Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
September 12, 1889 George T. McCoy, whose legacy includes service as both a state highway engineer of California and the 42nd president of AASHO (now known as AASHTO), was born at a stock ranch in Milton, Oregon. Along with helping to herd cattle and horses on that ranch during his youth, McCoy also found time... Continue Reading →
September 9, 1966 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law both the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act and the Highway Safety Act during a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House. Approximately 200 people were on hand for the ceremony, which began at around 1:00 p.m. These attendees included Ralph Nader,... Continue Reading →
September 8, 1955 After four years of construction, a steel tied-arch bridge in the city of Wheeling in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle was officially opened. This four-lane bridge crosses a section of the Ohio River between Wheeling Island (within that city’s boundaries) and downtown Wheeling. (This city – the fifth largest in West Virginia –... Continue Reading →
September 7, 1985 A five-story structure serving as both a passenger rail station and transportation center was officially dedicated in the city of Santa Ana in Southern California. (Santa Ana is one of the most populous cities in the Greater Los Angeles region and the county seat of Orange County.) Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center... Continue Reading →
September 6, 1871 John A. Poor, whose accomplishments included helping to develop and enrich Maine’s railroad network, died in Portland, Maine, at the age of 63. A lifelong Mainer, Poor had a deep appreciation for the potential of railroads within that state. This appreciation could be traced as far back as 1834, when he first... Continue Reading →
September 2, 2014 A station serving the Orange Line of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority’s subway system was opened in Somerville, a city located directly northwest of Boston. This above-ground station was built to provide access to Somerville’s Assembly Square neighborhood, an area that includes a super-regional shopping center known as the Assembly Square Marketplace.... Continue Reading →
August 30, 1890 The U.S. Congress appropriated $75,000 for the construction of a vessel for the U.S. Lighthouse Board. This vessel was Amaranth, and she would serve for more than a half-century throughout much of the Great Lakes region as a lighthouse tender. Lighthouse tenders provide various kinds of support to the individuals serving at... Continue Reading →
August 29, 1939 A little over eight years after building the road had begun, construction of the 105-mile (169-kilometer) Skyline Drive in Virginia came to an end with the completion of the section between Sweet Run Gap and Rockfish Gap. This road runs the entire length of the National Park Service’s Shenandoah National Park in the... Continue Reading →
August 25, 1864 Milton Reeves, who became a major trailblazer for the automobile industry, was born on a farm in east-central Indiana. When he was only a teenager working at a saw mill in Columbus, Indiana, Reeves demonstrated the formidable creativity and mechanical expertise that would define his entire life. After seeing how other workers... Continue Reading →
August 23, 1917 A private motorboat named Natoma was commissioned into the U.S. Navy about four-and-a-half months after the United States entered World War I on the side of the Allied Powers. Natoma had been designed and built in 1913 as a vessel for Charles H. Foster, president of the Cadillac Motor Car Company of... Continue Reading →
