Plank Roads
Michigan was a leader
in the development of plank roads.
Most mid-nineteenth century Michigan's roads were only rutted paths through swamps and
forests. Entrepreneurs formed private companies to build corduroy roads of logs to solve
this problem. Later, they built the smoother plank roads. To pay for building the roads,
they charged travelers a toll.
 Plank roads were constructed by
laying planks of pine or oak, eight to sixteen feet long and three to four inches thick,
across boards called sleepers or stringers. The stringers, usually made from oak or
whatever wood was locally available, were placed parallel to the direction of the road. In
wet areas, the stringers were placed on top of logs. Ditches on either side of the road
provided drainage. A dirt or gravel road alongside the plank road allowed wagons to pull
over or pass each other.
In 1880, Asa Stoddard wrote a poem
about riding on the plank road between Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids. In the summer of 1995,
road builders discovered part of the Lansing-Howell Plank Road
in East Lansing.
Visitors at the Michigan Historical Museum can feel what it might have been like to
ride on a plank road. Here a museum docent helps two young visitors experience the bumpy
ride.
Read more about plank
roads in "Teachers' Stuff."
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