The American Road Timeline

Where applicable, click the year for more information.

1625 – Pemaquid, Maine paved the first road in North America.

1795 – The Philadelphia-Lancaster Turnpike is built as the first engineered road in the United States.

1823 – Boonsboro, MD built the first Macadam Road in the United States
          (Macadam is a road made with compressed broken rock layers held together by tar).

1830 – 73 miles of the Cumberland Road-National Pike is paved with Macadam.

1877 – Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. became the first road paved with Asphalt.

1880 – The League of American Wheelmen formed to advance the rights of Bicyclists and better roads.

1891 – The League of American Wheelmen published the ‘Gospel of Good Roads’ which weighed in on the economic necessity of better roads.

1887 – Ransom E. Olds built his first Steam Automobile.

1893 – Ohio built the first rural road made of bricks and formed the Office of Road Inquiry;

1893 – The Duryea Brothers built the first successful gas-powered automobile in the United States.

1895 – The first United States auto race is sponsored by the Chicago Times-Herald on Thanksgiving Day.

1896 – Free rural mail delivery was established by the U.S. Postal System.

            They required roads which met Postal service standards to receive free delivery service;

1896 – Ransom E. Olds built his first gasoline powered Automobile.

1897 – Olds Motor Vehicle Company is founded by Ransom E. Olds and he built the Oldsmobile and REO.

1897 – The Goddu Tandem Automobile entered production with the first overhead cam engine.

1898 – The Stanley Runabout steam powered two-cylinder automobile entered production.

1899 – The Columbia Electric Automobile entered production.

1899 – The Packard Motor Car Company began producing luxury cars for the United States.

1900 – 8,000 motor vehicles are registered in the United States.

1900 – The Dodge Brother’s founded their Machine Shop.

1901 – Olds developed the concept of the assembly line and used it to produce the first mass-produced automobile.

1901 – The Oldsmobile Curved Dash Automobile entered production.

1901 – The US Long Distance 7 HP automobile with a horizontal engine entered production.

1902 – Nine Automobile Clubs merged to form the American Automobile Association (AAA).

1902 – The Dodge Brothers began building transmissions for Ransom E. Olds company automobiles.

1902 – The Franklin Model A was the first four-cylinder automobile engine built in the United States.

1902 – The Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company was the largest producer of horse-drawn vehicles in the world when they started making electric cars in the runabout, stanhope, and trap body styles.

1902 – Henry Leland formed the Cadillac Company.

1903 – Horatio Nelson Jackson and Sewall Crocker are the first to drive across the United States

1903 – Henry Ford formed Ford Motor Company.

1903 – The Dodge Company began building engines for Ford.

1903 – The Ford Model A Automobile entered production.

1903 – The Cadillac Model A Automobile entered production.

1903 – The Holsman Model 3 Runabout entered Production.

1904 – Henry Ford set a land speed record at 91.37 MPH.

1904 – The AAA tour went to the St. Louis World’s Fair.

1904 – The Prest-O-Lite Headlight company was founded as the Concentrated Acetylene Company (see the acetylene head lights on Ford cars).

1904 – The Knox 8 hp entered production.

1904 – The Maxwell Model A Junior Runabout entered production.

1905 – The First Glidden Tour of the AAA ran as a durability trial to promote Automobiles and Road Safety.

1905 – The AAA published the first road map.

1905 – Cadillac began production of their four-cylinder model D.

1905 – The Office of Road Inquiry became the Office of Public Roads.

1906 – The first macadam road using asphalt was built in Rhodes Island.

1906 – The Stanley Rocket, a steam-powered car set a land speed record of 127 MPH.

1906 – Mission Bells hanging from road guideposts were placed along El Camino Real in California to beautify the road.

1906 – The Glidden Tour introduced the Checkered Race Flag.

1908 – Ford produced the first Model T.

1908 – The U.S. Entry into the New York-to-Paris Race won under the leadership of George Schuster driving a Thomas Flyer.

He was stopped and arrested in Paris for not having a light on his car.

A Parisian Bicyclist with a mounted light hopped off his bike and threw it into the car to provide a light, and the Policeman let him finish the race.

1908 – William Durrant founded General Motors.

1909 – June 1, 1909, at 3:00 p.m., the moment President Taft opened the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle, six vehicles lurched forward in New York City at the start line of the first transcontinental auto race. They were an Itala, Shawmut, Acme, Stearns, and two Model T Fords. On June 23, 1909, one of the Ford automobiles arrived first in Seattle after 23 days of travel.

The Indianapolis Speedway (The Brickyard) opened.

The Glidden Tour took their endurance competition west of the Mississippi for the first time.

The Marquette-Buick Competition Car entered production.

1910 – 468,500 motor vehicles are registered in the United States.

The Thomas Flyer luxury car Model 6/40M Touring Car entered production.

The Auburn Model 30L Roadster Competition Car entered production.

The Mercer Type 35R Runabout Competition car entered production.

1911 – The Meridian Highway is dedicated.

1911 – The Jackson Highway conceived.

1911 – The Des Moines–Kansas City–Saint Joseph Interstate Trail Association is formed.

1911 – Sam Hill sets up a $100,00 road to test different road surfaces in Oregon.

1911 – The Glidden Tour traveled from New York, NY to Jacksonville, FL.

1911 – The First Indy 500 race is held.

1912 – National Old Trails Road is dedicated.

1912 – The Pike’s Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway Association is formed.

1912 – The Yellowstone Trail Association is Formed!

1912 – Carl Fisher conceived the Lincoln Highway.

1912 – The Los Angeles versus San Diego automobile race to Phoenix is held.

1912 – Cadillac introduced the electric starter to replace the hand crank.

1912 – The Regal Model NC Colonial Coup is the first United States luxury automobile.

1912 – The Stutz Bearcat Competition Car entered production.

1913 – The White Pole Road, which roughly paralleled Interstate 80, became Iowa’s first certified State Route after the association paid a $5 application fee to the newly formed Iowa State Road Commission.

1913 – The Lincoln Highway  Association is formed.

1913 – The final Glidden Tour is held.

1913 – The Pacific Highway is dedicated.

1913 – The Ozark Trails Association is formed.

1913 – Gulf Oil opened the first drive through service station in Pittsburgh.

1913 – The Dodge Brothers Motor Company is formed.

1913 – The luxury Pierce-Arrow Model 38 Park Phaeton entered production.

1913 – The number of state vehicle registrations passes the one million mark.

1914 – The American Association of State Highway Officials is founded.

1914 – The Dixie Overland Highway Association is formed.

1914 – The first Lincoln Highway ‘seeding mile’ is built in Malta, IL.

1914 – The AAA placed 4,000 road signs on the National Old Trails Highway.

1914 – Dodge Brothers Motor Company built their first car.

1914 – The Cadillac Model 51 luxury car entered production.

1914 – The Twombly Model B Automobile entered production.

1914 – The middle class Dodge 4 entered production.

1915 – The Dixie Highway is dedicated.

1915 – The Old Plank Road is built over the Algodones Dunes east of San Diego.

1915 – The Office of Public Roads became the Bureau of Public Roads.

1915 – The Jefferson Highway Association is formed.

1915 – The Ridge Route opened over the Tehachapi Mountains in California;

1915 – Cadillac introduced the first mass production V-8 engine with regulated cooling control.

1915 – Packard began production of the V12 Engine for their luxury car.

1916 – The Federal Road Aid Act of 1916 passed Congress.

1916 – The Jefferson Highway Route is finalized.

1916 – The Old Plank Road is rebuilt with a new design;

1916 – The AAA opens Yellowstone National Park to automobile traffic.

1916 – The National Park-to-Park Highway Association is formed;

1916 – The Cunningham Touring Hollywood Roadster entered production.

1917 – The state of Wisconsin established a system of numbered roads.

1917 – The first center lines are added to roads in Michigan, Oregon, and California;

1917 – The Woods Dual Power Hollywood Roadster entered production as the first hybrid car with gas and electric power.

1918 – The proposed two-cent Federal gasoline tax is opposed by the AAA and failed passage

1919 – Dwight D. Eisenhower participated in the US Army cross-country convoy which found travel nearly impossible and proved the need for improved roads.

1919 – The Lee Highway Association is formed.

1919 – Oregon adopted the first gasoline tax at a penny a gallon.

1919 – The Pierce-Arrow 38 HP Model 51 entered production.

1919 – The middle class Essex A entered production.

1919 – The Briggs & Stratton Flyer sports car entered production (It was a stripped-down, go-cart like frame with a seat and wheels).

1920 – The National Park-to-Park Highway is dedicated. The NPPH is an auto trail plotted by A. L. Westgard as a large loop connecting twelve national parks including, Rocky Mountain National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, Crater Lake National Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Yosemite National Park. General Grant National Park (now part of Kings Canyon), Sequoia National Park, Zion National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, and Mesa Verde National Park.

1920 – The Stanley Model 735 Hollywood Coupe entered production

1921 – The Federal Road Aid Act of 1921 passed in Congress.

1921 – The Duesenberg 183 Competition Car entered production.

1921 – The Stutz Model K Luxury car entered production.

1921 – The Lincoln V8 Hollywood Coup entered production.

1921 – The middle class Hupmobile Touring Series R entered production.

1921 – The number of vehicle registrations in the United States topped ten million.

1922 – The ‘Ideal Section’ of the Lincoln Highway is built in Indiana.

1922 – The Lincoln L Sedan luxury car entered production

1923 – The Mississippi Valley Association of State Highway Departments adopts a uniform signage plan.

1923 – Ford Model T Hollywood Roadster entered production.

1924 – The American Association of State Highway Officials recommended selection of Federal Transcontinental and Interstate routes.

1924 – Walter Chrysler entered the Automobile manufacturing market with the middle-class Chrysler G70. With impressive performance it was the first car with four-wheel hydraulic brakes.

1924 – The middle-class Buick Model 4 entered production.

1925 – The US Secretary of Agriculture created a Joint Board on Interstate Highways.

1925 – The Chevrolet Superior Hollywood Coup entered production.

1926 – The Federal Highway System of numbered roads is established.

1926 – The Old Plank Road is abandoned.

1926 –Cadillac produced the V16 Engine for their luxury cars to compete with the Packard V12 Engine; Duesenberg is bought by Cord who briefly returned the company to the Hollywood luxury market.