Out of this gumbo came Iowa's "Good Roads."
Governor B.F. Carroll called for a Good Roads convention in Des Monies on March 8-9, 1910. Delegates from throughout the state attended and it was decided that a well-maintained River-to-River Road from Davenport to Council Bluffs in the west would help change Iowa's reputation.
Iowa then made history and set a record in road-building when 10,000 farmers engaged in building a 380 mile road out of existing lines of dirt roads in one hour and not one of them received any money for their effort.
However, this "super" road was too far north of the towns that now make up the new White Pole Road Byway. Earlier the five towns mentioned in the last post had been promoting a marked road between Atlantic and Des Moines through the White Pole Auto Club (formerly known as the Southwestern Iowa Auto Club that met in Menlo)
It was felt that a road through our communities would be better than the longer and hillier one that the convention had built.
The original White Pole Road was then designated in 1910 and followed along the Chicago, Rock Island, Pacific Railroad from Des Moines to Council Bluffs.
--RoadWhite
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