Skip to contentU.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Highway Administration
Home > About FHWA > Highway History > FHWA By Day

FHWA By Day

A Look at the History of the Federal Highway Administration
Table of Contents - Previous Day - Next Day
March 3
1893 In one of President Benjamin Harrison's last acts before leaving office, he signs the Agriculture Appropriations Act of 1894, appropriating $10,000 for a road inquiry that gets underway with formation of the ORI, headed by General Roy Stone, on October 3, 1893. An associate of General Stone wrote to him in New York to tell him why Stone's broader bill had not been considered: Senate supporters of both bills "decided that it was more discreet to save the appr'n of $10nd, as it stood, than to attract attention to it by an amendment, & run the risk of a debate & losing all-hence the inaction."
" . . . to make inquiries in regard to the systems of road management throughout the United States . . . to make investigations in regard to the best method of road-making . . . and to enable [the Secretary of Agriculture] to assist the agricultural college and experiment stations in disseminating information on this subject . . . "
Agriculture Appropriations Act of 1894
March 3, 1893
1936 In a referendum, Vermont's voters defeat a proposition to buy right-of-way for the Green Mountain Parkway, effectively killing the proposal. The parkway, which would have run the length of the State, had been proposed by the NPS, BPR, and the Vermont Bureau of Public Works. Reporting the results of the referendum, the Rutland Herald said, "Now in truth Vermont can say not only that she is, but that she will remain unspoiled-unspoiled in character, in common sense, in dignity, as well as in scenery."
2009 President Barack Obama visits DOT along with Vice President Joe Biden to discuss the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which is intended to help the country recover from a deep recession. In the East Atrium, the President says, "we will be investing $28 billion in our highways, money that every one of our 50 States can start using immediately to put people back to work." (See April 13, 2009)
previous next

Return to FHWA By Day