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WASHINGTON COUNTY RURAL HERITAGE MUSEUM
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  • Events
    • Spring Re-opening Day Celebration
    • Rural History Day - Biggs Ford
    • Everything on Wheels Transportation Show and Car Cruise In
    • Event Photos
  • Museum Hours & Admission
    • Board of Directors
  • 19th-Century Historic Village
  • Early Roads Transportation Museum
  • Farm and Home Life Museums
    • Early Road Building
  • Become a Member
    • Volunteer
  • Plan Your Visit
    • Activities
      • Hands on History
      • Potato Planting for Kids
  • Contact Us
  • New Plans for the Museum
  • Annual Newsletter
  • Admission to the Museum

EARLY ROAD BUILDING

In the 19th century, rock crushers proved valuable in laying roads to a growing nation.    The purpose was to put down a rock surface on the roads so wagons wouldn’t get stuck in the mud. Crushers needed power to operate and in the early years of our nation that power was provided by a transmission that converts the tractor's engine power into speed and torique.


Picture
CLIMAX ORE CRUSHER CIRCA 1890 CLIMAX ROAD MACHINE COMPANY
Picture
Advertisement in the February 26, 1910 "Engineering Record"
All images copyrighted to the Friends of the Rural Heritage Museum of Washington County Maryland  2025