Formative Years

Early Regulations

In 1875 George A. Long of Northfield, Massachusetts built a charcoal fired, steam powered vehicle in a Hinsdale, New Hampshire machine shop. The steam boiler mounted on a carriage was tested late one night to avoid the embarrassment of exhibiting something which seemed destined to fail before a large audience. The machine, however, succeeded in running a few hundred feet and after a few improvements the contraption became known for running horses and buggies off the roads as it rumbled around the surrounding area at a top speed of 30 miles per hour. As soon as the self-propelled vehicle was introduced to the Granite State it seemed to be the kind of thing that needed to be controlled.

Despite this fact, there was little support for regulation before 1900. In 1896 Governor Charles A. Busiel discussed motor vehicle legislation as something likely to stem from the anti-competitive behavior of railroads: "Before all this takes place (road improvements to facilitate automobile use), however, you will see the steam roads and the present electric roads combine to secure legislation to prevent these motor carriages and bicycles making over six miles an hour, to prevent them from being competitors just the same as the steam roads to-day are using their influence to prevent the progress of electric roads. But as soon as the ownership of the new motor carriages becomes general all restrictive laws will be abolished from the statutes." The Governor saw relaxed regulations of motor vehicles as the inevitable outcome, though he also saw the automobile as a step along the way towards "flying machines" and "paddle ships." It is plain that the motor vehicle's coming place in the hierarchy of transportation was not yet obvious.

Soon after 1900 north eastern states such as New York (1901) and Connecticut (1903) required motorists to register their automobiles with the state and display upon those automobiles home made license plates bearing a number or other identification assigned by the state. These license plates are often referred to as “pre-states” as they precede state supplied license plates. Northern New England did not follow the pre-state practice and New Hampshire did not require pre-state license plates. In fact, there was no state level regulation of automobiles before 1905 in New Hampshire.

Before the creation of a state wide automobile law there were several local efforts to regulate the use of automobiles. These efforts did not result in the creation of locally issued license plates, as they dealt mostly with issues of speed and safety, not with the identification or taxation of motor vehicles.

As one L.G. Fifield complained in a letter to Horseless Age in July of 1904: “It is noticeable that most of these ear-aches come from towns where no autos are owned.” It is indeed the case that many of the towns regulating motor vehicles were of a rural character.

By November of 1902 Franklin was imposing a $10.00 fine for motorists who failed to slow or stop for frightened horses.

By June of 1903 the Board of Selectmen of Meredith had passed a regulation limiting the speed of automobiles to 5 miles per hour within the town. There was consideration, apparently rejected, of banning automobiles from the town entirely in an effort to “stop the ‘hellish’ work of automobiles”.

Nashua also adopted an ordinance requiring automobiles and motorcycles to carry lighted lanterns after dark. Consideration was also given to imposing a 6 miles per hour speed limit.

On May 11, 1904 the Selectmen of Pittsfield passed an ordinance limiting speeds to 6 miles an hour within the limits of the village and to 10 miles an hour outside the village. Motorists were also required to come to a full stop when requested to do so. Fines were not to exceed $10.

Similarly, by July of 1904 Northfield was limiting the speed of automobiles to 10 miles per hour within the town boundaries and to 6 miles per hour in the village. Automobiles were also to stop for all horses. Notices of these regulations were printed by the town council and posted around town. One resident was interviewed by the Laconia Democrat stating:

“When the old B., C. & M. R.R. wanted to run engines through here they bought a right of way and paid for it; they didn’t ask to run up and down the highways, as these motor vehicles are doing, and people are beginning to think if these rich men want to use these concerns let them buy a right of way and build their own roads the same as other folks. … We were the first to buy a road machine, the first to build macadam roads, the first to use snow-rolls, and, thank God, the first to restrict the running of automobiles.”

Officials also applied earlier state laws regulating the speed of non-motor vehicles within cities and towns. On March 30, 1903 a Wilbur Y. Hadlock was arrested for exceeding the 5 mile per hour speed limit and fined $5.00.

An exhaustive survey of local ordinances has not been performed, and it is likely that other regulations similar to those listed above were in place in other New Hampshire towns before state-wide laws took effect.

The First Attempt at a State Wide Automobile Law

1903 saw the first effort by New Hampshire to regulate automobiles at the state level. There were at least six bills introduced in the New Hampshire Legislature aimed at regulating motor vehicles.

Each of the bills introduced by February contained similar language regarding speed limits, differentiating between speed within and outside of settled places, slowing at intersections, and slowing or stopping for horses or horse drawn vehicles. The major areas of difference were the particular speeds at which vehicles were expected to operate, fines, and license plates:

House Bill Number 4, Introduced by Mr. Howe of Hanover limited speeds to 6 miles per hour and 15 miles per hour inside and outside of cities and towns, respectively, and provided for up to a $100 fine and/or up to 15 days imprisonment. No license plates were required.

House Bill Number 37, introduced by Mr. Churchill of Cornish specified 10 and fifteen mile per hour speed limits and the same fines as Bill Number 4. No license plates were required.

Two other bills were the same as those above, but with speed limits of 8 and 15 and 8 and 12 miles per hour.

House Bill Number 101, introduced by Mr. Severance of Exeter set speed limits at 10 and 15 miles per hour and fines at up to $300 and/or 30 days imprisonment. This bill also required that motorists obtain a certificate from a mechanical engineer indicating their ability to operate an automobile and that each vehicle be assigned a number to be recorded by the town clerk where the motorist resided, and displayed prominently on the vehicle.

By April, another bill was introduced, this time by Winston Churchill (The New Hampshire Legislator, not the British Prime Minister of the same name). The Legislature, however, adjourned without passing any of the measures before it. Because the legislature only met on a biannual basis at this time, the next opportunity to regulate automobiles at the state level would come in 1905.

Interest in New Hampshire as a destination for motorists continued to grow after the failed 1903 attempt at regulation. In November of 1903, the state’s first automobile club was formed in Exeter. The seacoast, lakes and mountain regions drew wealthy visitors who toured the state by automobile. The White Mountains were a particular destination for auto enthusiasts both for their ability to test the endurance of their vehicles and for the spectacular scenery and luxury hotels. In July of 1904 a parade of 20 automobiles raced between the hotels of the White Mountains. New Hampshire’s Governor Batchelder was escorted in one of the vehicles and was later given a ride in a 60-horsepower racing car. The “Climb to the Clouds” was an annual auto race up Mount Washington that began in 1904 and garnered national attention. Later in the year a group of motorists participating in “the Perfection Tour” to the White Mountains from Boston garnered some media attention.

The need to regulate automobiles in the state was becoming apparent. New Hampshire and Maine were the only New England states without automobile laws at the beginning of 1905. There was some speculation that a law could be passed excluding automobiles from the White Mountains region of the state all together.