Editor's note: This is a reprint of a story that was originally printed in the Hannibal Courier-Post during an edition printed in honor of the newspaper's 100th anniversary, in 1938.

Hannibal-New London Road

In these days of concrete highways, motorists drive from Hannibal to New London, county seat of neighboring Ralls County, as casually and almost as quickly as they would drive to the grocery, but until 1907 this was not possible unless the traveler stopped twice to pay toll for use of the road.

That was the day of the Hannibal-New London toll road, constructed of native oak planks originally and later converted into a gravel road. Throughout its use it was one of the best roads in northeast Missouri, rivaled only by a similar road in Pike county. The highway was privately owned and maintained by the Hannibal and New London Plank Road and Bridge Company and among the original stockholders were such illustrious Hannibalians as John H.Garth, Joseph M.Gentry, Col. William H.Hatch. A. W. Lamb, and A.R.Levering. Completed prior to 1859, the plank road provided a surface of 3-inch oak planks which withstood the pounding of horses' hoofs and the grinding of wagon wheels exceptionally well but boards often buckled on the ends where they were attached to oak stringers.

Change to Gravel

Probably for this reason the owners decided that a gravel road would offer a more practical surface from the viewpoint of maintenance and the planks were replaced with gravel in the 1870's. Some of the stringers were left however and still can be seen occasionally along the old road when a heavy rain washes off the accumulated gravel.

The last toll house in use on the old road still stands today at 2835 Market street, now paved as part of the U. S. Highway 61 city route.

The house, now owned and occupied by J T. Betts and family, has been moved back about 20 feet from its former roadside location.

The Ralls county toll gate was located a short distance south of the New London end of the Salt river bridge.

An earlier Marion county toll gate was located at what is now 2331 Market street and when the plank was first opened the gate was located at the Marion house, the Marion county terminal of the road.

On May 3, 1909 the road became public property its entire length when the Hannibal Commercial Club, now the Chamber of Commerce, paid to the road company $1,800 for the strip of road from the city limits to the Ralls county line. On that same day the old toll house was sold to W. Z. Link and shortly afterward the funds in the hands of the company treasurer were distributed among the stockholders, and the Hannibal and New London Plank Road and Bridge Company ceased to exist.

Sought Free Roads

Purchase of the highway and its conversion to a free public road climaxed a movement which began early in the '90's to eliminate toll roads in Northeast Missouri.

On April 7, 1894 the city of Hannibal had paid the company $3,000 for one mile of road extending from the Marion House to the city limits on the Oakwood road, now Market street, and this much of the highway was made free of toll.

The Ralls County Court purchased the right of way from the Ralls county line to the Salt river bridge on December 7, 1907 for $5,000 and toll collections were discontinued entirely.

This had left private title only on the strip from the Hannibal city limits to the Ralls county line, which figured in the 1909 purchase.

A gravel toll road connecting Hannibal and Paris, county seat of Monroe county, had been made toll free some years earlier.

Because the Hannibal - New London road offered a well-kept surface it was used often in the expansion days following the civil war by caravans or wagon trains of settlers on their way to the rapid growing territory of Kansas and Nebraska.

Use of of this route saved time for the pioneers, as they could be sure their vehicles drawn by horse or oxen would encounter no mud spots on the heavy oak planks.

Covered Bridges

Although no trace of them stands today, two covered bridges once gave picturesque beauty to the road - one located over Salt river near New London and the other over Bear creek near Oakwood.

The latter was used until 1931 when U. S. Highway 6l was paved from Hannibal to New London and traffic was diverted from the old road. The paving included construction of a concrete viaduct over the creek.

Built in 1859 by a J. Key, a well known bridge contractor of northeast Missouri, the Bear creek covered bridge was kept in good repair until 1928 when it was damaged by a severe windstorm. The sides and floor remained but the roof was blown off. Constructed mostly of sturdy native oak, the bridge flooring withstood staunchly the ravages of time and the pounding of traffic and when the old structure was removed to make way for a culvert type concrete bridge, the old stringers were found to be so solid and well seasoned that it was almost impossible to drive spikes into them.

Under ownership of the private company, toll was collected at the Marion county station and the one in Ralls county.

Recalling the days of the old toll roads, Mrs. Emma Mahoney, who was toll collector at the Oakwood toll house from 1903 to 1907, said the fee collected was10 cents for a single horse vehicle, and 15 cents for one drawn by two horses.

Collected Again

No other toll was collected between Hannibal and Salt river, but persons going through to New London paid again at the Ralls county toll station, the fee being the same as that charged at the Marion county toll house.

Mrs. Mahoney, who still lives on the old gravel road 2 1/2 miles southwest of the city limits, (in 1938) is the widow of the late John Mahoney who was superintendent of maintenance for the road. She succeeded Daniel E. Daelhousen as the collector at the Oakwood station after he resigned.

A heavy chain was stretched across the road to form the toll gate and fees were collected every day until 9 o'clock at night.

As supervisor of maintenance, Mr. Mahoney made daily inspection trips over the road to detect places where the gravel was worn thin. These were repaired as soon as they appeared and the route kept in good condition at all times.

He was assisted by Louis Helms, a negro workman, and gravel and crushed rock was obtained from a quarry near Horse-shoe curve on the old road.

Mrs. Mahoney still has several heavy iron picks that her husband used in quarrying the material for maintenance. They now serve a more prosaic purpose as weights to keep the chicken house doors open or closed. The chicken house and wood shed at the home were built from some of the planks from the old road and today are almost as sound as when they echoed the clatter of horses' hoofs and the rumble of wagon wheels.

Busy Route

Reminiscing recently of the days when toll was collected on the gravel road, Mrs. Mahoney said: "It certainly was a busy place with wagons and buggies coming and going all day long. During harvest time the collections were especially good, as wagonload after wagonload of wheat used to come in to the Hannibal market."

Asked it she ever found it difficult to collect toll, she smilingly said "I can remember only two persons who objected to paying. One was a New London lawyer and the other was a Hannibal real estate man. They used to drive through while I was collecting toll from someone else and one day when the chain was across the road, the lawyer came in on horseback and jumped his horse over it."

The Farmers and Merchants Bank and Trust company was official depository for the road company and Frank T. Hodgdon, now cashier, remembers well the days when he was teller and it was part of his job to record the deposits on the books.

"They used to bring the money in about every two weeks but sometimes it would be nearly a month between deposits, and that certainly made a bunch of nickels and dimes to count."