On November 18, 1902, Rhode Island established the State Board of Public Roads “to oversee the construction, maintenance and improvement of the state’s highways system.”
Prior to its establishment, there was no state-level entity to “supervise and monitor work on public roads within Rhode Island; those duties were instead localized and decidedly scattershot.”
In the early 1900s, most U.S. roads were dirt roads, that became muddy tracks after it rained. (Photo: National Agricultural...