The Paris News from Paris, Texas • Page 6

1997 A letter from the District Engineer The first meeting of Texas Highway Commission took place in June 4, 1917, in the corner of the House Chamber in the unaircbnditioned Texas Capitol. A few weeks later, the commission designed a highway system comprising 8,865 miles of "improved roadways." Eight decades later, the state maintained system has grown to encompass 76,843 miles. In the past 80 years, Texans have gone from being "stuck in the mud" to boosting the most advanced highway system in the world. The residents of our nine-county district also can boast of having one of the most extensive farm to market road svstesm not only in Texas, but in the United States. As we celebrate 80 years of service to the citizens of Texas, the Paris District is celebrating our largest highway construction letting in the history of our district at $90 million.

This could not have been possible without the dedication and commitment of our employees. 1 would also like to thank the citizens mid local officials of Lamar County for thjir efforts in promoting our highways and building a strong transportation system for future generations. These special TxDOT pages are about the Paris District, its employees and the work we am enthusiastic about the talent, strength and capability of the employees in the Paris District. I am confident that our employees will continue to achieve great things as they serve you, our customer, by providing the best transportation system possible. Thomas D.

Ellis, P.E. District Engineer TxDOT From old farm roads and undeveloped areas, the Texas Department of Transportation and its predecessors deTin a rC 00 milCS that SerVCd more an 20 million motor vehi- For the first time in the Paris district's it will jusc consultants to acquire; right of way for the -relocation of U.S. 82 through Fannin and Gray son, U.S. 82 has taken on a new look in the District. Increased safety, with the possibility of expanding the roadway to four lanes, prompted the Paris district to rebuild and relocate about 40 miles of the roadway.

Hiring a for the project will help the'Pans district continue its commitment to the develbjpment of U.S. 82. Developed during the 1920s and '30s, the roadway traverses Grayson, Fannin, Lamar and Red River counties. It is a major section of the national highway system that carries traffic between east and west coasts New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi and Georgia. With other major projects planned, such as the continued four-lane construction of Texas 24 through Delta County and the rehabilitation of Interstate 30 in Hopkins County, the Paris district will continue to play a major role in improved transportation for Northeast Texas.

roriNortneast Texas. Roadways have expanded with state's transportation needs In the early 1800s (about 1815) the first Derma- and mnlr nnimnic in toon- In the early 1800s (about 1815) trie first permanent Anglo Saxon settlers to arrive in Texas traveled by keel and later steamboats up the Red River from New Orleans to land at Pecan Point and Joiiesboro on the Red River. Others came from the United States by walking, or on horseback. The keel boats, steamboats and rafts were major forms of transportation from New Orleans and up the Red River to this region. The keel boat was a flat bottom boat with a plank under the center to keep it from turning around like a raft.

It had no power but went with the current going downstream. Coming upstream was much more difficult. A process called "cordelling" was employed. Cordelling meant attaching lines to trees and warping the boat along by pulling on the ropes. It took about three months going from Jonesboro to New Orleans by keel boat.

The first roads were nothing more than wide places cut through the timber and established routes across the prairie. One such route, the southeastward to "Jefferson Texas the-colonies of Ste'phen "trace'" was' dnly'wide enough for horseback travel and pack animals. In the middle 1800s wagons, buggies and horses were still the main mode of travel because roads were usually impassable in bad weather and also did not go very far outside of the permanent villages and towns that had been established. In the 1840s the Republic of Texas commissioned a road to be built starting at the bank of the Trinity River in what is now Dallas County, northeast through the City of Paris and roughly what is now Farm to Market Road 195 to Kiomatia to Red River. This road was called the Republic Central National Road.

It was built in an effort to link the population of North and Northeast Texas with the Central Texas settlements. In the 1850s County Commissioners were busy laying out and designating roads which were worked by landowners and their tenants. The first large roads were the Dallas, or National Road, the Bonham Road and the Clarksville Road and a few roads that went south toward Hopkins County. The 2nd class roads were not so important and were in is now Pleasant under the name of the Sulphur and White Oak Bridge and Plank Company. This road was to be a plank road through the bottoms or low grounds of the Sulphur White Oak Creek bottoms.

This project did not get started due to the beginning of the Civil War, In 1865 and during the Civil War, many passengers and soldiers traveled by stagecoach. Stagecoaches leaving Clarksville would arrive in Marshall, Texas, some 42 hours later. Stagecoaches that went through Paris, Bonham, McKinney, Dallas, Waxahachie and Hillsboro, would arrive in Waco four days and 14 hours later. Stagecoach connections from Waco included Henderson, Nacogdoches and San Antonio. During this period there least 31 stagelines in Confederate.

Texas hauling mail, soldiers and civilians. Twentysix of these lines made connections with the and steamships expediting travel. In the 1870s until the 1940s railroads played an important role in the transportation of passengers and freight.JSteamboat and river transportation had a proposed toll road was'a(rized by the Legislature to be built from Mount $900sr- most roads were'cbn- structed and maintained by county commissioners or county road superintendents with some funding and regulations being provided by the state. As early as 1903 Legislation had been introduced to, create a Texas Bureau of Public Highways. Several other bills were proposed from this time until about 1913 in ari effort to create a highway department.

AH of these early bills failed. The first automobile that was brought to Clarksville was in 1906. In about 1907 other automobiles began to appear in the area. In 1907'the first legal speed limit was set at 18 mph. It was later changed to 35 mph.

In 1910 Red River County had 25 automobiles. In 1915 there were no paved roads and few cars. Some roads were graveled a few miles from town but from there black mud and sand took over. At a horse and buggy took two days to make a trip from Clarksville to Sulphur Springs. Many'of the early cars would go until the mud balled on the wheels making them look like wash tubs.

You would then have to take off the axle, clean off the mud, and try would become clogged and get sjp hot that they turned cherry red. The boards in the cars would have to be- would not catch fire. Often cars that bogged in the winter stayed there See HISTORY on Page 8 Congratulations Texas Department of Transportation Glad We Could Help Pave The Way To Your 80th Anniversary! From Interstates To Sidewalks We Got You Paved. Call Us Today For Fast Friendly Service With Same Day Delivery At Very Competitive Prices. USTER COOTE 4 MEMS Mt.

Pleasant, TX. Greenville, Tx. Sulphur Springs, Tx. Paris, Tx. CALL 785-1709.