44 0n March 4, 1851, the road from McKenzie's Ferry, via Dallas, to
Waxahachie was made 30 feet wide and declared a first class road. All
other roads in Dallas County were made 20 feet wide and declared to be
second class (Dallas County Commissioners' Court Minutes, A, 106).
Thus it appears that for a few years the National Road (from McKenzie's
Ferry to Dallas) was part of the most important thoroughfare in Dallas
County. In 1852 the Commissioners of Lamar County granted William
Russell and Josiah Ashby a franchise to build causeways closely parallel-
ing the National Road across the three principal creeks between Paris
and Pine Bluff; tolls were charged on these causeways. The entire route
of the National Road across Lamar County was declared a first class
highway (A. W. Neville, The
History
of
Lamar
County,
95). However,
despite these evidences of its early importance, the National Road did
not hold the spotlight very long--it does not appear on any of the
numerous old maps of Texas that the writer has examined.
