A Road Scholar Program by Norman Moline

The arrival of the automobile along with good roads in the first three decades of the 20th Century changed the scale of life and brought significant changes to small towns and the whole settlement system. The Model T made the automobile accessible to most Americans and gradually roads improved. As individual mobility changed, the economic and social functions of different size towns were being redefined. Both encouraged and threatened by these changes, towns saw a new need for booster spirit to secure their place on the map. While the automobile and roads continue to cause settlement changes, the die was cast by the changes during the 1900-1930 periods.