The way people traveled in Illinois at the turn of the 1700s to the 1800s were in very few ways different from those at the advent of the transition from the 1800s to the 1900s, the dawn of the 20th century.

The difference was in the mode of transportation that was in its infancy, namely the automobile. With other fields of the economy blossoming (i.e. agriculture, industry, commerce, manufacturing, etc.), the need for better, permanent and more reliable roads was becoming ever greater.

After many other failed attempts, on June 27, 1913, Illinois legislation known as the Tice Law, House Bill 843, was approved and became law. This event allowed Illinois to begin pulling itself out of the mud, and with it the creation of county highway departments across the state, including the McHenry County Division of Transportation.