The national Good Roads Movement was a coordinated effort to improve roadways across the United States. The automobile helped define roadways, sometimes referred to as "auto trails". In 1912, the "Black and Yellow Trail", more specifically the Chicago, Black Hills and Yellowstone Park Highway was established as an automobile tourist route. A portion of this auto trail once transversed the road before you. Initially, county commissions oversaw all aspects of road construction and maintenance. From 1912 to 1915, Lawrence County Commissioners Fred L. Clark, Willis B. Malkson, Thomas H. Moore, Phillip M. Bonniwell, and George V. Ayres became staunch advocates of the Good Roads Movement. Through their efforts, over $600,000 was spent on road and bridge construction along Boulder Park Road (US Highway 14A from Deadwood to Sturgis), Black and Yellow Trail (US Highway 85 from Deadwood, through Lead and Cheyenne Crossing, to the Wyoming state line), and the Roubaix and Nemo County Roads.
In 1917, South Dakota Governor Peter Norbeck, State Engineer Homer M. Derr, and Deadwood resident and Lawrence County Highway Engineer Frank S. Peck formed the South Dakota Highway Department. Under this state entity, all road and bridge construction along state highways became standardized across the state. County highway construction and repair was
then placed under the jurisdiction of the county highway superintendent. By 1920, county commissions were no longer solely responsible for road development.
This interpretative panel was developed using funds from the 2014 - 2016 South Dakota Department of Transportation US Highway 85 reconstruction project.
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