Complete book can be found at www.azdot.gov/historyreport/
1400s-1863 – Covers from Pre-Columbian Trails
1864-1911 – Toll, Wagon, Rail and Road Buildign
1912-1925 – Good Roads, National Trails, Federal Aid, Seven-Percent System
1926-1945 – Reorganizing, Forest, Oiled, New Deal, Impact of war
1946-1973 – Traffic Surges, Modernization, Interstate, Freeways
1974-1990 – Creation of ADOT, Energy Crisis, Funding, Retiring Old numbers
1991-Present – Maricopa County Freeways, Rural Widening, Bypasses & new alignments
Special Topics
US-66
US-89
Black Canyon Hwy
Bridges
Paving
Trouble
Railroad towns to Highway towns
Interstate
Urban transit
Freeway controversies
Railroads
Aviation
History of ADOT
Timeline
Bibliography
The photograph collection in Archives and Special Collections can be searched online at
http://knet.asu.edu/archives/?searchSPMI. The search form allows searching through
multiple indexes; for transportation topics, the search should be conducted in two indexes,
the “Arizona Historical Foundation Index (AHFI)” and the “Arizona and Southwestern Index
(AZSI).” Searches can be limited to photographs by including the keyword “photograph.”
For example, a search using the keywords “highway” and “photograph” found 191 images,
while one for “road” and “photograph” found 303 images. Unfortunately it is not possible to
use highway numbers as search keywords.
Maps copied below:
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SOURCES FOR
THE HISTORY OF ARIZONA’S
HIGHWAYS
The bibliography that follows is a compilation of the published sources that were used to
prepare the narrative history in this report; with a few exceptions, unpublished archival
sources (few of which were consulted during the research) are not included. To aid in
locating the government document materials, the name of the library and the call number
where the materials were found are given in brackets after the entries; most are from
Arizona State University’s Hayden Library. Some of these materials are doubtless
available at other libraries, especially the Law and Research Division of the Arizona State
Library, Archives and Public Records at the State Capitol. Also, some of the entries are
annotated to provide additional information about the source and its usefulness.
ARIZONA ROADS AND HIGHWAYS
Books, Journal Articles, and Theses
Bowman, Ellen G., and Jack Smith. Beale’s Road Through Arizona. Flagstaff: Flagstaff Corral of
Westerners, 1979.
Brown, Stanley C. “Crossing the Mighty Mazatzals: From Indian Trade Route to Modern
Highway.” Journal of Arizona History 47, no. 4 (2006): 323-46.
Campbell, A. H. Report upon the Pacific Wagon Roads. 1859. Fairfield, Wash.: Ye Galleon
Press, 1969.
Includes a description of the work done on Arizona’s early federal wagon roads.
Housley, Harold Ray. “A History of United States Highway 66 in Arizona.” M.A. thesis, Arizona
State University, 1996.
Jackson, W. Turrentine. Wagon Roads West: A Study of Federal Road Surveys and Construction
in the Trans-Mississippi West, 1846-1869. Berkeley: University of California Press,
1952.
In addition to providing background information on road building nationally and in the
West, this book also describes the construction of Arizona’s earliest federal roads.
Kendall, Charles P. “Planks Across the Dunes.” Journal of Arizona History 21, no. 4 (1980): 391-
400.
Describes construction of the plank road from Yuma to San Diego.
Rosebrook, Jeb Stuart. “The Black Canyon Highway: Highway to History, 1863-1948.” M.A.
thesis, Arizona State University, 1994.
Rozum, Fred A. “Buckboards and Stagecoaches: Establishing Public Transportation on the Black
Canyon Route.” Journal of Arizona History 30, no. 2 (Summer 1989): 165-80.
Taylor, Peter Mark. “If You Build It, They Will Come: The Story of the Catalina Highway.”
M.A. thesis, University of Arizona, 2006.
Stein, Pat. Historic Trails in Arizona from Coronado to 1940. Phoenix: Arizona State Historic
Preservation Office, 1994.
158
Vyne, Ray N. “A Great North and South Highway, U.S. 89.” Arizona Collection CE EPH XH-9,
Department of Archives and Special Collections, Hayden Library, Arizona State
University.
Magazines
Arizona Highways. [ASU Arizona Collection: F 806 .A87]
From 1925, when the magazine was established, until about 1942, Arizona Highways was
a highway planning, engineering, and construction bulletin. From 1925 to 1939 it
included advertisements by road contractors, and for most of the 1925-1942 period it
announced new highway construction contracts and reported on their progress. From
1925 to 1937 it included a monthly report on the condition of state highways. An index
for 1925-1966 is available [ASU Arizona Collection: F 806 .A87 Index]. For a history of
the magazine, see Tom C. Cooper, “Arizona Highways: From Engineering Pamphlet to
Prestige Magazine,” M.A. thesis, University of Arizona, 1973 [ASU Arizona Collection:
PN 4900 .A66 C66x].
Government Documents
Annual Report of the Arizona Department of Transportation. Phoenix: Arizona Department of
Transportation. [ASU: TRT 1.1]
This may have been succeeded by the Progress Report (see below). ASU has reports for
1974 and 1975, and no additional copies were found in a search of the state library
catalog.
Annual Report of the Arizona State Highway Commission. Phoenix: Arizona Highway
Department. [ASU: HGY 1.1]
The complete dates of publication are not known, but reports for 1971-1973 are available
at ASU. This may have been intended as a successor to the Factual Review but then was
discontinued and briefly replaced by a new run of the Factual Review.
Arizona Roads and Streets Conference. Papers Presented at the Arizona Roads and Streets
Conference (exact title varies with the year). Tucson: University of Arizona. [ASU: TRT
1.9:R 51]
Most of the papers are on technical subjects, but there are a few on the history of
Arizona’s highways and of the Highway Department/ADOT. ASU has most years
between 1940 and 1992, plus 1996.
Arizona State Highway System Plan. Phoenix: Arizona Department of Transportation. [ASU:
TRT 5.2:H 45]
ASU has copies of plans for 1978 and 1990. It was succeeded by the Arizona State
Transportation Plan.
Arizona State Transportation Plan. Phoenix: Arizona Department of Transportation, 1994. [ASU:
TRT 5.2:T 61/6/F].
Arizona Transportation in Review / Arizona Transportation Factbook. Phoenix: Arizona
Department of Transportation. [ASU: TRT 5.3:A 64]
The complete dates of publication are not known, but so far copies for 1985-1987 and
1991-1998 have been located at ASU. It was somewhat similar in character to the earlier
Factual Review and was published by the Transportation Planning Division of ADOT.
Factual Review. Phoenix: Arizona Highway Department/Arizona Department of Transportation.
[ASU: HGY 3.3:F 12 and TRT 5.3:F 12]
Published every two years by the Highway Department and then ADOT, its complete
dates of publication are not known (ASU has 1950-1968 and 1975-1977). It was an
159
annual statistical summary of the highway system and Department activities. Until 1976,
when ADOT began publishing the Progress Report, this was the only annual report
published by the Highway Department. After 1976 and until the discontinuation of this
publication, there were two annual reports being issued.
Highway Spotlight. Phoenix: Arizona Highway Department, 1955-1974. [ASU: HGY 1.3:S 65]
This was a series of news bulletins or newsletters issued by the department that, among
other things, announced the decisions of the Arizona Highway Commission and reported
on contracts and construction projects. It was replaced by Transportation Spotlight.
History of the Arizona State Highway Department. Phoenix: Arizona Highway Department,
Highway Planning Survey, 1939. [ASU: HGY 3.2:H 47]
Keane, Melissa, J. Simon Bruder, et. al. Good Roads Everywhere: A History of Road Building in
Arizona. Phoenix: Arizona Department of Transportation, 2004.
Log of the Arizona Highway System. Phoenix: Arizona Highway Department / Arizona
Department of Transportation. [ASU: HGY 3.3:L 53 through 1974 and TRT 5.3:L 53 for
later years]
Though far too detailed for casual research, this record of the condition of every mile of
the state’s highway system can be useful for determining when construction work was
done on specific sections of roadway. ASU library has logs for 1944-45, 1948-74, 1975-
83, 1986-87, and 1992. In 1978 the title was changed to State Highway System Log.
“News from the Arizona Highway Department / News Release” (title varies with year). Phoenix:
Arizona Highway Department/Arizona Department of Transportation. [ASU: HGY 1.7:N
38 and TRT 1.3:N 38]
This is a series of bound press releases issued by the Department, most of which reported
the decisions of the Highway Commission/Transportation Board. The actual years of
publication are not known, but volumes for January 1970 to February 1979 are available
at ASU.
News Hotline. Phoenix: Arizona Department of Transportation. [ASU: TRT 39.3:N 38]
A newsletter published by the Department. The complete years of publication are not
known, but issues for 1991 through 1994 are available at ASU.
Pfalzer, James, et. al. Historical Notes, Existing Road System, and Current Regulation of
Highway Transportation in Arizona. Phoenix: Arizona Department of Transportation
Planning Division, Travel and Facilities Section, 1977. [ASU: TRT 5.2:H 47]
Progress on the State Highway System. Phoenix: Arizona Department of Transportation. [ASU:
TRT 5.3:P 65]
It was first published in 1984-85 but the final date of publication is not known; reports
running through 2000-01 have been located at ASU. According to the first issue, this was
produced at the request of the Arizona Legislature, which meant that during the latter half
of the 1980s, there were two and at times even three annual reports of some kind being
published by ADOT.
Progress Report. Phoenix: Arizona Department of Transportation. [ASU: TRT 1.3:P 54]
The complete dates of publication not known, but reports for 1976 through 1992 (albeit
with a few missing years) have been located at ASU.
Report of the State Engineer (title varies with year). Phoenix: Arizona Highway Department,
1909-1926. [ASU: EN 1.1]
160
Includes a report on the activities of the Territorial Engineer, whose position was created
in 1909. These provide a thorough accounting of the early years of the Arizona Highway
Department.
“Road Condition Bulletin.” Phoenix: Arizona Highway Department, Planning Survey Division,
September 1959. [ASU: HGY 3.4:R 51/959]
Useful as a snapshot of the highway system at that time. There may be other editions/years
of this bulletin, but only this one is listed at the ASU library. Possibly they may be
included in one of the series of press releases put out by the Highway Department or
Highway Commission.
Transportation Spotlight. Phoenix: Arizona Department of Transportation, 1974-1980. [ASU:
TRT 1.3:S 65]
The successor to Highway Spotlight, it was discontinued in 1980 as a budget-cutting
measure.
Archives
Grace Sparkes Collection, MSS 12, Arizona Historical Foundation, Hayden Library, Arizona
State University.
Though mostly devoted to Sparkes’ work to promote Prescott and tourism in central
Arizona, it does contain four boxes of material relating to roads in the 1920s and 1930s,
some of which focuses on the controversy over the initial location of US 89. See Box 11,
folders 1-4, highways and bridges; Box 12, two notebooks related to the State Highway
79 Association; Box 13, three notebooks; and Box 14, three notebooks related to the
Blythe bridge and US 60.
Meeting packets, agendas, and minutes for the Arizona Highway Commission and Arizona Board
of Transportation, 1927-2005. RG 53, Department of Transportation, Arizona State
Archives.
This large collection (80 volumes) constitutes the only surviving record of the policies
and decisions made by the Commission/Board, which throughout its history has been
responsible for not only approving the department’s road construction and maintenance
budgets but also approving highway alignments, awarding construction contracts, and
establishing major highway-related policies.
ARIZONA BRIDGES
Books and Journal Articles
Jackson, Donald C. Great American Bridges and Dams. Washington, D.C.: Preservation Press,
1988.
Includes a discussion of the steel suspension bridge built in 1911 at Cameron.
Kendall, Charles P. “Engineer’s Nightmare: Bridging the Colorado River at Yuma in 1915.”
Journal of Arizona History 19, no. 3 (1978): 283-96.
Government documents
Arizona Bridge Record (exact title varies with the year). Phoenix: Arizona Highway Department /
Arizona Department of Transportation, 1950-1997. [State Library: HGY 3.3:B 64 1972]
Analogous to the Log of the Arizona Highway System. It lists every bridge and culvert in
the state, including the date built. The State Library has copies for 1950, 1956, 1959,
1962, 1963, 1965-1977, 1980, 1987, 1993, and 1997.
161
Fraser Design. Arizona Bridge Inventory. Report prepared for the Arizona Department of
Transportation, October 1987.
This inventory of 610 historic Arizona bridges built before 1945 was done in cooperation
with the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER); it did not include bridges that
are in private ownership or no longer used for vehicle traffic. No public library has a
copy of this report; the State Historic Preservation Office has a draft copy of this report.
ARIZONA TRAVEL ACCOUNTS AND GUIDES
Books and Journal Articles
Bowman, Eldon, and Elaine Cassey. A Guide to the General Crook Trail. N.p.: Museum of
Northern Arizona and Boy Scouts of America, 1978.
Cantor, George. Where the Old Roads Go: Southwest. New York: Harper Perennial, 1992.
Dixon, Winifred. Westward Hoboes: Ups and Downs of Frontier Motoring. New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons, 1922.
Kitt, Edith Stratton. “Motoring in Arizona in 1914.” Journal of Arizona History 11, no. 1 (1970):
32-65.
Knowles, Gerald M. Route 66 Chronicles. Volume 1. Winfield, Kans.: Central Plains Book
Manufacturing, 2002.
Nolan, William F. “First to the Phoenix Line.” Westways 71, no. 6 (1979): 51-54.
Describes the California-Arizona Desert Road Race held annually from 1908 to 1915.
Peterson, Thomas H., Jr. “Danger, Sound Claxon: The Automobile Comes to Territorial
Arizona.” Journal of Arizona History 15, no. 3 (1974): 249-68.
Pyle, Ernie. Ernie Pyle’s Southwest. Palm Desert, Calif.: n.p., 1965.
Rodda, Jeanette. “Chug Wagons and Benzene Buggies: Arizona’s Automotive Pioneers.” Journal
of Arizona History 34, no. 4 (1993): 391-418.
Scharff, Virginia. “The Lady Takes the Wheel: Arizona Women on the Road.” Journal of
Arizona History 34, no. 4 (1993): 419-32.
Historic Guidebooks
Arizona Good Roads Association. Illustrated Road Maps and Tour Book. 1913. Phoenix: Arizona
Highways, 1976.
Clason’s Guide to Arizona, with Map of Auto Routes. Denver: Clason Map Co., 1918.
Hinton, Richard J. Handbook to Arizona: Its Resources, History, Towns, Mines, Ruins, and
Scenery. 1877. Tucson: Arizona Silhouettes, 1954.
This guidebook includes a lengthy appendix describing the common routes of travel to
and around Arizona.
Writers’ Program of the Work Projects Administration. Arizona: A State Guide. New York:
Hastings House, 1940.
Magazine Articles
Comstock, L. M. “Tips to Take You Southwest.” Better Homes and Gardens 25 (November
1946): 31.
Evarts, Hal G. “The Lure of the Southwest.” World’s Work 59 (March 1930): 110.
162
Fergusson, Harvey. “Exploring the Southwest in Your Own Motor.” Travel 57 (October 1931):
26-28.
Goodman, David M. Arizona Odyssey: Bibliographic Adventures in Nineteenth-Century
Magazines. Tempe: Arizona Historical Foundation, 1969.
Bibliography of magazine articles from the 1800s; see especially the sections “Travel and
Description” (pp. 69-101) and “Transportation and Communication” (pp. 116-33).
“Great Southwest.” Better Homes and Gardens 41 (April 1963): 107-10.
Lesure, T. B. “Southwestern Side Trips.” Travel 126 (September 1966): 28-32.
Nickerson, Roy W. “Heart of the Southwest.” Travel 116 (August 1961): 24-26.
Archival Materials
Forrest E. Doucette Collection, MS CP SPC 94, Arizona Collection, Department of Archives and
Manuscripts, Hayden Library, Arizona State University.
This collection contains photographs and other materials related to an automobile trip
through Arizona that Doucette took in 1928 on behalf of the Arizona Republican to
inspect and report on road conditions in the state.
ARIZONA TRANSPORTATION HISTORY
Books and Journal Articles
Abbitt, Jerry. History of Transit in the Valley of the Sun, 1887-1989. Phoenix: City of Phoenix
Transit System, 1990.
Francaviglia, Richard V. Mining Town Trolleys: A History of Arizona’s Warren-Bisbee Railway.
Bisbee: Copper Queen Publishing Co., 1983.
Janus Associates. Transcontinental Railroading in Arizona, 1878-1940. Phoenix: Arizona State
Historic Preservation Office, 1989.
Lingenfelter, Richard E. Steamboats on the Colorado River, 1852-1916. Tucson: University of
Arizona Press, 1978.
Myrick, David F. A Brief Survey of the Histories of Pioneer Arizona Railroads. Golden, Colo.:
Colorado Railroad Museum, 1968.
Myrick, David F. Railroads of Arizona. 5 vols. Berkeley, Calif.: Howell-North Books, 1975.
The five volumes of this indispensable reference book were published by three different
publishers—the other two were Trans-Anglo Books and Signature Press—over a period
of several years.
Reinhold, Ruth M. Sky Pioneering: Arizona in Aviation History. Tucson: University of Arizona
Press, 1982.
Scavone, Cirino G. Please Step to the Rear. Tucson: Tucson Corral of the Westerners, 1977.
Smith, Dean, ed. Arizona Pathways: Trails of History. Phoenix: Arizona Highways Books, 1989.
Trimble, Marshall. Roadside History of Arizona. Phoenix: Mountain Press Publishing, 1986.
Wagoner, Jay J. Early Arizona: Prehistory to Civil War. Tucson: University of Arizona Press,
1975.
Information on early road building is scattered throughout the book, though it is
somewhat fragmented.
163
Wagoner, Jay J. Territorial Arizona, 1863-1912: A Political History. Tucson: University of
Arizona Press, 1970.
Has information on transportation developments, including railroads and highways,
scattered throughout the book.
Walker, Henry P., and Don Bufkin. Historical Atlas of Arizona. 2d ed. Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press, 1986.
Government Documents
Report of the Governor of Arizona to the Secretary of the Interior. Washington, D.C.:
Government Printing Office, 1879-1910. [ASU GV 1.1]
Although an examination of reports for 1879 through 1900 found little information that
was not of a general nature, this is the only available published source reporting the
activities of the Territorial government.
GENERAL HISTORIES: ROADS, HIGHWAYS, AND AUTOMOBILES
America’s Highways, 1776-1976: A History of the Federal-Aid Program. Washington, D.C.:
Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, 1976.
Belasco, Warren J. Americans on the Road: From Autocamp to Motel, 1910-1945. Cambridge:
MIT Press, 1979.
Berger, Michael L. The Automobile in American History and Culture: A Reference Guide.
Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2001.
Brouws, Jeffrey; Bernd Polster, and Phil Patton. Highway: America’s Endless Dream. New York:
Stewart, Tobori and Chang, 1997.
Bruno, Leonard C. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Detroit: Gale
Research, 1993.
Butler, John L. First Highways of America. Iola, Wis.: Krause Publications, 1994.
Good source for early history of road building, automobiles, and highway travel and
services.
Davidson, Janet F., and Michael S. Sweeney. On the Move: Transportation and the American
Story. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2003.
Federal Highway Administration. “Highway History.” www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/
history.cfm.
This Web site has a wealth of information on the history of highways nationally, with
some material specific to regions, states, and individual highways. There is little related
to Arizona, though.
Goetzmann, William H., and Glyndwr Williams. The Atlas of North American Exploration. New
York: Prentice Hall, 1992.
Jakle, John A., and Keith A. Sculle. Motoring: The Highway Experience in America. Athens:
University of Georgia Press, 2008.
Kaszynski, William. The American Highway: The History and Culture of Roads in the United
States. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2000.
Lewis, Tom. Divided Highways: Building the Interstate Highways, Transforming American Life.
New York: Viking, 1997.
164
Rose, Mark H. Interstate: Express Highway Politics, 1939-1989. Rev. ed. Knoxville: University
of Tennessee Press, 1990.
Schwantes, Carlos A. Going Places: Transportation Redefines the Twentieth-Century West.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003.
Weingroff, Richard F. “Federal Aid Road Act of 1916: Building the Foundation,” Federal
Highway Administration, http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/rw96a.cfm (accessed
April 23, 2009).
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