Horatio Earle
Horatio Earle | |
---|---|
Born | Horatio Sawyer Earle February 14, 1855 Mount Holly,Vermont |
Died | December 25, 1935 Detroit,Michigan | (aged 80)
Occupation | Transport engineer |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse |
Agnes Lincoln
(m.1874; died 1878) |
Children | 1 |
Horatio Sawyer Earle(1855–1935), known as the "Father of Good Roads" or simply Horatio "Good Roads" Earle, was an American transport engineer.
Early life
[edit]Earle was born February 14, 1855, on a farm inMount Holly, Vermont.[1]He married Agnes Lincoln in 1874 and they had a son, Romeo Horatio Earle in 1878. Agnes died from tuberculosis later that year.
Earle worked a series of jobs until becoming a traveling salesman for farm equipment at age 31. He married Anna Maria Keyes in 1882 and they had a son, George Lewis Earle the following year. On January 5, 1889, the family moved toDetroit, Michigan,and shortly thereafter Earle began selling and developing agricultural implements.
Road advocacy timeline 1898–1909
[edit]- 1898: Appointed byEdward N. Hines,Chief Consul of theLeague of American Wheelmen(LAW) Michigan Division to chair a Good Roads committee.
- 1899: Unanimously elected Chief Consul with a platform to eliminatebicycle racingfrom the League and push theGood Roads Movement.
- 1900: Elected to theMichigan Senateas a LAW candidate.[2]
- 1901: Introduced a Michigan Senate Resolution which created a State Highway Commission and was subsequently elected as chair.
- 1902: Proposed the Federal Government create aninterstate highwaysystem. Founded the American Road Makers (later to be renamed the American Road Builders Association (1910), and since 1977, known as theAmerican Road and Transportation Builders Association).
- 1903: Appointed Commissioner of Highways by Michigan GovernorAaron T. Bliss.
- 1905: Introduced State Reward Road legislation, which created a State Highway Department currently known as theMichigan Department of Transportation(MDOT).
- 1906: Introduced legislation that created theWayne CountyRoad Board whose initial members wereCass R. Benton,Henry Ford,andEdward N. Hines.
- 1908: LostRepublicangubernatorial primary.
- 1909: Created the world's first mile ofconcreteroad onWoodward Avenuein Detroit.
Later years
[edit]Earle unsuccessfully ran for mayor ofDetroitin 1912. He was vice-president of theDetroit Newsboys Associationfor 25 years and president of theNational Exchange Clubfrom 1919 to 1921. In 1920 he lost theRepublicanprimary for Governor. His bookThe Autobiography of "by Gum" Earlewas published in 1929. Earle died at his home in Detroit on December 25, 1935.[3]State HighwayM-53in Michigan is called the Earle Memorial Highway in his honor.
Quotes from Earle's 1929 autobiography
[edit]I often hear now-a-days, the automobile instigated good roads; that the automobile is the parent of good roads. Well, the truth is, the bicycle is the father of the good roads movement in this country.
...the League of American Wheelmen was formed in 1879, with each state organized as a division. The League was the first organization that promoted the building of better roads. The League fought for the privilege of building bicycle-paths along the side of public highways. The League fought for the privilege of carrying bicycles in baggage cars on railroads. The League fought for equal privileges withhorse-drawn vehicles.All these battles were won and the bicyclist was accorded equal rights with other users of highways and streets.
Michigan Registered Historical Site
[edit]A plaque honoring Earle's efforts is located in a government building complex in Lansing, Michigan, directly west from the Capitol along the "mall" that corresponds with Michigan Ave. The plaque is located northwest of the footbridge that crosses Walnut.
HORATIO EARLE -- In 1905, the year the State Highway Department was created, Michigan roads were quagmires of sand, mud, and clay that trapped horse-drawn vehicles and early automobiles alike. Bicycle clubs, such as the Leagues of American Wheelmen, led the effort to "reform" roads nationwide. In Michigan, the first state highway commissioner, Horatio "Good Roads" Earle (1855-1935), a bicyclist himself, vowed to conquer "the Mighty Monarch Mud." A former state senator, Earle served as state highway commissioner until 1909. Known as "the Father of Good Roads," Earle helped open the state to commerce and tourism. Monuments were erected in Cass City and Mackinaw City in his honor. Although appreciative, Earle stated "the monument I prize most is not measured by its height, but its length in miles".
Registered state site No. 688, 2005
Erected by Employees and Friends of MDOT in its Centennial Year, 2005
Works
[edit]- Horatio Sawyer Earle (1929).The Autobiography of "By Gum" Earle.Lansing, Michigan: The State Review Publishing Company.
References
[edit]- ^Men of Progress: Embracing Biographical Sketches of Representative Michigan Men.Detroit, Michigan:Evening News Association.1900. p. 398.RetrievedFebruary 22,2023– via Google Books.
- ^Michigan Legislative Biography-Horatio S. Earle
- ^"Horatio Earle Dies Suddenly: Good Roads Leader Is Stricken at 80".Detroit Free Press.December 26, 1935. p. 1.RetrievedFebruary 22,2023– via Newspapers.com.
External links
[edit]- League of American Bicyclists website
- American Road and Transportation Builders Association websiteat theWayback Machine(archived March 15, 2005)
- Michigan History Onlineat theWayback Machine(archived May 11, 2005)
- Horatio EarleatFind a Grave