An example of a plank road

The old plank road, which ran north out of Ottawa, was built in 1847; a direct line from Earlville to Ottawa, by way of Harding. It was in such poor shape by the 1890s that farmers in the north of the county were doing their trading in Earlville rather than in Ottawa. It was clear that something needed to be done. By 1895 the road from Earlville to Harding had been improved and Freedom township had graveled the road to the Dayton township line but the six miles through Dayton remained unimproved.

Ottawa Republican Times, 26 Sep 1895, p2

It was to the advantage of Ottawa to get this portion of the road completed and plans were made to share the work. The portion of the road to be graveled is shown below.

Residents of Dayton, Ottawa, Troy Grove and Wallace were asked to contribute money or labor to finish the final six miles of the road. The merchants of Ottawa contributed significantly in view of the increased trade they would see.

Ottawa Republican Times, 26 Sep 1895, p1

The joint effort appears to have succeeded. There is no further mention of the state of the road north out of Ottawa in the newspapers. It is hoped that the Ottawa merchants saw the increased trade they expected.