U.S. Water transportation in America, cargos and goods are moving by shipping, benefits of water ways instead of road, bulk commodities can be easily shifted.

American Highway History – Auto Transport and Highway Gallery

Origins of Federal Road Oversight

The U.S. Office of Road Inquiry (ORI), the nation’s first federal road agency, opened on October 3, 1893, under the U.S. Department of Agriculture with a modest budget of $10,000. Led by General Roy Stone, the ORI’s mission was educational rather than construction-focused:

“It simply furnishes a rallying point for the friends of the reform and a signal tower from which its progress can be watched and reported day by day.”

The ORI and its successors disseminated information about public roads through:

Lectures and “Good Roads Trains” tours
Publications and manuals
Development of model state legislation
Participation in good roads conventions

To support these activities, agency photographers documented road conditions, construction techniques, and innovations nationwide. By 1911, the Office of Public Roads had over 6,000 negatives and 5,000 lantern slides in its collection.

Photographic Archives

The collection eventually became part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), including:

3,500 photographs (1896–1952) illustrating transportation development
20,000 photographs of U.S. Bureau of Public Roads activities (1900–1953)
62,000 negatives (glass plates and film) spanning 1896–1953

During the early Interstate era, three agency photographers—George W. Crum, William F. Hall, and T. Welby Kines—documented the critical phases of highway development. Their work, supplemented by images from state agencies, was used in:

Publications and annual reports
Promotional displays and internal communications
External media including newspapers and magazines

Most photographs were not publicly released at the time, but they provide an invaluable historical record of highway development.

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

When the U.S. Department of Transportation began operations on April 1, 1967, the federal road agency became the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). While professional photographers were retained, the practice of nationwide travel to document highways gradually declined.

Today, the FHWA presents a gallery of Interstate images, many available to the public for the first time. These images:

Document the construction of the Interstate System
Capture routes and highways during the early phases of development
Highlight the productivity and innovation of the U.S. highway enterprise

Note: The images were taken for documentation purposes, not as artistic works, but they provide a historical record of America’s transportation infrastructure.

Touring and Auto Transport Insights

Many of the locations documented in the photographs correspond to popular tourist destinations.
Auto transport enthusiasts and travelers can explore these routes, combining road trips with visits to historic and scenic locations.
Vacationers can also find high-quality vacation rentals along many of these historic highways.