1895: A Pivotal Development for the Golden State’s Network of Highways

April 11, 1895

A letter from California that was sent to General Roy Stone (1836-1905), director of the U.S. Office of Road Inquiry (forerunner of the Federal Highway Administration), shared news about a significant milestone in highways development within that state. 

This letter was from state highway officials in California and read in part: “It is with exceeding great pleasure we inform you that we this day organized the first State Bureau of Highways in the Golden State of California, and our first official act is to send you greetings and thanks, for we feel assured it was through your visit and the interest you created while here that the . . . bills were passed by our Legislature.”

That legislative measure authorizing the creation of the earliest predecessor of today’s California Department of California (Caltrans) was signed into law by Governor James Budd (1851-1908)  and signified the slow but steady nationwide trend towards a prominent state-level role when it came to building and maintaining roads. California’s own roads by the mid-1890s consisted of a handful of paved routes within some cities, but mostly dirt trails taken care of by county governments.  Overall, however, that patchwork of roads was less than sufficient in terms of keeping pace with the state’s rapidly growing population and needs.

The Bureau of Highways, which consisted of three commissioners, was responsible for assessing that roads network and making recommendations for it. (The accompanying map outlines those recommendations.) After the commissioners submitted their report to the governor about a year-and-a-half following the bureau’s creation, the legislature replaced that agency with the California Department of Highways. Ultimately, in 1911, a more full-fledged agency came into existence with the creation of the three-member California Highway Commission to take complete charge of the construction and maintenance of the state’s highways system.

Image Credit: Public Domain

Additional information on the history of highways in California is available at Caltrans History | Caltrans and History of California’s state highway system – Wikipedia