Photos of Men at Work – 1920s — Don’t Forget About Me!

All these photos came from the Playfair family in the Lanark/ Middleville/Playfair area. Thanks to local historian Laurie Yuill. All circa 1920s except for the corduroy road photo second to last– That photo is earlier. Some look like railroads and some do not–

Canada’s first provincial Dept of Highways was created by Québec in 1914. Two years later Ontario, which had had a provincial instructor in charge of roadmaking attached to the Dept of Agriculture since 1896, formed its own separate highways department.

Through the 1920s cars became cheaper and their numbers multiplied; registration of motor vehicles increased from 408 790 to nearly 1.62 million by the end of the decade. Good roads associations, national and provincial, led the crusade for improved road travel, and expenditures on roads by all governments tripled. By 1930 the annual outlay was $94 million. Methods and technology for building roads improved as horse-drawn scrapers and graders gave way to steam power for shovels and rollers. However, road building in most provinces ceased and maintenance was reduced during the Great Depression and WWII as men and materials were urgently needed in the war effort. The few good paved roads that had been built were almost completely destroyed by heavy wartime traffic, particularly in industrial areas. The Canadian Encyclopedia

For Whom the Toll Gates Tolled– Revised

The Lanark County Back Roads Tour

Stories of the Mississippi River — Elk, Rice Beds, and Corduroy Roads

The Toll Gates of Lanark County on Roads that Were Not Fit for Corpses