Macadamized roads

[bankerpapaw]

What was a macadamized road and what was it's makeup? Hope I spelled it right.

 

[AndyHall]

You did spell it right. It was a way of constructing roads beginning in the early 1800s, that used crushed stone in varying sizes as the roadway. It was faster and cheaper than older techniques, that relied on heavy blocks for a foundation. Later on, in the 20th century, it became common to cover the macadam roads with a layer of tar to keep down the dust.

 

[Tom Elmore]

Virginia was not known for Macadamized roads, except for the Shenandoah Valley turnpike, at least from Staunton to Winchester and on to Martinsburg, including the stretch between Winchester and Harper's Ferry. A Texas soldier noted that many of the main roads in southern Pennsylvania were Macadamized; and so were some towns, like Carlisle. A section of turnpike linking Boonsboro and Hagerstown in Maryland was finished with the "macadam" process in 1823. Soldiers could make very good time on these roads, although it was said to be hard on shoe leather, and the broken rock (small pebbles and stones) reflected heat.

 

[gunny]

The Columbia-Franklin pike as well as Lesiaburg pike were macadamized in Tennessee. Possibly Carters Creek pike as well. The Murfreesboro pike was also macadamized.

 

[Phiip McBride]

Civil War asphalt. Rare. Like another poster said, hard on shoes, but I suppose, better than mud and dust. As a reenactor I hate marching on crushed gravel county roads or freshly poured gravel to make event roads at big reenactments. Terrible on the feet and ankles while marching.

 

[James B White]

There's a section of road at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill in Harrodsburg, Kentucky that's supposedly accurately restored to period macadam. Whew, hope I got that all correct. Here's a photo, though, (not taken by me) and I've been there and walked it many times.

I don't know how much work it takes to keep it at that level, but when I was there they had a wagon (possibly rubber tired, don't remember) that ran regularly, so even if the tires were modern, the horses' hooves were not. It was a smooth, flat surface, nice to walk on in shoes, don't know about barefoot, but it didn't develop ruts or mud. I've been on some hopelessly bad mud roads in the rain, and if that was the problem, this was the solution. As I say, don't know the manpower necesary to achieve this, though.

Edited to add: Just saw this painting. That's the kind of road I'd compare it to. http://civilwartalk.com/threads/picketts-charge-used-as-a-popular-term.130729/#post-1463172 (post #9 by Rio Bravo). Imagine walking in that mud.

 

[matthew mckeon]

These I believe were sometimes called "stone roads" in New England.
Conversation I once had with a guy in northern New Hampshire.
Me looking at map. "Is that a paved road?"
Guy: "It's a stone road"
Me: "Is it a paved road?"
Guy: "It's a good road."
And so it was.

 

[Yankeedave]

What made the road what it was

 

[RobertP]

What made the road what it was
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We had one of those graders on the the farm when I was young. Pulled it with a tractor and leveled the gravel road along the bayou. I got pretty good at it; they work fine but motor graders are a big step up!

 

[Yankeedave]

We had one of those graders on the the farm when I was young. Pulled it with a tractor and leveled the gravel road along the bayou. I got pretty good at it; they work fine but motor graders are a big step up!

I lived in a rural area. Graders were a common sight here as well. A sixties or seventies car road those roads better than today's.

 

[EJ Zander]

What made the road what it was
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If that aint a rogues gallery in the top pic.

 

[Yankeedave]

Horeses and men both!