From Inter-Town Rivalries To Chain Gangs: The History Behind The Dixie Highway

Today, you can get just about anywhere in the U.S. by hopping on an interstate. But back in the early 1900s, the idea of traveling across the country by road was nearly inconceivable. Many people, especially those in the South, had access to little more than dirt roads that extended just as far as the nearest town. 

All of that changed, though, in Atlanta in November of 1914 when plans for the Dixie Highway were announced. The new road network would stretch all the way from Chicago to Miami Beach and, according to College of Charleston professor Tammy Ingram, it would transform local economies in the South as well as politics. 

Ingram is the author of a new book titled, “Dixie Highway: Road Building and the Making of the Modern South, 1900-1930.” She joined City Cafe host John Lemley to explore this early roadway history, discussing the rivalries that sprung up between towns over the routes and also explaining the South’s commitment to using prison labor for road building.