant late
became Mrs. R. Getty Browning, wife of chief locating engineer, N. C. High
way Department.
Third row, I. to r.—"Tobacco Road", yoke of oxen pulling tobacco hogs
head, provided by H. W. Miller Trucking Co. for American Tobacco Co., usei
in Durham Centennial parade; Solid rubber tired 1920 Auto-Car, two-toi
truck, owned by A. H. Candler Transfer Co., Asheville.
Fourth row, I. to r.—Coach of 50-150 years ago with two white horses
used in Raleigh parade in 1940; A ferry boat, typical of hundreds used ove
streams, the current providing the power; Car of government agent stuck ii
mud some 40 years ago in Johnston County.
(Airplane, locomotive, ship, wagon lot, ferry, coach and stuck car photo
N. C. Dept. of Archives and History).
Railroad, Laurinbirrg & Southern, Atlantic |
OCLC number | 26477199 |