Science & invention / Politics
Edward N. Hines
1870–1938 · road builder, Wayne County road commissioner
Wayne County road commissioner who built the world's first mile of concrete highway on Woodward Avenue in 1909 and came up with the painted center line.
- Born
St. Louis, Missouri- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 68- Birth name
- Edward Norris Hines
- Also known as
- Edward Hines
- Detroit years
- 1890s–1938
- Field
- Science & invention, Politics
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Hines was a printer by trade and a keen cyclist, and as president of the Detroit Wheelmen and a leader of the League of American Wheelmen he campaigned in the 1890s for good roads, helping win Michigan's County Road Law of 1893. When Wayne County created its Board of Roads in 1906 he was appointed to it, alongside Henry Ford, and he served until his death in 1938. In 1909 his board paved the stretch of Woodward Avenue between Six Mile and Seven Mile roads, the first full mile of concrete road anywhere. Watching a leaking milk wagon leave a white trail down a street gave him the idea of painting a line down the middle of a road; center lines were first used in 1911 on River Road in Trenton. He also pioneered snow removal, roadside landscaping and parkways along the Rouge and Huron rivers, and in 1937 the Middle Rouge Parkway was renamed in his honor.
Highlights
- Built the first mile of concrete road in the world: Woodward Avenue, Six to Seven Mile, 1909
- Originated the painted center line, first used in 1911 in Trenton
- Member of the Wayne County road commission, 1906–1938
- Co-founder of the Detroit Automobile Club, 1916
- Edward N. Hines Parkway (Hines Park) named for him in 1937
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Related place · 1909
Woodward Avenue between Six Mile and Seven Mile roads (first mile of concrete road)
The stretch of Woodward Avenue that Hines's board paved in 1909 as the world's first full mile of concrete road; it is still a main artery, though long since repaved.
Memorial
Edward N. Hines Park (Hines Drive)
The parkway along the Middle Rouge River, renamed for Hines in 1937, running through the western Wayne County suburbs.