America’s Toll Road Heritage: The Achievements of Private Initiative in the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

This chapter describes how, before Americans built the Erie Canal or hammered the first railroad spike, private toll roads shaped and accommodated trade and migration routes, leaving social and political imprints on the communities that debated and supported them. Private road building came and went in waves throughout the nineteenth century and across the country. All told, between 2,500 and 3,200 companies successfully financed, built, and operated their toll road. Although most of these roads operated for only a fraction of the 100+ period, the combined mileage of private toll roads that operated at any point in time would be in the range of 30,000 to 52,000 miles. America’s 100+ year experience with private toll roads offers valuable lessons for policy makers and citizens today. American toll road history is pretty well covered by considering three episodes: the turnpike era of the eastern states 1792 to 1845; the plank road boom 1847 to 1853; and the toll roads of the Far West 1850 to 1902.