Plank Road Fever in Antebellum America: New York State Origins

New York History, pp. 39-65, January 1994

28 Pages Posted: 8 Jan 2004

See all articles by Daniel B. Klein

Daniel B. Klein

George Mason University - Department of Economics; George Mason University - Mercatus Center

John Majewski

University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) - Department of Economics

Abstract

The new roads would end rural isolation, speed commerce, improve wives and daughters, increase church attendance, bring wealth to investors. So said the promotors. The autors examine the New York origins of plank roads and analyze their giddy rise and traumatic decline. Daniel Klein is an assistant professor of economics at the University of California, Irvine. John Majewski is a lecturer in the history department of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Keywords: Toll roads, plank roads, boosterism, internal improvements

Suggested Citation

Klein, Daniel B. and Majewski, John, Plank Road Fever in Antebellum America: New York State Origins. New York History, pp. 39-65, January 1994, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=484584

Daniel B. Klein (Contact Author)

George Mason University - Department of Economics ( email )

4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030
United States

HOME PAGE: http://economics.gmu.edu/people/dklein

George Mason University - Mercatus Center ( email )

3434 Washington Blvd., 4th Floor
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

John Majewski

University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) - Department of Economics ( email )

2127 North Hall
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
United States

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