Join historist John Horrigan in this installment:

Primitive Roads and Routes
Early American Explorer Trails
Nemasket Path
Old Coast Path
Watertown Path
Bay Path
Old Connecticut Path/Great Trail
Bay Road/Old Roebuck Road
Boston Post Road/King’s Highway
Mohawk Trail /Iroquois Trail
I-90

By the time journalist John L. O’Sullivan, wrote an article in 1845 declaring to the citizens of the United States that it was “our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions”, construction of the first macadamized road in the United States had already begun.

The migration westward was dramatically increasing as settlers headed into uncharted territories throughout the wild west, in search of fertile land and a better way of life. They followed ancient Native American game trails and cattle paths that were unsuitable for wagons, given their mud-filled gullies and rock-bound surfaces.

Smooth, continuous and more direct routes were needed to accommodate more wagon trains, substantially reduce travel times and allow for rapid expansion of our nation. Eventually, the proliferation of automobiles made it necessary to develop a comprehensive system of asphalt thoroughfares and avenues.