The Zero Milestone across the South Lawn from the White House was the starting point for the Bankhead Highway and the Second Trans-Continental Convoy Source: Federal Highway Administration

Interest in the Bankhead Highway (map at the link), that originally ran from Washington, DC, through Garland, and on to San Diego, has grown quickly. Authorized by Congress in 1916, it was the second trans-continental highway and resulted from the Open Roads Movement that sought adequate infrastructure for cars and other vehicles. The Zero Milestone, photo on the right, was the beginning of the two trans-continental convoys, first on the Lincoln Highway and then the Bankhead less than a year later. I posted a picture that I took of the Zero Milestone in front of the White House in an earlier post.
 
Jerry Flook has been researching the Bankhead Hwy and local history for many years. In a recent message, he said, "I want to do what I can to raise awareness of Garland's history, which has been given far too little attention far too long." He has also helped other local communities to know more of their past.
 
In January, Mr Flook and District 1 resident Robert Smith appeared before the Garland Community Arts Commission seeking permission to place an official Texas Historical Monument on the Downtown square commemorating the highway. The commission approved the request and forwarded it to the Council where it received final approval. Since then, Rep Carol Kent, who represents part of west Garland and north Dallas, was successful introducing legislation during the last session designating the Bankhead Hwy as an historic Texas highway. "The Bankhead is a vital part of our state's history, and it is in danger of being forgotten," said Rep. Kent. "With the passage this law, we can celebrate this part of our Texas heritage, and also promote the Bankhead as a tool for economic development in towns and cities across our state." Setting the monument on the square will be at a future ceremony.
 
Garland has a colorful and rich history and the Bankhead Highway plays a prominent role. The highway entered Garland from Sachse and ran along present-day Commerce St (a block south of SH-66) to Downtown. The Downtown portion, long known as Bankhead St, was eventually renamed Main St. A small portion just east of Five Points is still named Bankhead St (map at the link). It continued west from Downtown where it intersected today's Garland Ave and turned south, continuing on to Dallas. (Full Garland route here.)
 
As part of the process to obtain the historic designation for Garland, Mr Flook prepared a research paper for the Dallas County Historical Society before advancing the report to Austin. I will present Mr Flook's research in four installments that will bring memories alive for longtime Garland residents and will fill-in some of the blanks for most others.
 

By Jerry Flook:

HISTORY OF THE BANKHEAD HIGHWAY

PRESENTED IN THE CONTEXT OF EXPERIENCE OF GARLAND, TEXAS, A CITY ON ITS ROUTE

 

The Good Roads Movement

 
The American obsession with the automobile began shortly before the turn of the 20th century and mushroomed at an astounding rate thereafter. The first auto excursion in Texas is widely believed to have been that run in October 1899 by Edward H. R. Green and George P. Dorris over a rutted dirt road between Terrell and Dallas.
 
The rate at which the obsession grew is suggested by the fact that by 1902 auto races were a featured attraction of the State Fair of Texas. In 1903 the first coast-to-coast auto excursion was run between San Francisco and New York City. In 1905 the Ford Motor Company produced 1,599 autos; two years later it built 14,887. And Garland, Texas, was as much a victim of the auto fascination as any other population in America. In 1910 the first ad for an automobile manufacturer—the Nelson Motor Car Company, of Chicago—appeared in the Garland News. In April 1911 the News reported that “Garland was filled with visiting autos Sunday.” And in August of that same year the paper named at least 21 Garland men who were proud owners of new automobiles.

From the Garland Landmark Society: The 1917 Reo Touring Car had "jump"seats allowing it to carry up to 7 passengers, and it might have still smelled new when this local family was photographed. Through automobile ownership was ballooning, Texans registered fewer than 195,000 vehicles statewide in 1917. [Photo is not a part of Mr Flook's narrative.]

 
Unfortunately America’s roads were ill-prepared to accommodate the automobile. Most were rutted wagon trails at best, alternately muddy or dusty. Even before the advent of the automobile, bicycle enthusiasts as early as the 1880s had begun to campaign for road improvement. By the turn of the 20th century, however, automobile clubs began taking the lead in the so-called Good Roads Movement. Eventually state and local entities grew increasingly supportive of the improvement of rural roads in an effort to boost rural economies and to help stem the migration of the farm population to the cities.
 
In 1911 and 1912 the Texas legislature voted some $5 million in bonds for rural road improvement. Early in 1913 the state legislature passed a bill providing for counties and cities to issue their own road bonds. Soon thereafter Texas governor O. B. Colquitt proclaimed November 5 and 6, 1913, to be “Good Roads Days,” acknowledging that the Good Roads Movement promised great progress for the state. Local authorities across the state complained, however, that short of the proclamation the state was not coming forth with much help in building better roads. And not everyone thought that a program of road improvement was a good idea, a vocal group of farmers insisting that it would primarily benefit the “automobilists” and bring about increases in property taxes and farm rents.
 
The Good Roads Movement was, however, increasingly successful in gaining support. Groups were organized to lobby lawmakers and local leaders, holding road conventions and disseminating published materials on the economic benefits of better roads. In 1913 the first coast-to-coast improved route, the Lincoln Highway, was pieced together by a Good Roads organization successfully convincing counties and cities to improve linked existing routes with their jurisdictions. Because the cooperation of these independent authorities was in most cases purely voluntary and their funding inconsistent, the quality of the improvements and maintenance could be piecemeal and undependable.
 
By the year the Lincoln Highway was opened, Garland, Texas, could boast 2 auto sales agencies and an auto repair service. And evidence of the influence of the Good Roads Movement was manifesting itself throughout Dallas County. The route of the gravel-paved Dallas-Greenville “pike,” later to be a segment of the Bankhead Highway, was relocated by the county from its original course just north of the Garland Square to pass through the Square. The Garland News at the time celebrated the change, referring to the “pike” as an “interstate route,” presumably a rather new concept. In October 1913 the Dallas County Highway Improvement Association was organized, led by the Dallas Chamber of Commerce and the Dallas Automobile Club. The local paper said that volunteer work crews would be organized in every county town and autos would be volunteered to transport the crews to the work sites.
 
By 1914 the impact of the improved and relocated “pike” and the increasing role of the automobile were becoming evident in Garland. A large public well was dug on the Square and landscaped with grass and trees, and new ordinances were passed by the city council to regulate the operation of motor vehicles. In 1915 the local paper recorded the first motor delivery truck in town and a few months later the town’s only chemical fire wagon was remounted on a Ford auto chassis. Soon the editor of the paper was calling for the municipal speed limit to be lowered from 18 m.p.h. to a much more reasonable 12 m.p.h. By 1916 Garland was home to 2 auto repair garages, 4 auto sales agencies, 1 auto accessory store, 1 auto paint shop, and 2 motor jitney lines.
 
Second Installment: Developing the Bankhead Highway

Posted with permission of Jerry Flook