Record #:

6202

Author(s):

Ratcliff, Shirlyn

Abstract:

In the early 19th-century getting goods to eastern markets from the Piedmont region was hampered by a lack of good roads and railroad lines. Legislation passed in 1849 authorized construction of plank roads in which flat wooden planks were laid closely to make a firm roadbed. Ratcliff discusses how the roads were built and who used them. Plank roads had a short existence; expansion of railroad lines ended its use shortly before the Civil War.

Source:

Tar Heel Junior Historian (NoCar F 251 T3x), Vol. 20 Issue 3, Winter 1981, p13-16, il, map, bibl, f

Subject(s):

Plank roads