H is for Highway

From cow paths to freeways, we seldom appreciate what went into America’s highway system.

‘hī-wā (noun) – There ys a dyfference bytwypte an hyghe waye and a bypathe, for the hyghe waye ys large and commune to all… (The Myroure of Oure Ladye, 1530, p. 140)

By Bill Langer

In The Cow Path (1895), New Hampshire poet Sam Walter Foss describes how long ago a calf made a path through the woods. The path became an established animal trail, followed by human travelers, then horses, then wagons, until:

“The years passed on in swiftness fleet,

The road became a village street;

And thus, before we were aware,

A city’s crowded thoroughfare.

And soon the central street was this

Of a renowned metropolis;

And men two centuries and a half

Trod in the footsteps of that calf.”

As we travel along ancient cow paths, whether from our home to work or across the country, we seldom appreciate what went into creating America’s highway system.