From 1847 to 1853 New Yorkers built more than 3,500 miles of wooden roads. Financed primarily by residents of declining rural townships, plank roads were seen as a means of linking isolated areas to the canal and railroad network. A broad range of individuals invested in the roads, suggesting...

The story of how the Empire State ignited the transportation revolution has been told many times. The construction of the Erie Canal (completed in 1825 and still the subject of books and articles) propelled New York City and the rest of the state to economic supremacy, prompting commercial...

Plank road fever struck New York when George Geddes and other promoters greatly exaggerated the durability of the wooden surfacing. Within a few years Americans built hundreds of plank roads across the nation. The episode highlights how promoters diffused investment information in an era with...