Then & Now: Veirs Mill Road, 1911

Do you recognize the road pictured below? Few modern residents of Montgomery County would guess, but it is a shot of Veirs Mill Road before it was paved.

Veirs Mill Road (THEN): In the early 19th century, rural roads were often little more than muddy trails. The popularity of the car coincided with the improvement of public roads around Rockville. By 1929, when Montgomery County residents owned 13,000 cars, Rockville Pike and Montgomery Avenue had both been paved, but the less-traveled Veirs Mill Road remained a narrow dirt road for decades after that. By the end of 1935, the highway was paved as a macadam road. Today, Veirs Mill Road is a four-lane divided highway.

Veirs Mill Road looking east at Cedar Lane prior to paving, 1911. This roadway was not paved until 1935. Photo by Lewis Reed

Veirs Mill Road (NOW): Today, Veirs Mill Road is a four-lane divided highway. Google Map Link: https://goo.gl/maps/7uvDAWoYvwQ6KUUt9

Today, Veirs Mill Road is a four-lane divided highway.

Veirs Mill Road at Cedar Lane showing deep ruts in the surface, 1911. The wagon wheels and tires of the time were very thin, and would sink straight into ruts, sometimes getting stuck. Photo by Lewis Reed.

From the “Times” (Washington):

Stalled in the mud… “Although he put on the entire 20-horsepower of his machine and called in assistance of several neighbors, it was not until shovels and crowbars had been procured to move his car… he was able to resume his journey. This experience not only caused more than an hour’s delay in reaching the city but the wear and tear on himself, those who rendered assistance, and incidentally, the machine. Thus, at least two months of the life of a $3,000 auto was spent in simply traversing a short stretch of roadway.”

A view down Cedar Lane in Bethesda, 1911. Photo by Lewis Reed.

Rockville Pike’s reputation as “one of the worst pieces of main highway in the state” eventually helped initiate Maryland’s Good Roads Movement, alongside a nationwide initiative to improve America’s roads. Responding to citizen demands, the newly created State Roads Commission incorporated the Rockville Pike into the state highway system.

In 1956, President Eisenhower passed legislation to implement (arguably) the greatest public-works project in U.S. history: the Interstate Highway System.

With this, every major city in America would be connected via highway construction, and mobility within the U.S. would ideally become limitless: a giant leap from the dirt roads and muddy paths that existed at the beginning of the century.

Find photos like these and much more on Montgomery History’s online exhibit, “Montgomery County 1900-1930: Through the Lens of Lewis Reed“.