Freestone County, Texas
History & News of 1911



San Luis Obispo Tribune (Weekly) - 8 September 1911

THE VALUE O' GOOD ROADS.

The Houston Chronicle says the construction of good roads in Freestone county, 
Texas, has increased the value of farm lands $5 an acre on an average. This 
increase in value is ascribed to the economic advantage of the modern highways 
and not to mere speculative advance. It has been demonstrated that a span of 
horses can haul precisely twice the load on the new roads that they could on the 
old, and make better time. Thus the good roads have effected an enormous saving 
in the cost of getting products to market. Besides the saving in time, there is 
less wear and tear on vehicles and less hardship for draught stock. Thus the 
increased value of the firm lands represents the increased efficiency due to the 
building of er a 'idamized roads. Moreover, the country has been made pleasanter 
to live in, more attractive to the eye and more inviting to the man who wants to 
buy a farm. Hence the money extended on good roads has added fourfold to the value 
of farm property and doubled the capacity and value of draught animals. The 
lesson this Texas county has learned applies everywhere —in California and Oregon 
as well as in Texas. Good roads are not only a convenience, but an economic 
necessity. They are part cf the equipment of every rural community. They increase 
values and production and invite investment. The country that has good roads and 
good schools appeals to every home-seeker. They advertise enterprise, comfort, 
thrift, progress They tell the stranger that there is an up-to-date community, 
making the best of its opportunities and developing along lines which make rural 
life delightful and rural pursuits lucrative. One does not have to got to Texas 
to find this out or perceive the general improvement that good road building 
promotes and indicates It is evident to the casual observer that good roads 
increase the profits of agriculture and add to the attractions of rural life San 
Luis Obispo county has some good roads and a number of bad ones Our highway 
system has not begun to reach the proper stage of development, but wherever it 
has been developed the beneficial results are apparent. There are some counties 
in California that have not made the progress we have, while in others the good 
roads movement has worked wonders. We expect to vote for bonds for permanent 
roads and bridges, which with the State Highway will give us a modern system of 
roads. The time is coming when California will be a delightful region to be 
traversed by travelers along the great highways and the effect will be beneficial 
from a financial point of view Good roads pay. They are a profitable investment 
and add to the county because they increase production and lessen the cost of 
transportation from the farm to the market or shipping point. They bring in money 
and home seekers and aid to develop the higher quality of rural life, besides 
robbing pastoral pursuits of their isolation, bringing the people of the country 
into closer companionship which expands toward a higher civilization. The good 
roads movement should be encouraged by taxpayers of the county, it being one of 
the greatest developing agencies in the country.