Volume XIV T H
Е
STATE June
1
Number 1 A Weekly Survey of North Carolina 1946
Entered
л«
iccond-cUsi matter. June 1. 1933, at the PoitofRce at Raleigh. North Carolina, under the Act of March 3. 1878.
History of Highway Syste
Msin.v of ns lake our improved higlnvo.vs for
granted today, but it took a lot of bard
work to bring' tlie system up to its present
liig'li standard.
By CLARENCE H. GRIFFIN
ON September 18. 1918. the
present North Carolina high¬
way system was born. On
that date the Wilmington-Char-
lotte-Asheville Highway Associa¬
tion was organized at a meeting of
road enthusiasts at Rockingham
and Col. T. L. Kirkpatrick of Char¬
lotte was elected president. Mem¬
bers of the executive committee
included Col. Kirkpatrick. W. A.
McGirt, Wilmington; John Everett.
Richmond County; Attorney M. L.
Edwards of Rutherfordton. Dr.
Lucius B. Morse of Chimney Rock
and Justice Heriot Clarkson of
Charlotte, legal adviser to the com¬
mittee.
Two years later, through the
activities of the Association, which
had met with enthusiastic response
in its appeals to the citizens, called
a meeting in Raleigh, which was
held on August 20. 1920. Out of
this convention was formed the
Citizens Highway Association,
which had for its definite purpose
the advocacy of the passage by the
General Assembly of $50,000,000
worth of highway bonds with
which to build a statewide high¬
way system.
The General Assembly of 1921
provided for the issuance of the
bonds and began building the
roads, under a statewide highway
commission, the authority and
oversight in building roads being
taken from the counties.
Division of Opinion
An interesting incident occurred
during the legislative fight over
the issuance of the $50,000.000
worth of bonds. Governor Cam¬
eron Morrison was committed to
the issuance of bonds, but believed
the 100 counties of the state should
be charged with the responsibility
of highway building. Another
group, led by Dr. Morse and Mr.
Edwards, advocated establishment
of a state-wide system of high¬
ways, independent of the counties
and charging the new highway
commission with the expenditure
of the funds.
The whole highway program
was held up for sometime, pending
an agreement between the Gov¬
ernor and the General Assembly
as to the mode of expending the
money. Dr. Morse and Mr. Ed¬
wards held several conferences
with Governor Morrison, but
seemed unable to change his mind
on local county control of funds.
At length, after a rather heated
session one morning in the Gover¬
nor’s office, Dr. Morse exclaimed:
"Governor, has it ever occurred to
you that you may be wrong about
local control?” Governor Morrison
replied that it had not. Then after
a further discussion, he admitted
that he could be wrong, and agreed
to let the Legislature pass the bill
on a state-wide basis. The act be¬
came law shortly thereafter, and
the state's first highway money
was spent by the state, rather than
the 100 individual counties.
First Chairman
Frank Page became North Caro¬
lina’s first chairman of the state¬
wide State Highway Commission,
and served during the state’s peak
highway construction years.
In 1921 there were but 5,500
miles of state highway system,
much of which had only been pro¬
posed. By 1931 North Carolina
had 9,500 miles of improved roads.
It was Page’s administration
which undertook the task of con¬
struction of the highways needed
for the state’s ever increasing
domestic and tourist travel. By
the end of the fiscal year 1927,
$115,000,000 in state highway
bonds had been authorized. In ad¬
dition, over $11,000,000 in Federal
aid had been received. Counties
and towns had loaned the state
about $19.000,000 and had actually
donated another $11.000,000.
But the inception of the state
highways did not start with the
administration of Page. The year
1921 is marked as the turning
point of public sentiment and atti¬
tude toward turning the highways
over to the state rather than con¬
tinue it as a county-and-town func¬
tion. Dr. Morse and Mr. Edwards
may be said to have led the move¬
ment in that respect.
The first State Highway Com¬
mission was created in 1901 and
included the Commissioner of
Agriculture and the State Geolo¬
gist. They were given power to
appoint an engineer.
The first state highway proposed
ran from Wilmington to Charlotte
and was the result of an act of the
General Assembly ratified March
3, 1911. Another highway soon
followed which would run from
Beaufort to the Tennessee line in
Madison County. Payment for
construction of both these roads
( Continued on page 18)
THE STATE. JUNE 1, 1946
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