Vintage Jacksonville
First Modern Roads

There was a time in Jacksonville’s formative years when the entire country road department consisted of nine men, all based in Jacksonville (the county seat at that time). Property owners were required to put in a certain number of hours maintaining assigned sections of county roads. The photo at top is a portion of a panoramic shot of commissioner J. M. Wood’s road crew from the collection of Mr. Jesse Wood. Photo by Russell Bros. Studio. BOTTOM: A 1935 Jacksonville street scene also from the collection of Mr. Jesse Wood. This promotional photo shows a road paved with a new type of surface, Tarvia Re-tread. Although the cutline identifies the scene as Spring Street, Mr. Wood believes the view is actually on Mountain Avenue (now Street). For more vintage local scenes, go to Al Harris’ photo blogger.