Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
October 31, 1913 The official dedication of the Lincoln Highway took place in the form of numerous ceremonies and other celebrations nationwide, notably in the hundreds of cities and towns along the approved route for the planned transcontinental thoroughfare for motor vehicles. “Cities en Route From Coast to Coast Mark Opening of Great Rock Road,”... Continue Reading →
October 30, 1919 Tony Pizzo pedaled into New York City on his bicycle to conclude one of the more unique coast-to-coast journeys using that mode of transportation. Pizzo, who had completed a stint with the U.S. Navy earlier in the year, began his transcontinental trek in California during the spring. He and C.J. Devine, another recently discharged... Continue Reading →
October 26, 1825 The Erie Canal was fully opened to boat traffic. The 363-mile (584-kilometer) inland waterway, connecting Lake Erie to New York City via the Hudson River, was built to provide a faster and more direct means of transportation between the Eastern seaboard and the vast areas of land west of the Appalachian Mountains. Prior... Continue Reading →
October 25, 1904 The first successful flight of a dirigible (a type of airship) in the United States occurred when aviator and aeronautical engineer A. Roy Knabenshue flew the “California Arrow.” He took to the skies in that cigar-shaped dirigible from the World’s Fair (officially known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition) in St. Louis, Missouri.... Continue Reading →
October 24, 1858 In what is now central Oregon, entrepreneurs E.F. Coe and R.R. Thompson launched their newly built steamboat Colonel Wright at the mouth of the Deschutes River. The sternwheel-propelled vessel proved to be a reliable means of transporting freight and passengers in the Pacific Northwest. She also played a pioneering role in the... Continue Reading →
October 23, 1964 A 45-year-old Illinois engineer named Sidney Allen Heenan applied for a U.S. patent for a durable road safety device that remains in extensive use nationwide to further reduce motor vehicle accidents. The device, as outlined in his patent application, was a raised pavement reflector marker. These markers were designed for placement on... Continue Reading →
October 15, 1958 The inaugural ceremony for the AASHO Road Test took place in the city of Ottawa, Illinois, which is located about 80 miles (128.8 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. The purpose of this road test, which was sponsored by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) and supervised by the Highway Research Board... Continue Reading →
October 11, 1910 In Ohio’s Cuyahoga County, a recently completed bridge was dedicated in the Cleveland region. The new structure, carrying Detroit Road over the Rocky River, was the fifth bridge built at that location to connect the cities of Rocky River and Lakewood. Construction on this version of the Detroit Rocky River Bridge began... Continue Reading →
October 9, 1935 Harvey A. Moyer, a prolific transportation entrepreneur who manufactured both horse-drawn carriages and luxury automobiles, died in Syracuse, New York, at the age of 62. Moyer, who had been born in the New York town of Clay in 1853, demonstrated a strong interest in creating vehicles relatively early on in life. When... Continue Reading →
Hispanic-American surfmen Pablo Valent, Mariano Holland, and Indalecio Lopez were among those serving at the U.S. Coast Guard’s Texas-based Brazos Life-Saving Station (the present-day South Padre Island Station) who undertook a high-risk rescue operation in the Gulf of Mexico during a severe storm in September 1919. (Valent had entered the U.S. Life-Saving Service in 1912... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 