It seems only reasonable to combine articles on Victorian roads and road-building with articles on the automobile. While autos were still a rarity and often regarded as a sort of futuristic fantasy, nothing would change the nature of British and American roads so much as this new vehicle. Roads that were ideal for horses were all wrong for cars, and vice versa. The proliferation of auto tires and paved surfaces went hand in hand - and led, for better or worse, to the roads that we have today.

Country Roads, by R.A. Learned (Century Magazine, 1889B)

Country Roads (Century Magazine, 1891A)

Our Common Roads, by Isaac B. Potter (Century Magazine, 1892A)

How roads are made and maintained.

Ideal Transit (Atlantic Monthly, 1893)

Speculations on the perfect mode of transportation, from elevated roads to electric rails and suspended carriages.

Road-Building at Chicago (Century Magazine, 1893A)

Street-Paving in America, by William Fortune (Century Magazine, 1893B)

A look at how American streets are paved, with statistics on the numbers of streets to be paved in the country and the anticipated cost (over 24,838 miles of streets and more than $1 billion). At time of writing, in cities of over 10,000 people, less than 1/3 of the streets were paved "in any manner."

The Romance of Road-Making, by Henry Frith (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1895)

The Automobile

Carriages without Horses, by J. Munro (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1896)

Imagine... vehicles upon the roadways without horses... Horseless carriages... Will they ever catch on?

The Automobile: Its Present and Future, by Charles Barnard (St. Nicholas, 1900A)

A delightful look at the "modern" automobile (with lots of pictures), how it is changing the roads, and what it will mean for the horse.

Motors and Motoring, by N.G. Bacon (Girl's Own Paper, 1900)

"The pioneers of motoring have shown little discretion in advancing the popularity of their favourite mode of locomotion." And one of the most feared hazards to women, whether motoring or cycling, seems to be "vibration"!

Motoring: The Evolution of the Automobile, by Charles Welsh (Drapers' Self-Culture, 1913)

Motoring, by Sigmund Krausz (Drapers' Self-Culture, 1913)

Tips on driving and the care of the automobile.