HISTORICAL COMMENTS BY GEORGE CHEVALLIER

Roads In and Around Salisbury

Prior to 1880, all roads in and around Salisbury were dirt. Some of them were impassable in bad weather because of the make-up of the soil of the area. Deep sand made for slow travel, although it didn’t impede the horse. A single rider on a horse made out quite well, but the wheels on the wagon of a carriage were another matter. A trip of 37 miles to Ocean City required an overnight stay somewhere. Obviously, it wasn’t the “straight shot” that it is today.

         

The first section of a new type of road was laid in 1880 running east out of town toward Parsonsburg. It consisted of oyster shells and, with the assistance of the abutting property owners, the road was installed. The county would purchase the shells, and the property owners agreed to haul and spread them. This type of road surface would be the norm until 1906.

         

The only exception was in the city of Salisbury. Main Street from Division to the bridge and a portion of Division Street had bricks put down for their surface in 1904-05. It was cleaner and more attractive. In fact the brick from the river to the train station was yellow brick. I wrote about the controversy regarding the road surface some time ago when I related how, when it was decided to pave the road, the Camden section decided to go with a new form of asphalt surfacing called macadam because of the noise that iron wagon wheels made on bricks. Up to that point, Camden Avenue was just a dirt road.

         

The road surface of macadam was first used in 1908. The first section was a two and a half mile stretch from Salisbury to the Rockawalkin Mill on Quantico Road. At that time the road to the tidewater section of the county bore the heaviest volume of traffic. This was generated by the formation of the State Highway Commission by the Legislature of 1908 led by Governor Crothers. At the time it was a major undertaking, costing the state five million dollars for all its counties.

         

By 1916, Salisbury had six miles of streets paved with a new material called Tarvia made by the Barrett Company out of Canada. Church Street, the northern part of Division Street, Elizabeth, Isabella, William, Newton and Locust Streets were all covered with the new surface. Along with the advent of pneumatic tires on the newfound contraption called the automobile, this made for a much quieter Salisbury.

         

It also brought another problem in the form of traffic. A report from the March, 1908, term of the Grand Jury made this report: “The reckless speeding of automobiles has been brought to the attention of this body, and we think there should be something done to protect a long-suffering public. And while 15 or 20 miles is tolerated on county roads, we have proof that a much higher speed is frequent, even as much as 35 to 40 miles per hour.”