Not a
road that rolls, but a road
for rolling.
In the areas of
Colonial America where
Tobacco was grown
1, roads were generally terrible. The only feasible way to get around, and to transport agricultural products, was by
raft or
boat.
Now, this still left the tobacco farmer the problem of getting tobacco to an entry port. After the tobacco was harvested
2, huge barrels called "
hogsheads", 8 feet in diameter and 10 feet high, would be built
3, and then packed
3 full of tobacco.
That's a mighty big barrel to haul by wagon. So special roads were built
3 from the tobacco
plantations down to the entry ports, an extremely gentle grade, downhill all the way. At harvest time, the hogsheads would be rolled, either pulled by oxen or manually pushed
3 all the way.
Rolling roads were the first decent roads in places like
Maryland and
Virginia. Some of them grew into the first
turnpikes, while others simply hung around. The courses of several old rolling roads are followed by heavily-traveled roads today. "Rolling Road" in
Catonsville was used to roll hogsheads down to the tobacco port near present-day
Relay, Maryland.
1Pretty much everywhere, this being the only thing that
factors in back in
Mother England would pay for.
2Not by the planter, of course, but by his
indentured servants, or even more economically,
slaves.
3See note 2.
Frequently.