author
Burton Willis Potter
1843–1927
A Massachusetts lawyer and public servant, he wrote with unusual warmth and clarity about the practical world of roads, land, and public ways. His best-known book turns a technical subject into something surprisingly human and readable.
1 Audiobook
The Road and the Roadside
by Burton Willis Potter
About the author
Born in Colesville, New York, on February 8, 1843, Burton Willis Potter later became closely associated with Worcester, Massachusetts. Contemporary and library records identify him as a lawyer as well as the author of The Road and the Roadside, first published in 1886.
That book grew out of material he had presented to the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture, and it blends legal guidance with a broader interest in how roads shape everyday life. The result is more than a dry manual: it offers a window into 19th-century concerns about public travel, local government, and the shared spaces that connect communities.
Potter also served in Massachusetts public life. Records place him in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1872, and later Worcester sources describe him as president of the city’s Board of Aldermen. He died on December 9, 1927, in Holden, Massachusetts.