James Colin Dingwall, born in Comanche County on November 8, 1907, was the son of Scottish immigrants whose work ethic and engineering ability carried him from operating drag lines on the Trinity River levees in Dallas to becoming State Highway Engineer for the Texas Highway Department. He began with the department as a lab assistant in Abilene in 1928. During World War II, he joined the Army Corp of Engineers, attained the rank of Major, and built airfields from Laredo to the Azores. Returning to the Texas Highway Department in 1945, he supervised the first major construction of its kind, the Gulf Freeway. In 1950 he became head of the Road Design Division and was responsible for the design of all roadways in Texas. In 1954, the Texas Turnpike Authority chose him to lead its operation and build the $58.5 million Dallas-Ft. Worth Turnpike, which in an unprecedented engineering management achievement was built and operating in less than three years, with the first car traveling it in September 1957. He returned to the Texas Highway Department in 1958 as second in command, and in 1968 became State Highway Engineer, guiding the department for five years through double digit inflation, equal rights, and environmental issues. A recognized national transportation leader, he served as president of the American Association of State Highway Officials in 1972 and was chief spokesman for the states on federal transportation programs. After retiring in January 1973 at age 65, he returned to Comanche, where he lived until his death on May 12, 1991. He was inducted into the Texas Transportation Hall of Honor at Texas A & M University in 2007.