[Plank Road Boom-Ohio] Plank Road Corporation Report in Manuscript

Octavo. Connecting Harrisville, Georgetown and Cadez, OH. An official 24 page document in its original note book, listing its origin, its donors (the initial investment was over $70,000. (There is a pastedown newspaper announcement showing the five major investors including John Heberling, a major manufacturer of threshing machines, whose $50,000 gift was by far the largest) The enthusiasm for plank roads was exceptionally strong in Northern Ohio. (Charles A. Hanna, Historical Collections of Harrison County, tells of the difficulty for travelers to make a day's journey of less than ten miles because of the undeveloped terrain. The plank roads became the immediate answer, so many new companies were chartered which allowed stores to be established in the villages and towns as well as providing a way for the early farmers to get goods to a wider market. A general incorporation law was passed in 1851. The plank road was viewed as a revolutionary advance. It allowed the stagecoach to deliver mail to much closer locations to the addressee.