Prior to 1907, all road improvement activities in Missouri were undertaken by the individual counties, with little expertise or coordination between them.

[1] In 1920, recognizing that economic prosperity and growth are highly related to good transportation, the legislature passed a $60 million bond issue for road work.

As a result, the state highway commission undertook an aggressive road building campaign throughout the 1920s and 1930s aimed to get Missouri "out of the mud".

Through this effort, the state assumed maintenance responsibility of over an additional 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of secondary and farm-to-market roads previously managed by the counties.

[1] The goal of the secondary highway system was to place state-maintained roads within 2 miles (3.2 km) of more than 95% of all rural farm houses, schools, churches, cemeteries and stores.