Huey Long, his 1936 Chrysler Imperial Airflow, and Getting Louisiana Out of the Mud

Library of Congress

During the late 1920s, Louisiana was one state whose drivers finally climbed out of the mud (or “gumbo”). Its history illustrates not only the fact that the automobile preceded road development but also that politics proved critical to the story. 

Like the rest of the nation, Louisiana witnessed an upsurge in car ownership beginning in the early 1920s. For example, in 1922, there were 122,000 motor vehicles registered in the state, but by 1924 that figure had risen to 178,000. In 1920, a state highway commission had been established, but it was poorly funded and staffed, and the state’s elite patrician leadership was conservative in raising the monies necessary to build a comprehensive state road system. Given the climatic and geographical difficulties associated with the state – for example, there were more than 5,000 streams and rivers in Louisiana – its citizens were limited in where they could take the new cars they had purchased. In Orleans Parish alone there were 43,000 vehicles, and yet there was no road to the east that connected New Orleans with the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The situation changed dramatically, however, with the coming of Huey Long to the Governor’s mansion in 1928. The “Kingfish’s” clever political maneuvering resulted in first raising the necessary state funds to build good roads, and then the will to build them throughout the state. Long hired some of the best highway engineers in the country, raised the gasoline tax and floated state bonds, and put more than 8,000 men to work in the process. In a 1929 Louisiana Highway Commission report, it was asserted that “Power Creates Wealth,” and that “Good Roads Throughout Louisiana Provide for a Wider Distribution of Power.”  Furthermore,

The automobile has revolutionized transportation methods and eliminated distance. Combined with improved highways, the automobile has made friends and neighbors of us all, removed imaginary barriers and provided a sound foundation on which to build for happiness, prosperity, and permanent development.

            

During the Long administration, thousands of miles of improved roadways were constructed, but three projects stand out. First, east of New Orleans, the Chef Menteur Highway connecting New Orleans to Mississippi was completed. Secondly, the Airline Highway connecting New Orleans to Baton Rouge shortened the driving distance between the state’s major urban center of New Orleans and its capital of Baton Rouge. Thirdly, a landmark achievement was the erection of a bridge across the Mississippi River at Jefferson, west of New Orleans. The Huey Long Bridge, with four lanes for motor vehicle traffic and railroad tracks in the middle, remains an adventure to cross today. Yet at its dedication in late 1935, the bridge provided a critical connecting point for the Jefferson Highway, Old Spanish Trail, Louisiana Purchase Highway, Colonial Highway, Mississippi Scenic Highway, and the Pershing Highway.

Photographic copy of circa 1935, black and white, 10” x 14” photograph. Loose in Huey P. Long folder in oversized box located at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Archives Center, Work and Industry Division, Washington, D.C. Photographer, Lionel T. Berryhill, Apple Valley, California. CIRCA 1935 PHOTOGRAPH OF BRIDGE TAKEN FROM WEST BANK LOOKING NORTH AT PIER “A” NEAR LEVEE. - Huey P. Long Bridge, Spanning Mississippi River approximately midway between nine & twelve mile points upstream from & west of New Orleans, Jefferson, Jefferson Parish, LA