Turnpike Roads Of Boyle County, Kentucky
Michael J Denis, PO Box 125, Parksville, KY 40464
John McAdam & British Turnpikes
His process called “macadamisation”
Road surface needed to be raised
Built with layered, increasingly small rocks and gravel
Center higher than the sides for rain runoff
His roads were 30 feet wide
Built beginning 1816
Method copied here, with the “National Road”
Early American Turnpikes
National Road, connecting Cumberland, MD and Vandalia, IL
Completed 1839 Now parallels much
of I-68, and US-40 First “interstate”
road built with Federal money
“Metal” refers to paving with stone.
“Metalled” roads were stone-covered roads.
Many early charters used the term, or a variant.
Turnpikes in Kentucky
First one, chartered in 1797, was to run from Crab Orchard to Cumberland Gap
First “modern” turnpike, 1818, from Louisville to Maysville through Lexington
Cost of shipping goods dropped
Travel time decreased, Louisville to Nashville down to 2 days
Turnpikes in Kentucky
By 1835, finished miles completed:
13 miles in Anderson 10 miles in Mercer 28 miles from
Springfield to Danville 25 miles from
Danville to Lexington 12 miles from
Lexington to Perryville
Seemed like a good investment for KY
BUT, most roads ranged from 0.09% to 4.02% return
By 1850, KY cut investments, but now burden fell to counties and cities.
Turnpike Rates and Rules
1850, first road rules Keep to right Pass on left Tolls often based on
width of tire Narrow tires, higher
tolls because narrow tires did more damage to the road
Horse, mule, rider 5c Head of cattle ,2c ea Hogs, 1/2c Pleasure vehicles, 25c Union armies charged
half toll, by 1862 US stopped payment – troops were “defending Kentucky”
Turnpike Rates and Rules
1868, county courts allowed to invest
1870, people going to and from church or attending funerals were exempted
Many other local exemptions – scholars going to school, etc.
By 1870s, roads were often not profitable
Danville & Perryville income was $2096, expenses $1856, didn’t leave much for road improvement
1886 – New York Times commented on good quality of KY roads
Effects of the Turnpikes on KY
From Liberty to Stanford, to Elizabethtown, to Louisville, to Maysville and Newport, much of KY was covered with good roads.
Property values increased
Some county seats had from 5 to 12 macadamized roads
Some passed through gates at night when they were open
Some went through fields around gates or took parallel roads (shunpiking)
The “Turnpike Wars” James Marrs, editor
of Kentucky Advocate of Danville, as early as 1884, suggested the state take over the turnpikes
Began Sep 1896, in Washington County
People thought tolls were too high
NY Times, 7 Dec 1896 -mob chopping down 6 gates in Harrodsburg
300 Gates destroyed since September 1896
Shootings in Perryville, 22 Mar 1898, 75 raiders
By 1900, violence had worked. Not a good omen for Kentucky’s future
End of the Turnpike Era By 1910, Boyle owned
120 miles of turnpikes By 1908, only good
roads were turnpikes Local roads still forced
men to work on the roads
Boston Evening Transcript, 7 Jan 1914, said people evaded tolls - “shunpiking”, taking parallel roads.
1912, state began to take over highways
1916 and 1921 allowed state to use gas taxes and license fees for road construction
Resurgence 1956 on – KY Turnpike (now I-65, Louisville-E’town), and 631 miles of toll parkways
Tunpikes in Boyle County
Many roads were chartered but not built
Many were absorbed by other companies
Much duplication of routes causes confusion
Much overlapping due to differing charters
Frankfort to Crab Orchard, 1834
Danville, Lancaster & Nicholasville, 1834
Springfield, Perryville & Danville 1836
Danville & Hustonville, 1844
Clarks Run & Salt River (Lebanon Pike), 1847
2 – Danville, Lancaster & Nicholasville
6 – Danville & Hustonville8 – Clarks Run & Salt River
(Lebanon)14 – Knob Lick16 – Danville & Pleasant Hill24 – Lincoln & Boyle29 – Danville & Harrodsburg30 – Danville & Stanford
Turnpikes of Eastern Boyle County
3 – Kentucky & Green River4 – Nicholasville, Harrodsburg
& Perryville5 – Danville & Springfield7 – Springfield, Perryville &
Danville8 – Clarks Run & Salt River
(Lebanon)9 – Danville & Perryville10 – Perryville & Springfield11 – Perryville & Taylorsville12 – Springfield, Maxville &
Perryville13 – Perryville & Lebanon15 – Perryville & Union
Meeting19 – Perryville & Maxville20 – Perryville & Mitchellsburg21 – Perryville & Steam Mill23 – Parksville (Crosspike)25 – Pine Knob (Alum Springs
CP)26 – Quirks Run & Nevada28 – Chaplin & Quirks Run
Turnpikes of Western Boyle County
Toll Houses in Western Boyle
Toll Houses in Eastern Boyle