03/03/2026
Another tidbit of Lancaster County History that became a national standard.
https://www.facebook.com/share/1GEt2uNBig/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Americans didn’t start driving on the right because of Henry Ford, we were doing it long before engines, and Pennsylvania led the way. In the 1700s, Lancaster County’s Conestoga wagons dominated freight travel. Teamsters rode the left rear “wheel” horse, held the reins from there, and kept their wagons to the right to judge clearance with oncoming traffic. It wasn’t theory, it was Pennsylvania practicality.
Then we made it law. When the Philadelphia Lancaster Turnpike was chartered in 1792 and opened in 1795, the first long distance paved road in the United States. It required travelers to keep right except when passing, with fines for violations. Other states followed.
By the time Ford introduced the left-hand-drive Model T in 1908, America was already a right-side nation. He didn’t invent it, he reinforced what Pennsylvania wagon ruts had already set in motion.
So when you settle into the right lane, remember: that’s Pennsylvania history under your tires.
