1893: The First Federal Road Agency in the United States is Established

October 3, 1893

The first federal road agency in the United States — and the original predecessor to today’s U.S. Department of Transportation — came into existence when U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sterling J. Morton, under the Agricultural Appropriation Act that had been enacted earlier that year, formally established the Office of Road Inquiry (ORI). The Agricultural Appropriation Act authorized “the Secretary of Agriculture to make inquiries in regard to the systems of road-management throughout the United States, to make investigations in regard to the best methods of road-making, and to enable him to assist the agricultural college and experiment stations in disseminating information on the subject.” 

Along with creating this new agency, Morton appointed General Roy Stone as its first chief. Stone, whose official title was Special Agent, had distinguished himself during the American Civil War as a Union Army officer. He was also a strong advocate for improved roads nationwide. Stone was one of the foremost leaders of the Good Roads Movement, asserting in an 1892 newspaper interview that the group’s aims could “only be accomplished by organization, reaching every interest concerned and especially the farmer.” 

In assuming his new duties at ORI, Stone found himself and a stenographer named Robert Grubbs working out of two small attic rooms in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s main building in Washington, D.C. While restricted to an informational role without any real road-building responsibilities or resources, Stone did his best to go beyond those administrative limitations and make the most of what he could do on behalf of good roads from his federal perch.

Among other things, Stone traveled extensively to promote the cause and developed as well as distributed a large amount of official documents on topics such as good roads conventions. (The accompanying image features a sample of one of these documents that he sent out during the summer of 1894.) Stone also worked to strengthen and sustain major initiatives like Rural Free Delivery that ultimately depended on navigable roads. 

Image Credit: Public Domain

Additional information on the Office of Road Inquiry (ORI) is available at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/candc/timeline.cfm and https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/autumn-1993/peaceful-campaign-progress-and-reform-federal-highway-administration-100