Iowa DOT Celebrates 100th Anniversary

Iowa’s earliest road system was a network of dirt, wooden plank, and gravel and crushed clamshell roads. During periods of rain or snow, the roadway system turned into a mire of mud. To assist Iowans out of the mud, on April 9, 1913, a new Iowa law was enacted to create the Iowa State Highway Commission as a state governing body over highway construction. In 1974, all modes of transportation were added to the purview of the agency and it was renamed the Iowa Department of Transportation.
 
To commemorate its 100th anniversary and celebrate Iowa’s rich transportation history, the Iowa DOT has launched a new website: www.iowadot.gov/history/home.html. The website includes:
•    A graphic timeline featuring milestones throughout Iowa’s transportation history.
•    A blog featuring stories about advances in transportation and how those advances have more efficiently moved people across the state. The Iowa DOT encourages all Iowans to share stories on this blog about how you, a friend or family member has played or is playing a part in creating Iowa’s transportation history.
•    Announcements about anniversary activities.
•    A Storify feed of anniversary coverage and transportation history articles.
•    A downloadable gallery of historic transportation photos unique to Iowa and 100th anniversary materials.
•    All of the Iowa DOT’s historic resources gathered in one easy-to-search place.
Each week, a historic transportation photo will be featured on the Iowa DOT’s main Facebook and Twitter pages, and also in the featured sites area of the Iowa DOT’s home page at: www.iowadot.gov.