Apostles of Asphalt: The Religious Politics of Roadbuilding in the Jim Crow South

Apostles of Asphalt reveals how and why members of the good roads movement used the language of religion, civilization, and redemption to achieve their goals. Focusing on the movement’s influential Southern branches, Isaiah Ellis shows how white Southerners who became involved in the movement brought its religious and moral message increasingly in line with the Jim Crow regime, aiding broader efforts to sanctify the Confederate past and revitalize the doctrine of Manifest Destiny for the twentieth century. Ranging from the mountains of North Carolina to the swamps of Florida, Ellis offers a fresh perspective on the ideas at the foundation of the American highway system. In so doing, Apostles of Asphalt challenges the easy equation of infrastructure development and the common good.