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- Back to 2
- Bills were
introduced in the state legislature for appropriations to
supplement the receipts of the toll gates. While these
measures were heartily favored by members from the
counties through which the road passed, they were
defeated because a majority in the legislature came from
counties that were not benefited. Then the state tried
letting the road out by sections to contractors, through
competitive bidding, who would agree to keep their
sections in good condition for a certain number of years.
The plan proved a failure and the state relieved the
contractors before their leases had all expired. The
state then had the road back on its hands in worse
condition than ever.
-
- Becomes
a County Road
- In 1876
the state decided to pass over to each county that part
of the road that fell within its boundaries. The county
commissioners were authorized to raise money to keep it
in repair, by charging toll, levying taxes, or both. The
grand old National Road had fallen- humiliated by being
made a mere county road. But it had lost its prestige
anyway; the railroad had taken its glory. The
commissioners were permitted to keep toll gates at an
average of not more than one in ten miles. The receipts
were comparatively small. The toll gates were removed.
Property owners did not want to pay taxes to keep the
road in repair. The old National Road was neglected.
Eventually it had very little of which to boast,
excepting its name.
-
- Effect of
the Automobile on the Road
- Then came
the automobile. The old National Road with its bumps,
breakers (or "thank-you-mams," as they were called) on
every hill, provided very little comfort to the motorist.
The county commissioners
indicated their inability to put it in proper condition
so back to the state it went again.
-
- Following
this, help for improving the road came from another
source, the abutting property owner. State money, some
county money, and assessments were used for its
restoration. Many of its old curves and kinks were
straightened out, its way was repaved, and its mileposts
were repaired. Its glory
began to revive.
-
- Then the
national government began to take an interest in the road
it had built and passed over to the state a century
before, and which the state, in turn, had passed over to
the county. The old road was given a more modern
name-"Federal Highway No. 40." While its maintenance is
under the jurisdiction of the state highway department,
the federal government furnishes the funds.
-
- Toll Gates
on the National Road
-
- Rate of
Toll Was Determined by Amount of Damage Done. Just as
those who use the roads today pay a gasoline tax for
their maintenance, so did those who traveled the National
Road in the early days pay a toll in order that there
might be funds for keeping it in good condition. It was
rightly reasoned that the rates of toll should be
determined by the wear on the road, and consequently,
each vehicle or animal was taxed in proportion to the
damage it might do to the road-bed. A greater toll was
charged for cattle than for sheep or hogs; for wagons of
narrow tires than those of wide tires; and for a carriage
drawn by four horses than for one drawn by
two.
-
- Toll rates
were changed frequently. A schedule in effect in Guernsey
county as well as in other Ohio counties, in 1832, is
here given, in part, as follows
- score of
sheep or hogs, .05
- score of
cattle,
.10
- horse and
rider,
.04;
- every
sulky or chaise drawn by one horse, .08
- and .04
for every additional horse;
- every
chariot or coach, .12 l/2,
- and .03
for every horse in addition;
- every
vehicle with wheels under four inches in breadth, .061/4,
- and .02
additional for every horse drawing same;
- every
vehicle with wheels exceeding six inches in width,
free.
-
- Exemptions
Were Granted.
- Exemptions
from paying toll were granted persons going to or
returning from church, a funeral, a place of election,
their ordinary places of business if in the county, to
mill and to market. Clergymen went through free, as did
children on their way to or from school. This, of course,
included the vehicles in which they traveled and the
animals drawing them. A stage and horses carrying United
States mail were passed through free. Stage companies
took advantage of this privilege by putting a mail sack
on each passenger coach. It is said that bids as low as
one cent a year were submitted for carrying the mail.
This abuse was later corrected by a law requiring that
passengers on stage coaches should pay toll.
-
- Toll Gates
in Guernsey County.-There were four toll gates in
Guernsey county on the National Road. They were intended
to be located about ten miles apart in Ohio; however,
this was the average distance. Coming into the county
from the east, one reached the first gate at Bridgewater;
the second, a short distance west of Washington; the
third, a short distance east of Cambridge; and the
fourth, about two miles west of Cambridge. That two were
placed so close to Cambridge was probably for the purpose
of getting toll from persons coming into town from either
direction.
-
- Toll-gate
keepers were appointed by the governor at first, but
later by the
- commissioners.
In 1832 the salary was $180 per year. This was afterwards
- increased
to $200, with an additional five per cent of all tolls
collected in
- excess
of $1,000. Extra compensation by the commission plan
proved
- unsatisfactory,
and the salary again dropped back to the
$200.
-
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