Hey, gang, let’s build a highway today!

Today’s math lesson: Early 1900s + Thousands of Model T’s being manufactured and sold + Bad roads = Need for a new highway in Iowa. Hemmings Motor News, which is a collector-car magazine you’ll find at the Central and Franklin Avenue/MHM libraries, published in its January 2011 issue a story about the “River to River Road” proposed by prominent Iowans of the early 20th century. As amazing as it seems today, 10,000  Iowans, on their own time and at their own expense, lined up across the state on a Saturday in 1910 and built a highway from border to border  – in around one hour. This account is verified by stories on the Web sites of the Iowa DOT and the White Pole Road Association. It’s an astonishing tale of the can-do spirit of Iowans from more than a century ago.