Although I grew up with mostly graveled road, I take paved sidewalks and streets and roads for granted. Until I sifted through my mother’s old photos, I didn’t think about the highway through my hometown of Dexter, Iowa, before it was paved in 1929.
Since it was the first time White Pole Road (also at one time called The Great White Way, and later Highway 6, now numbered 925) was paved, and my mother’s grandfather, Sherd Goff, was part of the process, the story became Chapter 11 in Leora’s Dexter Stories.
I was certainly struck by an old photo of that paving contraption, a “modern Foote 5A Traction Paving Mixer.”
Two Foote brothers, Chester and Charles, were concrete contractors in NY, with a knack for inventing things. In 1896 they built their own mixer, an improvement over existing designs. In two more years, they had built a workshop and perfected a gas-powered mixer.
In 1903, the brothers founded the Foote Manufacturing Co. and developed the first mixer designed specifically for paving, the No. 3 Continuous Mixer. Their greatest innovation came in 1918 when they perfected the use of crawlers rather than steel wheels. That paver was dubbed the Multifoote and advertised as “The Paving Tank.” I believe one of these contraptions paved at least part of Iowa’s White Pole Road for the first time in 1929.
It’s harder to make out the paving machine in the second photo taken in 1929. Mom’s brother, Dale Wilson, is sitting on the sidewalk in front of their grandparents’ home, which still stands in Dexter. Across the road in the old photo was a field with trees and a large billboard. Today, it’s Dexter’s city park.
That is quite the contraption, Joy!!
I was sure surprised to find a photo of it on the internet, and that it had a name and a history!
They say everything is on the internet – I’m beginning to believe it!
It sure is amazing!
As a retired civil engineer, I love photos of early construction equipment.
So you weren’t surprised this one is out there! Thanks, Tim! It was also fun to learn its history.
That paving contraption was quite the rig! I’ll bet it made an awful racket.
I never thought about the noise!
Incredible the way they did things. And they worked!
This one is certainly awkward-looking!
It’s impressive to see the road being paved for the first time, Joy, done with equipment invented by guys in a family-owned business.
Yes! I’d guess they were shipped to the midwest by railroad.
I definitely learned something new today, Joy. Very impressive!
Very interesting!!! You do surprise me with something new all the time. 🙂
I was surprised as well, Linda!
The photo of Dale leaning back on his arms as he enjoys watching the workers and the machine do their magic is a great capture of a moment in time! 🙂
Thank you, Nancy. It gives me goosebumps!
Fascinating and what a monster of a machine! Is that some of the original paving which has remained in place for a hundred years?
Annika, thank you for your note. I’d guess it’s been repaved since then, but you’re the first person to wonder about that!
How poignant to think that Dale was looking at the site of his future memorial. What a pity that he didn’t survive the war.
I was thinking about that as well, Kaiti.