Did You Know The First Lined Road in America Was in Wayne County?
Thanks to a Wayne County man and a leaky milk truck, Michigan was the first state in the country to have lines on the roadways.
According to Travel+Leisure, the first lined road in the United States was Trenton's River Road in Wayne County, Michigan, which dates back to 1911.
You see them every day, but did you ever stop to think about who came up with the idea of white lines on roadways? Yeah, me either, until I found out it was someone from Michigan.
Who Came Up With the Idea of a Lined Roadway?
Edward Hines, the chairman of the Wayne County Board of Roads at the time, came up with the idea of lined roads.
How Did Hines Come Up with the Idea?
Hines came up with the idea of lined roads ways after watching a leaky milk truck driving down the road. The white milk created a line on the road which gave him the brilliant idea.
Apparently, the white lines were also used as “stop” lines for a while too. It was in 1915 when the first stop signs were posted in Michigan. Originally, they were square-shaped, measuring 2 feet by 2 feet, and featured black letters on a yellow background
Hines was posthumously inducted into the Michigan Transportation Hall of Honor for the idea in 1972.
I had no idea there was a Michigan Transportation Hall of Honor.
Even though you may have never wondered where the idea of lined roads came from, it's pretty interesting when you actually find out.