Iowa Department of Transportation - History

History

In 1904, the Iowa General Assembly passed an act which created the Iowa State Highway Commission (IHC). Originally, the IHC was a part of Iowa State College where engineering dean Anson Marston was the first highway commissioner. The commission had a biennial budget of $7,000 ($181,100, adjusted for inflation). The commission's first home was in Engineering Hall at ISC, known today as Marston Hall. The IHC's first task was to study Iowa's problematic roads; at the time, less than 2% of which had been improved with gravel or broken stones. While Iowa's dirt roads were fine roads when dry, they were impassibly muddy when wet. This work was done by the staff which included H.M. Bainer, J.T. Hoover and Thomas Harris MacDonald (who later became Commissioner of Public Roads for the Federal Government. For the next ten years, the commission served as an information agency, showing county supervisors the best ways to build and construct roads.

In 1913, the Iowa State Highway Commission was spun off from Iowa State College. The newly-independent IHC's first task was to eliminate the price gouging that was occurring across the state. Private supply and bridge companies had divided the state into monopolistic areas where they could charge the county boards of supervisors unusually high prices for needed supplies. The commission was also given supervisory control over the public road system, although each county was still in charge of managing their road system.

In 1974, the 65th Iowa General Assembly reorganized the highway commission into a larger Department of Transportation with other modes of transportation. The larger department was an effort to create a more balanced transportation system.