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