♪ ♪ Narrator: THERE YOU HAVE IT, 300 YEARS OF TRANSPORTATION IN NORTH CAROLINA.

STAY TUNED FOR DETAILS.

Announcer: MOVING NORTH CAROLINA HAS BEEN MADE POSSIBLE BY FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM: THE NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FROM: THE NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD COMPANY, THE NORTH CAROLINA AGGREGATES ASSOCIATION, STV, INCORPORATED AND THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS OF CAROLINAS AGC... ♪ ♪ HELLO.

I'M BLAND SIMPSON, AND I WANT TO TELL YOU A STORY ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA, ABOUT THE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE AND GOODS FROM WAY BACK IN TIME UNTIL TODAY.

IT'S A STORY ABOUT HOW WE MOVED-- BOATS ON RIVERS, TRAINS ON TRACKS, WAGONS, THEN CARS AND TRUCKS ON ROADS.

BUT IT'S A MUCH BIGGER STORY THAN THAT.

BEYOND THE VESSELS AND VEHICLES, THE STORY OF TRANSPORTATION IS A VERY HUMAN STORY.

HERE IN NORTH CAROLINA, IT'S THE STORY OF WHERE WE CAME FROM AND HOW WE GOT HERE AND WHO WE ARE AND WHY WE LIVE WHERE WE DO AND WHAT'S BEEN IMPORTANT TO US AND HOW WE'VE SEIZED OR IGNORED OPPORTUNITY AND WHO HAS HAD THE VISION TO LEAD US FORWARD.

THE STORY OF NORTH CAROLINA ON THE MOVE IS THE STORY OF HOW WE EVOLVED OVER HUNDREDS OF YEARS FROM A SPATTERING OF ISOLATED, SELF-SUFFICIENT FARMS AND SMALL TOWNS INTO THIS ONE SPECIAL PLACE WE CALL "NORTH CAROLINA."

THAT'S A LOT OF STORY TO TELL, AND I CAN'T THINK OF A BETTER PLACE TO START THAN RIGHT HERE, BESIDE THE INTERSTATE.

NO, IT'S NOT THE CONCRETE MULTI-LANE INTERSTATE WE SPEED ALONG TODAY, BUT IT WAS INDEED THE INTERSTATE OF ITS DAY.

♪ ♪ THIS TROUGH IN THE WOODS NEAR HILLSBOROUGH IS A REMNANT OF THE OCCANEECHI TRAIL, OR AS IT LATER CAME TO BE CALLED, THE GREAT TRADING PATH.

WORN LOW BY WELL OVER A THOUSAND YEARS OF FEET, HOOVES AND WAGON WHEELS.

LIKE OUR MODERN INTERSTATE, THE OCCANEECHI TRAIL WAS A VITAL TRAVEL CORRIDOR FOR PEOPLE, GOODS AND INFORMATION.

AND AS WE'LL DISCOVER LATER IN THE STORY, IT IS NO COINCIDENCE THAT TODAY'S INTERSTATE PASSES BARELY A MILE AWAY.

♪ ♪ THE OCCANEECHI TRAIL, ARCING ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN PIEDMONT OF THE CONTINENT, WASN'T A SINGLE PATH, BUT A NETWORK OF FOOT TRAILS CONNECTING THE TRIBES OF THE REGION.

IT WAS THE PRINCIPAL LINK FOR SOCIALIZATION, COMMERCE, DIPLOMACY AND WAR.

SETTLEMENTS DOTTED THE ROUTE, OFTEN FLOURISHING AT SHALLOW RIVER CROSSINGS, FORDS, WHERE A TRIBE COULD BENEFIT BY CONTROLLING TRAFFIC AND COMMERCE ALONG THE TRAIL.

IN THE LATE 1600s, TRADERS FROM ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS IN VIRGINIA BEGAN TO VENTURE DOWN THE OCCANEECHI TRAIL, HAULING OUT VALUABLE CARGOS OF HIDES IN CARAVANS OF UP TO 100 PACK HORSES.

WILLIAM BYRD THE SECOND NOTED THAT THE NATIVE POPULATION HAD NO EXPERIENCE OF HORSE OR WAGON.

FOR THEIR PARTS, THEY WERE UTTER STRANGERS TO ALL OUR BEASTS OF BURDEN OR CARRIAGE, BEFORE THE SLOTHFUL EUROPEANS CAME AMONGST THEM.

JOHN LAWSON, WHO KEPT A JOURNAL OF HIS TRAVELS ALONG THE OCCANEECHI TRAIL IN 1700, NOTED THAT EUROPEAN TRADERS CARRIED IN MANUFACTURED GOODS NEVER BEFORE SEEN BY THE NATIVE POPULATION.

BUT THEY ALSO CARRIED DISEASES TO WHICH THE NATIVES HAD NO IMMUNITY.

THE SMALL-POX HAS BEEN FATAL TO THEM; THEY DO NOT OFTEN ESCAPE, WHEN THEY ARE SEIZED WITH THAT DISTEMPER, WHICH IS A CONTRARY FEVER TO WHAT THEY EVER KNEW.

IT DESTROYED WHOLE TOWNS, WITHOUT LEAVING ONE INDIAN ALIVE IN THE VILLAGE.

DEVASTATION OF THE NATIVE POPULATION BY SMALLPOX LEFT THE PIEDMONT BARELY INHABITED, AN EMPTY VESSEL WAITING TO BE FILLED.

AND COLONISTS IN THE SEAPORT TOWNS OF EDENTON, BATH, NEW BERN, BEAUFORT, BRUNSWICK AND NEW LIVERPOOL LOOKED WESTWARD, POISED TO FOLLOW THE COASTAL RIVERS UPSTREAM AND INTO THE HEART OF A FERTILE AND DEPOPULATED BACKCOUNTRY.

THERE IS AN OLD SAYING: "GEOGRAPHY IS FATE."

AND THAT DEFINITELY APPLIES TO NORTH CAROLINA.

TO UNDERSTAND HOW OUR STATE WAS POPULATED, YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND OUR GEOGRAPHY.

SETTLERS FROM THE ALBEMARLE AND CAPE FEAR REGIONS MAY HAVE BEEN POISED TO PUSH INTO THE PIEDMONT, BUT WHEN THEY TRIED MOVING UP RIVER, THEY WERE CONFOUNDED BY GEOGRAPHY-AS-FATE IN THE FORM OF RAPIDS LIKE THESE.

THEIR BOATS COULD GO NO FARTHER.

WITH MIGRATION FROM THE COAST BLOCKED, THE NORTH CAROLINA BACKCOUNTRY WOULD BE SETTLED FROM A DIFFERENT PLACE... AND BY A DIFFERENT PEOPLE.

STARTING AROUND PHILADELPHIA, SECOND-GENERATION COLONISTS-- PREDOMINANTLY SCOTS-IRISH AND GERMANS OR "PENNSYLVANIA DEUTCH"-- PUSHED FARTHER AND FARTHER DOWN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY IN SEARCH OF MORE OPPORTUNITY AND LESS GOVERNMENT INTRUSION IN THEIR LIVES.

SOUTH THEY CAME, FEELING THEIR WAY ALONG INDIAN FOOT TRAILS, TRAMPLED BUFFALO RUNS, AND THROUGH TRACKLESS WILDERNESS.

MORAVIAN BISHOP AUGUST GOTTLIEB SPANGENBERG, WHEN ASKED FOR DIRECTIONS SOUTH BY SUBSEQUENT TRAVELERS, WAS AT A LOSS: I CANNOT TELL YOU WHERE THE ROAD IS... BUT WHY DO I SPEAK OF A ROAD WHEN THERE IS NONE BUT WHAT THE BUFFALOES HAVE MADE...?

BUT AS THE FLOW INCREASED FROM A TRICKLE TO A FLOOD, THE MAKESHIFT TRAIL BECAME A MAIN TRAVEL ARTERY, "THE GREAT WAGON ROAD," CONDUIT FOR ONE OF THE LARGEST MIGRATIONS OF AMERICAN HISTORY.

ONCE IN THE CAROLINA PIEDMONT, THESE W SETTLERS FANNED OUT TO ESTABLISH SMALL FARMS AND SETTLEMENTS.

BY THE 1750s, TOWNS BEGAN TO DOT THE CAROLINA BACKCOUNTRY.

AND BECAUSE THE NEW SETTLERS WERE ATTRACTED TO THE SAME TRAVEL ROUTES AS THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE HAD BEEN, THE PATTERN OF NEW SETTLEMENTS MIRRORED A CENTURIES-OLD CRESCENT OF POPULATION ACROSS THE PIEDMONT.

IN THE 30-YEAR PERIOD FROM 1740 TO 1770, THE POPULATION OF THE PIEDMONT EXPLODED FROM A FEW HUNDRED TO 40 THOUSAND.

AND WITH THE FERTILE PIEDMONT SETTLED, THE COLONY SEEMED READY TO TAKE ITS PLACE AS A MAJOR EXPORTER OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.

BUT, ONCE AGAIN, GEOGRAPHY DICTATED OUR FATE.

THE COMMON COLONIAL MODEL OF AGRICULTURAL GOODS FLOWING FROM THE INTERIOR TO COASTAL PORTS DIDN'T SERVE US WELL.

PIEDMONT FARMERS WERE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING FAR MORE THAN THEY NEEDED, BUT JUST AS FALL LINE RAPIDS HAD BLOCKED MIGRATION FROM THE COAST, NOW THOSE RAPIDS BLOCKED THE SHIPMENT OF PRODUCE TO COASTAL MARKETS.

AND EVEN WHEN THE RIVERS RAN UNOBSTRUCTED, GEOGRAPHY WORKED AGAINST US.

NORTH CAROLINA'S RIVERS-- PRINCIPAL AVENUES OF COMMERCE IN A LAND WITH FEW ROADS-- FLOWED TO INFERIOR PORTS HAMPERED EITHER BY SHALLOW, LAND-LOCKED SOUNDS OR BY MENACING SHOALS OFF-SHORE.

OR THEY FLOWED NOT TO NORTH CAROLINA PORTS AT ALL, BUT RATHER TO PORTS IN NEIGHBORING STATES.

THE RESULT WAS A NORTH CAROLINA IN NAME ONLY, THE REALITY BEING FOUR DISPARATE REGIONS WITH LITTLE COMMERCE OR COHESION AMONG THEM, EACH LOOKING A DIFFERENT DIRECTION FOR ITS COMMERCIAL, POLITICAL AND CULTURAL IDENTITY.

FRENCH NOBLEMAN ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE, A PERCEPTIVE OBSERVER OF THE AMERICAN EXPERIMENT, WROTE IN 1830: IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TRAVEL THROUGH THIS UNION WITHOUT BEING CONVINCED THAT THE MOST POWERFUL AND THE MOST INFALLIBLE MEANS OF INCREASING THE PROSPERITY OF A COUNTRY IS IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY TO ENCOURAGE EASY EXCHANGES BETWEEN THOSE WHO LIVE THERE.

BUT NORTH CAROLINA, WITH ITS MERCANTILIST PHILOSOPHY OF LEAVING INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE HANDS OF PRIVATE ENTERPRISE, WAS SOMETHING QUITE DIFFERENT.

AN 1830 LEGISLATIVE REPORT DESCRIBED: A STATE WITHOUT FOREIGN COMMERCE, FOR WANT OF SEAPORTS OR A STAPLE; WITHOUT INTERNAL COMMUNICATIOS BY RIVERS, ROADS OR CANALS; WITHOUT A CASH MARKET FOR ANY ARTICLE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT; WITHOUT MANUFACTURERS.

SEEMINGLY INCAPABLE OF TAKING ACTION TO REMEDY ITS SITUATION, NORTH CAROLINA EARNED THE PEJORATIVE NICKNAME "THE RIP VAN WINKLE STATE," AN UNFAVORABLE ALLUSION TO WASHINGTON IRVING'S FICTIONAL CHARACTER WHO SLEPT THROUGH 20 YEARS OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE AND PROGRESS.

WITH THE STATE'S ECONOMY STAGNANT AND WITH LITTLE HOPE OF CHANGE TO COME, FULLY ONE THIRD OF THE STATE'S POPULATION FLED WEST OVER THE MOUNTAINS, AND NORTH CAROLINA FELL FROM THE THIRD-MOST POPULOUS STATE TO NUMBER 12.

EARLIER MOVEMENT WEST-- INCLUDING DANIEL BOONE AND THOSE WHO FOLLOWED HIS TRAIL-- HAD BEEN ABOUT SEEKING OPPORTUNITY.

BUT THE POPULATION OUTFLOW OF THE EARLY 1800s WAS ABOUT FLEEING A STATE WHERE LACK OF MOBILITY MADE SELF-IMPROVEMENT UNLIKELY.

IN NORTH CAROLINA, MANY "INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS"-- WHAT WE WOULD CALL TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS-- WERE PROPOSED OVER THE YEARS.

BUT FEW WERE BEGUN, MUCH LESS COMPLETED.

AND WHAT WAS ACCOMPLISHED AT THE LOCAL LEVEL HAD A RANDOM, DISCONNECTED QUALITY.

IF NORTH CAROLINA WAS GOING TO SHED ITS RIP VAN WINKLE SYNDROME, IT WAS GOING TO HAVE TO RESOLVE AN INTENSE, LONG-RUNNING DEBATE OVER WHO SHOULD PAY FOR SUCH PROJECTS AND OVER WHAT ROLE GOVERNMENT SHOULD PLAY.

THE DEBATE OVER INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS WASN'T ABOUT SPECIFIC PROJECTS.

IT WAS A CLASH OF IDEOLOGIES BETWEEN THE 2 MAJOR POLITICAL PARTIES OF THAT TIME.

THE DEMOCRATS-- THEY WERE THE CONSERVATIVES OF THAT ERA-- AND THE WHIGS, THE PROGRESSIVES.

THE PROGRESSIVES BELIEVED THE GOVERNMENT MUST TAKE A STRONGER ROLE IF ANYTHING MEANINGFUL WAS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED, EVEN IF IT MEANT HIGHER TAXES.

THE CONSERVATIVES REJECTED GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT ON A NUMBER OF GROUNDS, AND THEY DEFINITELY REJECTED HIGHER TAXES.

♪ ♪ PROGRESSIVES LIKE JOSEPH CALDWELL AND ARCHIBALD MURPHEY MADE THE CASE THAT LACK OF INFRASTRUCTURE PUT NORTH CAROLINA AT A COMPETITIVE DISADVANTAGE.

PRIVATE ENTERPRISE, THEY SAID, WAS NOT SOLVING THE PROBLEM, AND GOVERNMENT MUST BECOME INVOLVED.

AS WELL MIGHT WE ARM OURSELVES WITH BOWS AND ARROWS, TO GO INTO BATTLE AGAINST MUSKETS AND RIFLES AND BAYONETS AND CANNONS, AS HOPE TO CONTEND IN PRICES, WITHOUT CANALS AND RAILROADS AND STEAMBOATS, AGAINST THOSE WHO ARE AMPLY FURNISHED WITH ALL THESE INSTRUMENTS OF COMMERCIAL RIVALSHIP.

ISOLATED MEASURES WITHOUT PLAN AND WITHOUT SYSTEM, HAVE NEVER YET MADE A STAGE GREAT, NOR A PEOPLE HAPPY.

WE OUGHT ALWAYS TO BEAR IN MIND, THAT IT IS THE DUTY OF THE GOVERNMENT TO AID THE ENTERPRISE OF ITS CITIZENS.

BUT THE CONCEPT OF GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT WAS A RADICAL AND DANGEROUS IDEA TO MANY CONSERVATIVES.

MEN LIKE REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS HALL BELIEVED FERVENTLY THAT NEITHER THE FEDERAL NOR STATE CONSTITUTION AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT TO SPEND TAX REVENUES ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

WHAT IN GOD'S NAME ARE WE COMING TO IN THIS COUNTRY?

LET THE MONEY BE APPLIED TO PAY THE PUBLIC DEBT AND THEN REDUCE THE TAXES.

THIS WILL DO MORE PUBLIC GOOD THAN ALL THIS IDLE EXPENSE UPON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS, OR ANYTHING ELSE.

VENERABLE NATHANIEL MACON SECONDED THAT OUTLOOK: OUR STRENGTH IS IN PROPORTION TO THE SMALLNESS OF OUR TAXES; ENCUMBER AND OVERLOAD US WITH DEBT, AND WE ARE RUINED.

BUT THE EASTERN PLANTER ELITE'S RESISTANCE TO INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS WENT FAR DEEPER THAN AN ABHORRENCE OF TAXES.

AT ITS HEART WAS A DEEP-SEATED DISDAIN FOR COMMERCE AND A FUNDAMENTAL BELIEF IN THE PRIMACY, THE MORAL SUPERIORITY OF A TRADITIONAL AGRARIAN ARISTOCRACY.

YEARS EARLIER, PLANTER WILLIAM BYRD II HAD CAPTURED THE ETHOS OF THE RULING PLANTER CLASS.

LIKE ONE OF THE PATRIARCHS, I HAVE MY FLOCKS AND MY HERDS, MY BOND-MEN AND BOND-WOMEN, AND EVERY SORT OF TRADE AMONGST MY OWN SERVANTS, SO THAT I LIVE IN A KIND OF INDEPENDENCE ON EVERYONE... BUT PROVIDENCE.

THE DEMOCRATS HAD CONTROLLED POWER IN NORTH CAROLINA FOR MANY DECADES, BUT THE POLITICAL TIDE WAS TURNING.

THE ONCE-RADICAL IDEAS OF MEN LIKE ARCHIBALD MURPHEY WERE BEGINNING TO WIN THE DAY.

AS POLITICAL OPINION TIPPED TOWARD A ROLE FOR STATE GOVERNMENT IN TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, THOSE EAGER TO INITIATE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS LOOKED TO THE RIVERS AS THE NATURAL PLACE TO BEGIN.

TODAY IN NORTH CAROLINA, WE DON'T OFTEN THINK ABOUT INLAND WATER TRANSPORTATION, BUT FOR AMERICA IN THE 1700s AND EARLY 1800s, RIVERS AND CANALS WERE SUPER-HIGHWAYS.

EPITOMIZED BY NEW YORK'S MAGNIFICENT ERIE CANAL, WATER NAVIGATION WAS THE CHEAPEST, SAFEST, MOST EFFICIENT WAY TO TRANSPORT A HEAVY CARGO OVER DISTANCE.

EFFORTS TO IMPROVE NORTH CAROLINA'S WATERWAYS PALED IN COMPARISON TO THE ERIE CANAL, BUT THEY WERE VITALLY IMPORTANT IN A STATE WITH FEW ROADS.

AS EARLY AS 1730, A MAN-MADE WATER PASSAGE THROUGH THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP HAD BEEN PROPOSED AS A WAY TO LINK THE NORTH CAROLINA'S ALBEMARLE SOUND PORTS WITH THE MORE OCEAN-ACCESSIBLE PORT OF NORFOLK.

WHEN THE DISMAL SWAMP CANAL FINALLY OPENED IN 1814, IT MAY HAVE BEEN, AS IT WAS DESCRIBED, "LITTLE MORE THAN A MUDDY DITCH."

BUT FOR EASTERN FARMERS, IT WAS THE REALIZATION OF A LONG-DREAMED-OF PATH FROM FARM TO MARKET.

FOR FARMERS IN THE NORTH CAROLINA BACKCOUNTRY, THE TWIN MOTHER LODES OF WATER NAVIGATION WERE THE CAPE FEAR AND ROANOKE RIVER SYSTEMS.

THE CAPE FEAR NAVIGATION COMPANY PROPOSED A 27-MILE CANAL CIRCUMVENTING THE RAPIDS ABOVE FAYETTEVILLE AND ACCESSING COAL AND IRON MINES IN CHATHAM COUNTY.

BUT THE PROJECT PROVED UNFEASIBLE.

THE COMPANY SETTLED FOR CLEARING THE LOWER RIVER BETWEEN FAYETTEVILLE AND THE PORT OF WILMINGTON, AND THUS ESTABLISHED FAYETTEVILLE AS A SOUTHEASTERN MARKET CENTER.

ON THE ROANOKE RIVER, PLANS WERE EVEN MORE AMBITIOUS, AND THE POTENTIAL GAINS STILL GREATER.

IN 1812, NORTH CAROLINA CHARTERED THE ROANOKE NAVIGATION COMPANY TO CONSTRUCT AN 8.5-MILE-LONG CANAL BYPASSING RAPIDS ON THE ROANOKE RIVER JUST UPSTREAM OF WELDON.

EXCAVATION BEGAN IN 1817, AND THE CANAL WAS IN OPERATION BY 1822.

THE CANAL WAS NOTHING MORE THAN A SHALLOW TROUGH WITH A TOW PATH ALONG SIDE.

BUT DEALING WITH THE DIFFERENCE IN ELEVATION REQUIRED SIGNIFICANT ENGINEERING IN THE FORM OF LOCKS.

HERE AT THE ROANOKE CANAL MUSEUM, YOU CAN STILL SEE THE SCALE OF THE WORK INVOLVED.

THESE WERE THE MIDDLE LOCKS: 3 CHAMBERS RESPONSIBLE FOR RAISING AND LOWERING A BATEAU LIKE THIS ONE 35 VERTICAL FEET.

THE BATEAU WAS THE BOAT OF CHOICE ON THE ROANOKE AND MANY NORTH CAROLINA RIVERS.

♪ ♪ THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE ROANOKE CANAL AND GENERAL RIVER CLEARING CAME EVEN BEFORE THE CANAL WAS COMPLETE, GALVANIZED BY THE PROMISE OF HEAVILY-LADEN BATEAUX BRINGING UPPER-RIVER GOODS DOWN TO WELDON FOR TRANSFER TO LARGER BOATS BOUND FOR THE DISMAL SWAMP CANAL, NORFOLK AND BEYOND.

WHERE WATER ROUTES WERE NOT FEASIBLE, ROADS WOULD HAVE TO DO.

BUT NORTH CAROLINA'S ABYSMAL ROADS CONTINUED TO BE AN OBSTACLE TO MOBILITY.

MANY ROADS WERE DEEPLY RUTTED IN DRY TIMES, REQUIRING HIGH WHEELS AND BRUTE PULLING POWER, WHILE IN WET TIMES, THE ROADS BECAME IMPASSIBLE MIRES.

INABILITY TO TRANSPORT CROPS TO MARKET RESTRICTED MANY FARMERS TO "AN UNWILLING SELF-SUFFICIENCY" GROWING NO MORE THAN WHAT THEY THEMSELVES COULD USE.

TO REMEDY THE FARM-TO-MARKET TRANSPORTATION BOTTLENECK, PRIVATE COMPANIES STEPPED IN TO OFFER IMPROVED MOBILITY ON TOLL TURNPIKES.

IN THE EAST, FAYETTEVILLE, WITH ITS IMPROVED RIVER CONNECTION TO THE PORT OF WILMINGTON, BECAME THE HUB OF MULTIPLE TURNPIKES, SOLIDIFYING ITS STATUS AS A REGIONAL MARKET CENTER.

THE MOST IMPORTANT OF THESE FARM-TO-MARKET ROADS WAS THE FAYETTEVILLE AND WESTERN TURNPIKE CONNECTING FAYETTEVILLE AND THE MORAVIAN COMMUNITY OF SALEM.

THE FAYETTEVILLE AND WESTERN WAS A PLANK ROAD, ITS SURFACE ENTIRELY CLAD IN WOOD.

IN THE 1840s, THIS NEW ROAD TECHNOLOGY SEEMED IDEAL FOR HEAVILY TIMBERED NORTH CAROLINA, AND NUMEROUS PLANK TURNPIKES WERE CONSTRUCTED.

AT 129 MILES IN LENGTH, THE FAYETTEVILLE AND WESTERN WAS THE LONGEST PLANK ROAD IN THE WORLD.

20,000 WAGONS A YEAR LOADED WITH THE BOUNTY OF THE PIEDMONT ROLLED TO MARKET OVER THE FAYETTEVILLE AND WESTERN PLANK ROAD.

NEWSPAPERMAN FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED REPORTED THE SCENE.

NEXT MORNING, I COUNTED 60 OF THEIR GREAT WAGONS IN THE MAIN STREET OF THE LITTLE TOWN.

SEVERAL OF THE WAGONS HAD COME, I FOUND, FROM A HUNDRED MILES DISTANT; AND ONE OF THEM FROM BEYOND THE BLUE RIDGE, NEARLY 200 MILES.

AND IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA, THE BUNCOMBE TURNPIKE COMPANY CONSTRUCTED A 75-MILE-LONG TOLL ROAD FROM TENNESSEE THROUGH ASHEVILLE AND ON TO SOUTH CAROLINA.

WHEN THE TURNPIKE WAS COMPLETED IN 1827, IT WAS ARGUABLY THE BEST ROAD IN THE STATE, AND THE NEW FARM-TO-MARKET EFFICIENCY IT CREATED SPURRED AN ECONOMIC BOOM IN THE REGION.

EACH YEAR, BETWEEN OCTOBER AND DECEMBER, THE TURNPIKE SAW AS MANY AS 175,000 HOGS PARADING DOWN THE MAIN STREET OF ASHEVILLE ON THEIR WAY TO MARKET IN SOUTH CAROLINA.

♪ ♪ AND THE BUNCOMBE TURNPIKE BROUGHT OTHER BENEFITS AS WELL.

FORMERLY ACCESSIBLE ONLY BY HORSEBACK OR FOOT, MOUNTAIN LOCATIONS SUCH AS ASHEVILLE AND WARM SPRINGS BEGAN TO SEE THE ARRIVAL OF STAGE COACHES AND CARRIAGES BEARING FLATLAND TOURISTS.

♪ ♪ IN 1800 NORTH CAROLINA, A MAN WHO LEFT HIS HEARTH TO TRAVEL WAS CONSTRAINED BY ANCIENT, SEEMINGLY IMMUTABLE LAWS OF MOTION.

ON LAND, HE COULD ONLY TRAVEL AS FAST AS THE SPEED OF A GOOD HORSE.

AND ON THE RIVERS, HE COULD EASILY FLOAT DOWNSTREAM.

BUT NAVIGATING UPSTREAM, ESPECIALLY WITH A CARGO, COULD ONLY BE DONE WITH BACKBREAKING LABOR.

ESSENTIALLY, THE NORTH CAROLINA TRAVELER OF 1800 WAS UNDER THE SAME LIMITATIONS JULIUS CAESAR HAD BEEN NEARLY 2,000 YEARS EARLIER.

BUT AT THE DAWN OF THE 19th CENTURY, THOSE LIMITATIONS SUDDENLY VANISHED WHEN, AFTER DECADES OF TINKERING, ENGINEERS FINALLY HARNESSED STEAM TO PERFORM MECHANICAL WORK, WORK THAT MIGHT POWER A VEHICLE OR A WATER CRAFT.

♪ ♪ NAVAL HERO AND PRIVATEER OTWAY BURNS BROUGHT THE STEAM ERA TO NORTH CAROLINA IN 1818 WHEN HE LAUNCHED THE STEAMBOAT PROMETHEUS AT SWANSBORO, AND THE LITTLE STERNWHEELER BEGAN MAKING A REGULAR RUN BETWEEN WILMINGTON AND SMITHVILLE, NOW SOUTHPORT.

BECAUSE THE WATERWAYS ALREADY EXISTED, IT WAS RELATIVELY EASY TO GET INTO THE STEAMBOAT BUSINESS.

THE CAPITAL REQUIRED TO BUILD A STEAMBOAT WAS WITHIN THE REACH OF ANY WEALTHY BUSINESSMAN.

AND REACH THEY DID.

BETWEEN 1818 AND 1823, SOME 100 STEAMBOATS WORKED THE CAPE FEAR AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.

STILL MORE PLIED THE ROANOKE RIVER FROM WELDON, AT THE LOWER END OF THE ROANOKE CANAL, TO COASTAL PORTS AND THE DISMAL SWAMP CANAL.

ON OUR RIVERS AND SOUNDS, THE STEAMBOAT TURNED INLAND WATER TRAVEL ON ITS HEAD AND INJECTED NEW LIFE INTO WATERSIDE TOWNS.

STEAMBOATS NAVIGATED THE WATERWAYS WITH A SPEED NEVER KNOWN BEFORE AND WITH LITTLE THOUGHT TO CURRENT OR TIDE.

THEY CARRIED CARGOES MANY TIMES HEAVIER THAN COULD BE TRANSPORTED ON ROADS, AND THEY TRANSPORTED PASSENGERS IN GREATER COMFORT THAN COULD ANY LAND VEHICLE.

[steam hissing] IT TOOK A LITTLE LONGER TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF MOUNTING STEAM POWER, WITH ITS MASSIVE BOILER, ON A LAND VEHICLE.

BUT ONCE A REALITY, THE STEAM-POWERED RAILROAD WOULD NOT ONLY RULE THE WORLD OF TRANSPORTATION, IT WOULD BECOME AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE AMERICAN CHARACTER.

[distant steam engine] HERE AT THE NORTH CAROLINA TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM, NEXT TO ONE OF THE LOVINGLY-RESTORED VINTAGE STEAM ENGINES, YOU GET A SENSE OF THE AWESOME SIZE AND POWER THAT EPITOMIZED THE AGE OF RAIL.

FOR ALL ITS POWER, THIS LOCOMOTIVE IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT THE RAILROAD WOULD BECOME.

IN THE BEGINNING, RAIL TRANSPORTATION WAS SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY.

♪ ♪ IN 1840, NORTH CAROLINA ENTERED THE AGE OF STEAM RAILROADS WHEN NOT ONE BUT 2 NORTH/SOUTH LINES WERE COMPLETED.

CONNECTING WILMINGTON AND WELDON, AND RALEIGH AND GASTON, BOTH LINES SERVED THE EASTERN COASTAL PLAIN, AND BOTH MADE CONNECTION WITH VIRGINIA RAILROADS AND POINTS NORTH.

THE RALEIGH AND GASTON AND THE WILMINGTON AND WELDON RAILROADS WERE CONSTRUCTED BY PRIVATE CORPORATIONS, BUT THEY WERE HEAVILY SUBSIDIZED BY STATE GOVERNMENT PURCHASE OF STOCK.

TAKEN TOGETHER, EFFORTS TO CLEAR THE RIVERS FOR STEAMBOATS AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE RALEIGH & GASTON AND WILMINGTON AND WELDON RAILROADS BEGAN TO HAVE A STIMULATIVE EFFECT ON THE ECONOMY OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA.

[shipyard sounds] BUT IN THE PIEDMONT, THERE WAS STILL FRUSTRATION AT THE IMMENSE OBSTACLES BETWEEN FARM AND MARKET.

AT A TIME WHEN THE UNITED STATES WAS EXPORTING 120 MILLION BUSHELS OF WHEAT A YEAR, NOT ONE BUSHEL CAME FROM THE NORTH CAROLINA PIEDMONT, COSTING THE STATE AN ESTIMATED $400,000 A YEAR IN LOST REVENUE.

FOR YEARS, VOICES HAD BEEN CALLING FOR AN EAST-WEST RAILROAD ACROSS NORTH CAROLINA TO REMOVE THOSE OBSTACLES.

IN 1828, JOSEPH CALDWELL HAD WRITTEN AN INFLUENTIAL BOOK, THE NUMBERS OF CARLTON, MAKING A BOLD PROPOSAL FOR A RAILROAD FROM THE COAST TO THE MOUNTAINS.

HE LAID OUT THE ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES AND THE SOCIAL POTENTIAL OF SUCH A PROJECT.

NO SOONER SHALL WE OPEN A GRAND CENTRAL THOROUGHFARE, ANNIHILATING DISTANCE AND BRINGING THE SEA INTO A PROXIMITY TO EVERY MAN'S DWELLING, THAN WE SHALL REALIZE THAT WE ARE UPON A LEVEL WITH THE REST OF THE UNION AND OF THE WORLD.

CALDWELL'S VISIONARY PROPOSAL LAY DORMANT FOR 2 DECADES.

IT WAS TOO EXPENSIVE, CERTAINLY FOR A PRIVATE CORPORATION.

MANY SAID IT WAS JUST TOO AMBITIOUS.

BUT THE HEART OF THE MATTER WAS THE FACT THAT THE EASTERN PLANTERS-- WHO CONTROLLED THE PURSE STRINGS IN THE LEGISLATURE-- ALREADY HAD THEIR RAILROADS.

THE WILMINGTON AND WELDON AND THE RALEIGH AND GASTON HAD BEEN CARRYING EASTERN PRODUCTS TO MARKETS IN THE NORTH FOR NEARLY A DECADE.

IN 1848, WESTERN INTERESTS, FRUSTRATED BY LACK OF SUPPORT FROM THE EAST, CHALLENGED THE STATUS QUO AND GOT THE ATTENTION OF EASTERNERS WHEN THEY PROPOSED THEIR OWN RAILROAD.

THEY REQUESTED A CHARTER TO BUILD, WITH PRIVATE MONEY, A RAIL LINE THAT WOULD LINK CHARLOTTE WITH COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA AND DANVILLE, VIRGINIA.

THE LEGISLATURE IN RALEIGH SAW THIS AS A PLOT BY NEIGHBORING STATES TO "STEAL" NORTH CAROLINA GOODS.

THEY RESPONDED BY REVIVING THE IDEA OF AN EAST-WEST RAIL LINE, THIS TIME WITH FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM THE STATE.

IN JANUARY OF 1849, AFTER INTENSE DEBATE, THE PROPOSAL TO CREATE A STATE RAILROAD CAME TO A VOTE IN A POLARIZED LEGISLATURE.

IN THE HOUSE, THE BILL PASSED BY A SMALL MARGIN.

HERE IN THE SENATE, EVERYONE EXPECTED ANOTHER CLOSE VOTE.

WHEN THE VOTES WERE COUNTED, THE SENATE WAS DEADLOCKED: AYES 22, NAYS 22.

ALL EYES TURNED TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE, CALVIN GRAVES, WHO ROSE TO CAST THE TIE-BREAKING VOTE.

SENATOR GRAVES HAD EVERY REASON TO VOTE IN THE OPPOSITION-- HE WAS A DEMOCRAT, AND HE REPRESENTED CASWELL COUNTY UP ON THE VIRGINIA LINE.

HAD THE NORTH-SOUTH RAIL LINE FROM DANVILLE TO CHARLOTTE BEEN BUILT, IT WOULD HAVE PASSED RIGHT THROUGH CASWELL COUNTY.

THE NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD WOULD NOT.

SENATOR GRAVES KNEW FULL WELL THAT A VOTE FOR THE EAST-WEST LINE WOULD NOT BE POPULAR BACK HOME.

BUT HE BELIEVED NORTH CAROLINA'S ONLY HOPE FOR REAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT WAS IN ECONOMIC UNITY, WHICH ONLY THE EAST-WEST LINE WOULD PROVIDE.

HE UNHESITATINGLY VOTED FOR THE NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD, TO A ROUSING OVATION FROM THE FLOOR.

[cheering] SENATOR CALVIN GRAVES PAID A PRICE FOR HIS VOTE.

IN THE NEXT ELECTION, THE PEOPLE OF CASWELL COUNTY TURNED HIM OUT OF OFFICE, AND HIS LIFE IN POLITICS WAS OVER.

BUT THERE IS NO INDICATION THAT HE EVER REGRETTED HIS VOTE.

♪ ♪ THE NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD COMPANY, CAPITALIZED WITH STATE FUNDS AND PRIVATE STOCK SUBSCRIPTIONS, WAS CHARTERED TO CONNECT GOLDSBORO, RALEIGH, SALISBURY AND CHARLOTTE, ALTHOUGH THE EXACT ROUTE WAS NOT SPECIFIED.

BUT ECONOMIC LOGIC DICTATED THAT THE LINE SERVE EXISTING POPULATION CENTERS.

SO, THE NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD, 1850s PARAGON OF MODERN TRANSPORTATION, WOULD IN ESSENCE FOLLOW THE ARC OF THE ANCIENT OCCANEECHI TRAIL ACROSS THE STATE.

AND THE RAILROAD ROUSED THE SLUMBERING ECONOMY.

WHEAT AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION SOARED IN COUNTIES ALONG THE RAIL LINE, AND LAND PRICES OFTEN DOUBLED.

COTTON PRODUCTION IN COUNTIES ALONG THE LINE MORE THAN DOUBLED IN THE FIRST DECADE OF THE RAILROAD.

A BOOMING LOGGING INDUSTRY SPRANG UP TO FEED THE RAILROAD'S VORACIOUS APPETITE FOR WOOD.

JUST BUILDING THE RAILROAD REQUIRED HALF A MILLION WOODEN CROSS TIES, AND THE ENGINES OF THE NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD DEVOURED 8,000 CORDS OF FIREWOOD A YEAR AS FUEL.

DURHAM'S FLEDGLING TOBACCO INDUSTRY EXPLODED.

IN 1850, BEFORE THE COMPLETION OF THE RAILROAD, DURHAM SHIPPED 270,000 POUNDS OF PRODUCT.

IN 1860, IT SHIPPED 3 MILLION POUNDS, THE BULK OF IT BY RAIL.

WASHINGTON DUKE, DESTITUTE ON MUSTERING OUT OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMY, HAD TRAVELED THE COUNTRYSIDE SELLING SMALL POUCHES OF TOBACCO, EVENTUALLY OWNING A SINGLE TOBACCO CABIN.

WITH THE HELP OF THE NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD, HE WOULD BE A MILLIONAIRE WITHIN 10 YEARS.

[train bell] RAILS ACROSS THE NORTH CAROLINA COUNTRYSIDE QUICKLY BECAME THE WAY WE MOVED BETWEEN CITIES, BUT THERE WERE RAILS IN THE CITY STREETS, TOO.

THE 1881 NORTH CAROLINA LEGISLATURE CHARTERED STREET RAILWAY COMPANIES IN RALEIGH AND ASHEVILLE USING "STEAM, ANIMAL, OR OTHER POWER."

AT THE TIME, THE TROLLEY, OR STREETCAR, WAS SEEN SIMPLY AS A CONVENIENT AND ECONOMIC WAY OF MOVING AROUND INSIDE CITY LIMITS.

IN REALITY, WITHIN A DECADE THE TROLLEY WOULD FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE OUR CONCEPT OF WHAT A CITY LOOKS LIKE AND HOW IT FUNCTIONS.

HORSE AND MULE-DRAWN TROLLEY CARS FIRST APPEARED ON NORTH CAROLINA CITY STREETS IN 1886, WITH EARLY SYSTEMS OPERATING IN A HANDFUL OF CITIES ACROSS THE STATE.

BUT THE DAYS OF THE HORSE CAR TROLLEY WERE OVER ALMOST AS SOON AS THEY STARTED.

IN THE LATE 1800s, AS CITIES WELCOMED ELECTRIC POWER, THE HORSE CAR WENT THE WAY OF THE GAS LAMP.

ELECTRIFIED STREETCARS APPEARED AND BECAME THE DOMINANT FORM OF URBAN TRANSPORTATION, CLANGING AND SCREECHING DOWN THE STREETS OF 16 TOWNS AND CITIES ACROSS THE STATE.

[bell clanging] MORE SIGNIFICANTLY, ELECTRIC STREETCARS WERE ABLE TO BREAK FREE OF THE CITY CONFINES, PUSHING OUT INTO THE SURROUNDING COUNTRYSIDE.

FAR-SIGHTED BUSINESSMEN SAW ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY IN THIS EXTENDED RANGE, BUT ONLY IF PEOPLE COULD BE ENCOURAGED TO VENTURE AWAY FROM THE DOWNTOWN.

ACROSS THE STATE, SYSTEM OPERATORS CREATED FAR-FLUNG DESTINATIONS DESIGNED TO ATTRACT CITY-DWELLERS ON TROLLEY EXCURSIONS.

IN 1890 CHARLOTTE, DEVELOPER EDWARD DILWORTH LATTA PURCHASED THE CITY'S TROLLEY SYSTEM OUTRIGHT AND BUILT LATTA PARK AT THE END OF HIS EXTENDED RAIL LINE.

THE PARK ENTICED CITY DWELLERS TO RIDE OUT AND ENJOY THE WIDE-OPEN SPACES.

IT ALSO GAVE RIDERS A TANTALIZING VIEW OF LATTA'S UNORTHODOX NEW RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT, "DILWORTH," SO DARINGLY FAR FROM THE HEART OF THE CITY.

IN RALEIGH, TRACKS EXTENDED OUT UNPAVED GLENWOOD AVENUE TO BLOOMSBURY PARK, WITH ITS CAROUSEL, ROLLER COASTER, AND BOATING.

IN WILMINGTON, THE TROLLEY REACHED OUT, NOT TO A PARK, BUT TO WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, WHERE GOOD TIMES BECKONED FROM THE LUMINA DANCE PAVILION.

RADIATING OUT FROM CITY CENTERS LIKE THE SPOKES OF A WHEEL, THE ELECTRIC STREETCAR LINES OF THE EARLY 1900s REVOLUTIONIZED HOW AND WHERE WE LIVED.

AND AS CITY-DWELLERS FLOCKED TO THE NEW STREET CAR NEIGHBORHOODS, THE URBAN LANDSCAPE TOOK ON A DIFFERENT SHAPE, A DIFFERENT LOOK, AND A DIFFERENT FEEL.

THE SPACIOUS, CLEAN SUBURBS WERE A NEW AND PROMISING WORLD.

AS THE 20th CENTURY APPROACHED, ENTREPRENEURS AND TINKERERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY WERE EXPERIMENTING WITH THE POSSIBILITIES OF A CARRIAGE POWERED BY A MOTOR INSTEAD OF A HORSE.

NORTH CAROLINA, WITH WELL-ESTABLISHED WAGON AND BICYCLE BUSINESSES, WAS A NATURAL BREEDING GROUND FOR SUCH ENDEAVORS.

EARLY "HORSELESS CARRIAGES" WERE HAND-CRAFTED, AS BICYCLES, BUGGIES AND CARRIAGES HAD ALWAYS BEEN, AND THEY CAME IN 3 POWER SOURCES.

IN 1900, LESS THAN ONE QUARTER HAD GASOLINE ENGINES.

MOST RELIED ON STEAM OR ELECTRIC POWER.

IN 1920, NORTH CAROLINA HAD 50 PUBLIC CHARGING STATIONS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES.

NO MATTER THE SOURCE OF POWER, HORSELESS CARRIAGES WERE EXPENSIVE, THE PLAYTHINGS OF WEALTHY CITY DWELLERS.

THE MOST COMMON USE WAS FOR SUNDAY PLEASURE DRIVES INTO THE SURROUNDING COUNTRYSIDE.

BUT MANY HORSELESS CARRIAGE OWNERS RETAINED THEIR HORSES AND BUGGIES FOR SERIOUS TRANSPORTATION.

IN RURAL AREAS, THE NEW CONTRAPTIONS WERE NOT WELL-RECEIVED.

THEY WERE TOO EXPENSIVE FOR MOST FARMERS.

AND THEY WERE AN UNWELCOME DISRUPTION TO TRADITIONAL COUNTRY LIFE.

HORSES IN PARTICULAR TENDED TO PANIC AT THE ONRUSH OF A ROARING, SMOKING, LURCHING MOTOR VEHICLE.

[car horn] EQUINE TERROR ASIDE, MOST RURAL PEOPLE BELIEVED WHEN IT CAME TO REAL WORK, THE AUTOMOBILE WAS GENERALLY USELESS AND LARGELY UNRELIABLE.

MANY A FARMER HAD THE EXPERIENCE OF HOOKING UP HIS TEAM TO TOW SOME CITY FELLER'S HORSELESS CARRIAGE OUT OF A MUD HOLE OR BACK TO A GARAGE.

AS A RESULT OF THEIR ANTIPATHY AND SCORN FOR THE AUTOMOBILE, MOST RURAL PEOPLE VIEWED ANY TAX TO IMPROVE ROADS AS A TAX ON THE FARMER TO BENEFIT RICH CITY FOLKS AND THEIR TOYS.

FOR FARMERS, THE HORSES AND WAGONS THAT HAD SERVED THEM FOR SO LONG DID JUST FINE ON THE OLD RUTTED ROADS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

IN 1908, HENRY FORD TURNED THE POPULAR ATTITUDE ABOUT AUTOMOBILES UPSIDE DOWN WITH THE FORD MODEL T. THIS IS THE 1914 VERSION.

BY TODAY'S STANDARDS, THE MODEL T WAS SPARTAN IN ITS DESIGN.

BUT IT STOOD OUT FROM THE SOMETIMES QUIRKY, HAND-CRAFTED HORSELESS CARRIAGES THAT HAD COME BEFORE.

IT WAS TECHNICALLY SOUND, STRAIGHTFORWARD TO OPERATE, AND READILY AVAILABLE.

AMERICA FELL IN LOVE WITH THE MODEL T, AFFECTIONATELY DUBBING IT "THE TIN LIZZIE," AND IN RURAL NORTH CAROLINA, IT CAUSED PEOPLE TO GIVE THE AUTOMOBILE ANOTHER LOOK.

THERE MIGHT BE A PLACE FOR THE MODEL T ON THE FARM, THEY THOUGHT, IF ONLY THE PRICES COULD COME DOWN.

[clattering] AND WHEN HENRY FORD'S REVOLUTIONARY PRODUCTION LINE ALLOWED PRICES NOT ONLY TO COME DOWN BUT TO PLUMMET FROM 850 DOLLARS TO 290 DOLLARS, NORTH CAROLINIANS, LIKE THE REST OF THE COUNTRY, FLOCKED TO BUY THE MODEL T. UNLIKE THE EARLY HORSELESS CARRIAGES THEY HAD SHUNNED, FARMERS FOUND THE MODEL T TO BE RUGGED AND RELIABLE.

IT WAS HIGH ENOUGH TO HANDLE RUTTED COUNTRY ROADS, AND IT WAS TOUGH ENOUGH TO WORK ON THE FARM, SOMETIMES IN SURPRISING WAYS.

AND AS NORTH CAROLINA EMBRACED THE MODEL T, AUTOMOBILE REGISTRATIONS IN THE STATE SOARED.

IN 1900, NORTH CAROLINA HAD 50 AUTOMOBILES.

IN 1905, SHE HAD 500.

IN 1910-- 3,000.

AND BY 1920, MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND.

GROWING ACCEPTANCE OF THE AUTOMOBILE DID NOT MEAN A SUDDEN SHIFT FROM DRAFT ANIMALS TO MECHANIZATION.

HORSE, MULE AND OXEN HAD BEEN AN INTEGRAL PART OF WORK AND TRANSPORTATION IN NORTH CAROLINA FOR 300 YEARS, AND PEOPLE WERE COMFORTABLE WITH THEIR ANIMALS.

IN NORTH CAROLINA, HORSE AND CAR COEXISTED FOR LONGER THAN IN MANY PLACES, SHARING THE ROADS AND SHARING THE PEOPLE'S AFFECTION.

AND EVEN WHEN, AROUND 1910, THE BALANCE BEGAN TO SHIFT INEXORABLY TOWARD THE AUTOMOBILE, MANY WERE TROUBLED BY A SENSE OF...LOSS.

WELL, PAPA FINALLY DECIDED TO MAKE THE CHANGE AND PAID ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS IN CASH FOR THE NEW MACHINE.

STILL, EVERYBODY IN THE FAMILY LOVED BOB, AND MOST OF US WERE IN TEARS WHEN HE WAS LED AWAY AND REPLACED WITH A LARGE, BLACK-PAINTED MONSTER OF A MACHINE THAT, WHEN NOT RUNNING, DID NOT BREATHE... AND MADE NO SOUNDS.

NORTH CAROLINA MAY HAVE BEEN READY TO EMBRACE THE AUTOMOBILE, BUT ITS ROADS, BARELY ADEQUATE FOR HORSE AND BUGGY, WERE CLEARLY NOT UP TO THE TASK.

SINCE COLONIAL TIMES, ROAD MAINTENANCE HAD BEEN IN THE HANDS OF COUNTY AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

WORK HAD RELIED HISTORICALLY ON THE CORVEE-- MANDATORY CITIZEN WORK DAYS-- BUT WAS INCREASINGLY PERFORMED BY THE RESIDENTS OF COUNTY JAILS.

SOME SAID THE NEED FOR ROAD MAINTENANCE TOO OFTEN DROVE THE RATE OF CONVICTION.

18th-CENTURY ROAD MAINTENANCE HAD BEEN RUDIMENTARY, INDEED.

AND BY THE EARLY 20th CENTURY, LITTLE HAD CHANGED.

MOST ROADS WERE PRIMITIVE UNDER THE BEST OF CONDITIONS.

AND WHEN THE RAINS CAME, TRAVEL BY ROAD STILL TURNED CHALLENGING...IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE.

FOR THE EARLY NORTH CAROLINA MOTORIST, IT MUST HAVE SEEMED AS THOUGH GOOD ROADS WERE A DREAM THAT WOULD NEVER BE REALIZED.

FOR MANY, IT WOULD BE A DECADE OR MORE OF TOUGH MOTORING UNTIL THEY WOULD SEE MODERN ROADS AND BRIDGES, LIKE THIS ONE THAT REPLACED THE COVERED BRIDGE AT BYNUM.

BUT CHANGE WAS INDEED COMING... AND WHEN IT CAME, THE CHANGE WOULD BE POWERED BY A STATEWIDE GRASSROOTS CAMPAIGN DRIVEN BY A FORMER SECRETARY FROM CHAPEL HILL.

[bike bell dinging] IN THE LATE 1800s, A WAVE OF ENTHUSIASM FOR THE NEW "SAFETY BICYCLE" HAD LED TO CYCLING CLUBS, LIKE THIS ONE IN 1897 OXFORD, NORTH CAROLINA, AND TO CALLS FOR BETTER ROADS ON WHICH TO PEDAL.

DECADES LATER, AS MOTOR ENTHUSIASTS CONTINUED TO ENDURE THE SAME PRIMITIVE ROADS, A NEW CHAMPION PICKED UP THE BANNER.

IN RALEIGH, THE NORTH CAROLINA GOOD ROADS ASSOCIATION ACTIVELY LOBBIED THE LEGISLATURE TO TAKE ACTION, BUT IT SAW LITTLE SUCCESS UNTIL, UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF DYNAMIC HARRIET MOREHEAD BERRY OF CHAPEL HILL, THE ASSOCIATION CHANGED TACTICS AND TOOK ITS MESSAGE DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE.

♪ ♪ USING THE ASSOCIATION'S MAGAZINE, A BARRAGE OF LETTERS AND PETITIONS, TOURING CARAVANS, AND A PERSONAL SPEAKING TOUR THAT COVERED THE STATE, BERRY ELEVATED THE CAUSE OF GOOD ROADS FROM A DISCONNECTED ASSORTMENT OF LOCAL ISSUES TO A SHARED, STATE-WIDE CONCERN.

EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD PAYS A TAX, DIRECT OR INDIREC, TO EVERY MILE OF BAD ROAD IN THIS STATE AND IN THE NATION.

IN SHORT, OUR INDIVIDUAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SHOULD BIND US TOGETHER IN A MUTUAL INTEREST IN ROAD BUILDING.

OUR GOAL MUST BE A STATE SYSTEM OF HIGHWAYS FOR THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA.

♪ ♪ BERRY'S TIRELESS EFFORTS PAID OFF WHEN GOVERNOR CAMERON MORRISON, BOLSTERED BY WIDESPREAD POPULAR DEMAND, PUSHED THROUGH THE LEGISLATURE THE LANDMARK HIGHWAY ACT OF 1921.

IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF 2 DECADES THAT ALTERED THE WAY ROADS WERE FUNDED, BUILT AND MAINTAINED-- 2 DECADES THAT FOREVER CHANGED THE MAP OF NORTH CAROLINA.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY, THE STATE ASSUMED RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF PUBLIC ROADS.

FUNDED BY A SERIES OF BONDS, VERY PROGRESSIVE FOR THEIR DAY, THE STATE PAVED 3,500 MILES OF ROADS, CONNECTING 98 OF 100 COUNTY SEATS.

HIGHWAY EXPENDITURES TOTALED MORE THAN EXPENDITURES FOR EDUCATION, HEALTH, WELFARE AND PUBLIC SAFETY COMBINED.

ROAD MAINTENANCE CONTINUED TO RELY ON CONVICT LABOR, AND THE STATE TOOK OVER MANAGEMENT OF PRISON FARMS FORMERLY MAINTAINED BY THE COUNTIES.

BUT NEW ROADS WERE BUILT BY PRIVATE CONTRACTORS WORKING FOR THE STATE.

STILL LABORING WITH MULES AND DRAG PANS, MANY SUCH CONTRACTORS WERE MOM-AND-POP OPERATIONS WITH A BACKGROUND IN MINING OR AGRICULTURAL GRADING.

THEY SAW OPPORTUNITY IN THE PROPOSED ROADS AND BRIDGES, AND THEY SEIZED THAT OPPORTUNITY, THRIVING, AND MOVING QUICKLY TO MECHANIZED EQUIPMENT.

MANY OF THE EARLY ROAD CONTRACTORS BECAME MAINSTAYS OF NORTH CAROLINA INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS FOR GENERATIONS.

SOME WENT ON TO NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PROMINENCE.

THE 1920s AND '30s HAD BROUGHT DRAMATIC CHANGE TO TRANSPORTATION IN NORTH CAROLINA, TO THE ROADS THEMSELVES, AND TO THE STATE'S INVOLVEMENT IN CREATING AND MAINTAINING THOSE ROADS.

GOVERNOR MORRISON, WHO HAD LAUNCHED THE PROCESS WITH NO SMALL HELP FROM HARRIET MOREHEAD BERRY AND THE GOOD ROADS ASSOCIATION, HAD EARNED THE NICKNAME "THE GOOD ROADS GOVERNOR," AND NORTH CAROLINA HAD MADE THE TRANSITION FROM "THE RIP VAN WINKLE STATE" TO "THE GOOD ROADS STATE."

GOOD ROADS ENCOURAGED MORE CARS AND MORE MOBILITY.

AND FOR BETTER OR WORSE, THE DRAMATIC RISE IN MOTOR VEHICLE USE ALTERED WAYS OF LIFE THAT HAD BEEN IN PLACE IN NORTH CAROLINA SINCE ANYONE COULD REMEMBER.

THE TRADITIONAL ONE-ROOM, RURAL SCHOOLHOUSE, ICON OF AMERICAN EDUCATION, VANISHED AS SCHOOL BUSES TRANSPORTED RURAL CHILDREN TO CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS WITH MORE RESOURCES BUT WITH LESS CONNECTION TO THE COMMUNITY.

THE COUNTRY STORE THAT HAD SERVED AS A CHECKERS-AND-CONVERSATION SOCIAL CENTER FOR RURAL COMMUNITIES MORPHED INTO AN IMPERSONAL STOP-AND-GO FILLING STATION.

THE NEW MOBILITY BROUGHT SOME RELIEF FOR THE HAUNTING ISOLATION OF FARM LIFE, BUT IT ALSO BROKE DOWN FAMILY AND COMMUNITY TIES.

NEIGHBORLY COOPERATION, AS WITH BARN RAISINGS, PIG SLAUGHTERS, AND CORN HUSKINGS, BECAME LESS COMMON.

IN THE CITY, STREETS THAT HAD BEEN A VIBRANT MIX OF PEDESTRIANS, WAGONS, TROLLEYS, BICYCLES, AND HORSELESS CARRIAGES CAME TO BE THE SOLE PROVINCE OF THE AUTOMOBILE, AS DID ROADS INTO THE CITIES FROM EXPANDING SUBURBS, WHERE THE PRIVATE AUTOMOBILE REPLACED THE STREETCAR AS THE WAY ONE COMMUTED TO WORK.

IN THE YEARS FOLLOWING WORLD WAR II, NORTH CAROLINA'S TRANSPORTATION PICTURE COALESCED INTO THE MULTI-MODAL MIX WE SEE AROUND US TODAY.

THE OLD STANDBYS OF RAIL AND HIGHWAYS ARE STILL WITH US, BOTH HAVING UNDERGONE DRAMATIC POST-WAR CHANGES, COMPLEMENTED NOW BY AVIATION.

WE TEND TO THINK OF AVIATION AS TRANSPORTATION'S "NEW KID ON THE BLOCK," BUT COMMERCIAL AIR SERVICE HAS BEEN WITH US IN NORTH CAROLINA SINCE 1928, A SCANT YEAR AFTER CHARLES LINDBERGH'S HISTORIC TRANS-ATLANTIC FLIGHT.

IN '28, PLANES VERY SIMILAR TO THESE RESTORED BEAUTIES BEGAN SWOOPING DOWN OUT OF THE SKY TO LAND IN GREENSBORO ON A GRASS STRIP VERY MUCH LIKE THIS ONE.

AT FIRST, GREENSBORO'S NEW AIRPORT WAS ONLY A REFUELING STOP FOR CONTRACTORS CARRYING THE U.S.

MAIL BETWEEN NEW YORK AND ATLANTA.

BUT PAYING PASSENGERS WERE NOT FAR IN THE FUTURE.

BY THE END OF 1930, EASTERN AIR TRANSPORT WAS CARRYING PASSENGERS AS WELL AS MAIL, SERVING BOTH GREENSBORO AND CHARLOTTE WITH 2 FLIGHTS A DAY.

[airplane flying overhead] TODAY, IN TERMS OF TAKE-OFFS AND LANDINGS, CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IS THE SEVENTH-BUSIEST AIRPORT IN THE WORLD, BUSIER THAN PARIS, BEIJING AND HOUSTON.

OVER 100,000 AIR TRAVELERS PASS THROUGH CHARLOTTE EACH DAY, A TOTAL OF MORE THAN 40 MILLION IN A YEAR.

AND CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS INTERNATIONAL IS A MAJOR ECONOMIC FORCE, ENABLING SOME 100,000 JOBS AND GENERATING OVER 10 BILLION DOLLARS OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY ANNUALLY IN THE CAROLINAS.

ON THE GROUND, A POST-WAR EXPLOSION IN THE USE OF MOTOR VEHICLES RADICALLY ALTERED NORTH CAROLINA'S LANDSCAPE AND ITS SOCIAL FABRIC.

THE CAR WAS NO LONGER A CONVENIENCE IN THE CITY OR ON THE FARM.

IT HAD BECOME A NECESSITY FOR EVERYDAY LIFE.

WITH THE NUMBER OF REGISTERED AUTOMOBILES IN THE STATE ALMOST DOUBLING IN A 5-YEAR PERIOD, POST-WAR NORTH CAROLINA WENT BACK TO WORK ON ITS ROADS.

GOVERNOR KERR SCOTT, A FARMER HIMSELF BY TRAINING, LAUNCHED HIS "GO FORWARD" CAMPAIGN WITH THE SPECIFIC GOAL OF IMPROVING SECONDARY FARM-TO-MARKET ROADS ACROSS THE STATE.

AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS WERE DELIGHTED.

BUT WITH ITS FOCUS ON FARM-TO-MARKET ROADS, NORTH CAROLINA INITIALLY FAILED TO GRASP THE POTENTIAL OF A NEW BREED OF HIGHWAY, THE PROPOSED NATIONAL SYSTEM OF INTERSTATE AND DEFENSE HIGHWAYS.

AS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED BY NORTH CAROLINA ITSELF, THE STATE'S PORTION OF THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM DID NOT CONNECT WITH EITHER OF THE STATE'S 2 SEA PORTS OR EVEN WITH THE STATE CAPITAL.

IT WOULD BE YEARS BEFORE OUR INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM WOULD CATCH UP TO NEIGHBORING STATES.

BUT ONE ASPECT OF THE NEW INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM WAS FAMILIAR, INDEED-- THIS MOST MODERN SUPERHIGHWAY SWEPT ACROSS THE PIEDMONT ON THE SAME ARC AS HAD THE OCCANEECHI TRAIL AND THE NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD SO VERY MANY YEARS BEFORE.

TODAY, AS A LEGACY OF THE GOOD ROADS MOVEMENT, NORTH CAROLINA CONTINUES ITS COMMITMENT TO A STATE-SUPPORTED MIX OF ROADS-- RURAL, URBAN, AND INTERSTATE.

NORTH CAROLINA'S DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION MANAGES THE NATION'S SECOND-LARGEST PUBLIC ROAD SYSTEM AND THE SECOND-LARGEST FERRY NETWORK.

[ship horn] [train clattering] BEFORE MODERN HIGHWAYS AND BEFORE COMMERCIAL AIR TRAVEL, NORTH CAROLINA, LIKE THE REST OF THE COUNTRY, MOVED BY RAIL.

COMING INTO THE 20th CENTURY, VIRTUALLY ALL INTERCITY PERSONAL TRAVEL WAS BY TRAIN.

AT ONE TIME, MORE THAN 1,500 NORTH CAROLINA TOWNS HAD TRAIN STATIONS, AND MORE THAN 200 PASSENGER TRAINS OPERATED DAILY WITHIN THE STATE.

OFTEN, THE TRAIN ROLLED PROUDLY THROUGH THE VERY HEART OF A TOWN, SOMETIMES CHUFFING RIGHT DOWN MAIN STREET.

ON THE FREIGHT SIDE, FOLLOWING WORLD WAR II, COMPETITION FROM LONG-DISTANCE TRUCKING AND THE PERSONAL AUTOMOBILE DROVE THE SEEMINGLY INVINCIBLE BUSINESS OF RAILROADING INTO STEEP DECLINE.

TODAY, AFTER AGGRESSIVE FEDERAL INTERVENTION HALTED ITS DECLINE, FREIGHT RAIL IN NORTH CAROLINA IS THRIVING AGAIN.

AND IN RECENT YEARS, NORTH CAROLINA HAS EXPERIENCED AN IMPRESSIVE RESURGENCE OF PASSENGER RAIL.

[train horn] THREE AMTRAK TRAINS RUN DAILY BETWEEN RALEIGH AND CHARLOTTE, WITH ALL THREE FUNDED BY THE STATE THROUGH THE NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, AND WITH 2 OPERATED USING STATE-OWNED LOCOMOTIVES AND RAILCARS.

THE UNITED STATES IS DECADES BEHIND EUROPE, JAPAN AND CHINA IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRULY HIGH-SPEED PASSENGER RAIL.

BUT WORK IS CURRENTLY UNDERWAY TO SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE THE SPEED OF AMTRAK SERVICE ACROSS OUR STATE AND ON TO WASHINGTON, D.C., IMPROVING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN NORTH CAROLINA AND AMTRAK'S VITAL NORTHEAST CORRIDOR.

AND FILE THIS UNDER "THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, "THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME."

TODAY, NORTH CAROLINA'S PASSENGER RAIL SERVICE AND A LARGE PORTION OF THE STATE'S FREIGHT TRAFFIC ROLL DOWN THE RIGHT OF WAY OF THE HISTORIC NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD, WHICH STILL EXISTS AS A STATE-OWNED CORRIDOR ACROSS NORTH CAROLINA FROM MOREHEAD CITY TO CHARLOTTE.

SENATOR CALVIN GRAVES MUST BE SMILING.

URBAN STREETCAR SYSTEMS, LIKE PASSENGER RAIL, SUCCUMBED TO THE FLEXIBILITY AND CONVENIENCE OF THE AUTOMOBILE, AND BY 1940, TROLLEYS HAD DISAPPEARED FROM NORTH CAROLINA'S CITY STREETS.

SUBURBS BECAME COMPLETELY DEPENDENT ON THE AUTOMOBILE, LOSING THEIR CONNECTION TO THE CITY CENTER AND FEEDING A CYCLE OF CONTINUED SPRAWL.

BUT IN THE EARLY 2000s, A MODERN REMAKE OF THE TROLLEY APPEARED ONCE AGAIN ON THE STREETS OF A NORTH CAROLINA CITY.

IN THE 1980s AND '90s, CHARLOTTE ENJOYED SUCH RAPID GROWTH THAT CITY LEADERS FEARED URBAN SPRAWL AND AUTOMOBILE CONGESTION WOULD DEGRADE THE QUALITY OF LIFE, MAKING THE CITY LESS ATTRACTIVE TO FUTURE BUSINESSES.

CHARLOTTE'S SOLUTION WAS TO UPGRADE ITS PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM, EXPANDING AND IMPROVING EXISTING BUS SERVICE AND CONSTRUCTING A MODERN LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM.

ENCOURAGED BY RIDERSHIP, POSITIVE ECONOMIC IMPACT, AND A NATIONAL TREND TOWARD URBAN REVITALIZATION, CHARLOTTE IS CURRENTLY PUSHING AHEAD WITH A SECOND PHASE OF LYNX.

AND TODAY, SIMILAR URBAN RAIL SYSTEMS ARE UNDER CONSIDERATION IN THE TRIAD AND TRIANGLE AREAS.

SO, THERE YOU HAVE IT-- 300 YEARS OF NORTH CAROLINA ON THE MOVE IN AN ARC OF HISTORY THAT STARTS WITH MOCCASINS HERE ON THE OCCANEECHI TRAIL AND CARRIES US AS FAR AS HIGH-SPEED RAIL.

BUT, OF COURSE, THE JOURNEY DOESN'T END HERE AND NOW.

AND THE OBVIOUS QUESTION ARISES: "WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?"

ON THE ONE HAND, ONGOING ADVANCES IN MATERIALS, ENERGY, AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY WILL CONTINUE TO BRING EVER FASTER, SAFER, CLEANER, AND MORE EFFICIENT MOVEMENT.

OUR GRANDCHILDREN WILL PROBABLY LOOK BACK ON OUR METHODS OF TRAVEL IN THE SAME WAY WE LOOK BACK ON THE JOLTING STAGE COACH.

BUT EVEN AS TECHNOLOGICAL IMPROVEMENTS COME ONLINE, WE WILL ALSO FACE DAUNTING CHALLENGES WE MUST UNDERSTAND AND DEAL WITH.

♪ ♪ BETWEEN 2000 AND 2020, NORTH CAROLINA IS PROJECTED TO ADD NEARLY 4 MILLION RESIDENTS, OR APPROXIMATELY THE CURRENT POPULATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

SUCH DYNAMIC GROWTH, ESPECIALLY IN OUR CITIES, IS ALREADY BEGINNING TO TAX EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE.

THE RESULTING CONGESTION ROBS US OF PRODUCTIVITY AND DRIVES UP THE COST OF TRAVEL.

WITH THE WIDENING OF THE PANAMA CANAL, TO BE COMPLETED IN 2015, AND THE ARRIVAL ON THE EAST COAST OF SUPER-SIZED CONTAINER CARGO SHIPS FROM ASIA, SOME PREDICT HEAVY TRUCK TRAFFIC ON INTERSTATE 95 WILL QUADRUPLE.

THE STRAIN ON ROADWAY AND BRIDGES WILL BE IMMENSE.

AND DEMOGRAPHERS TELL US WE MAY BE AT A TIPPING POINT FOR THE REVERSAL OF A HALF-CENTURY-LONG POPULATION PATTERN, WITH FUTURE GROWTH SHIFTING FROM A SPRAWLING SUBURBIA WHERE THE CAR IS KING, TO A MORE COMPACT URBAN ENVIRONMENT DEMANDING A MIX OF TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS.

DESPITE ALL THE POSSIBILITIES AND CHALLENGES, AS WE LOOK TO THE FUTURE, WE WILL CONTINUE TO PERFORM A BALANCING ACT THAT WOULD SEEM QUITE FAMILIAR TO GENERATIONS PAST-- COST AND BENEFIT, EAST AND WEST, RURAL AND URBAN, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE, THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE GENERAL GOOD.

LET US HOPE TO FIND MODERN VISIONARIES IN THE MOLD OF ARCHIBALD MURPHEY, JOSEPH CALDWELL, AND HARRIET MOREHEAD BERRY TO POINT THE WAY, AND PRINCIPLED LEADERS LIKE SENATOR CALVIN GRAVES TO CAST THE DIFFICULT VOTES.

THANKS FOR JOINING US.

AND SAFE TRAVELS.

♪ ♪ Announcer: MOVING NORTH CAROLINA HAS BEEN MADE POSSIBLE BY FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM: THE NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FROM: THE NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD COMPANY, THE NORTH CAROLINA AGGREGATES ASSOCIATION, STV, INCORPORATED AND THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS OF CAROLINAS AGC... CAPTIONS BY FEATURE SUBTITLING www.featuresubtitling.com