The National Road...

[5fish]

You know the federal government built a highway to the West. If our 19th century Forefathers had a vision they could have built a road network and open up the West and South much quicker than we did... Check out the link and learn about the first interstate road...

National Road - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Snip...

The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road)[1] was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the 620-mile (1,000 km) road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main transport path to the West for thousands of settlers. When improved in the 1830s, it became the second U.S. road surfaced with the macadam process pioneered by Scotsman John Loudon McAdam.[2]

Snip... 20th century road...

In 1912, the National Road was chosen to become part of the National Old Trails Road, which would extend further east to New York City and west to Los Angeles, California. Five Madonna of the Trail monuments, donated by the Daughters of the American Revolution, were erected along the old National Road.

In 1927, the National Road was designated as the eastern part of U.S. Highway 40, which still generally follows the National Road's alignment with occasional bypasses, realignments, and newer bridges. The mostly parallel Interstate 70 now provides a faster route for through travel without the many sharp curves, steep grades, and narrow bridges of U.S. 40 and other segments of the National Road. However, between Hancock in western Maryland and Washington, Pennsylvania, I-70 takes a more northerly path to connect with and follow the Pennsylvania Turnpike (also designated as I-76) across the mountains between Breezewood and New Stanton, where I-70 turns west to rejoin the National Road's route (and U.S 40) near Washington, Pennsylvania.

The more recently constructed Interstate 68 parallels the old road from Hancock through Cumberland west to Keyser's Ridge, Maryland, where the National Road and U.S. 40 turn northwest into Pennsylvania, but I-68 continues directly west to meet Interstate 79 near Morgantown, West Virginia. The portion of I-68 in Maryland is designated as the National Freeway.

 

[5fish]

Here is the NPS...

The National Road - Fort Necessity National Battlefield (U.S. National Park Service)

National Road

www.nps.gov

The National Road was the first highway built entirely with federal funds. The road was authorized by Congress in 1806 during the Jefferson Administration. Construction began in Cumberland, Maryland in 1811. The route closely paralleled the military road opened by George Washington and General Braddock in 1754-55.

By 1818 the road had been completed to the Ohio River at Wheeling, which was then in Virginia. Eventually the road was pushed through central Ohio and Indiana reaching Vandalia, Illinois in the 1830's where construction ceased due to a lack of funds. The National Road opened the Ohio River Valley and the Midwest for settlement and commerce.

 

[Jim Klag]

National Road | ASCE

www.asce.org

 

[Jim Klag]

History Magazine - The National Road

www.history-magazine.com

 

[diane]

There was a long part of this - San Diego to Puyallap I think - ran up the coast and through central California, Oregon. Called the Jefferson Davis Highway. Two years ago the marker was removed in Hornbrook, but I don't know about the rest of them. The UDC was very, very busy in the Pacific Northwest and California. A lot of veterans had come out here.

 

[diane]

Here we go - it was Blaine!

Jefferson Davis Highway Marker - Hornbrook, CA - U.S. Route 99 - The Pacific Highway on Waymarking.com

Waymarking.com is a way to mark unique locations on the planet and give them a voice. While GPS technology allows us to pinpoint any location on the planet, mark the location, and share it with others, Waymarking is the toolset for categorizing and adding unique information for that location.

www.waymarking.com

 

[5fish]

The road was a success: I wonder why more were not built around our nation like one across the south...

The National Road - Back in Time - General Highway History - Highway History - Federal Highway Administration

www.fhwa.dot.gov

.

snip... its success...

As work on the road progressed a settlement pattern developed that is still visible. Original towns and villages are found along the National Road, many barely touched by the passing of time. The road, also called the Cumberland Road, National Pike and other names, became Main Street in these early settlements, earning the nickname "The Main Street of America." The height of the National Road's popularity came in 1825 when it was celebrated in song, story, painting and poetry. During the 1840s popularity soared again. Travelers and drovers, westward bound, crowded the inns and taverns along the route. Huge Conestoga wagons hauled produce from frontier farms to the East Coast, returning with staples such as coffee and sugar for the western settlements. Thousands moved west in covered wagons and stagecoaches traveled the road keeping to regular schedules.

snip... the tractor trailers of their day... Huge Conestoga wagons

Conestoga wagon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Snip... @jgoodguy bridges....

Historic stone bridges on the National Road have their own stories to tell as well as reminding us of the craftsmanship of early engineers. The S Bridge, so named because of its design, stands 4 miles east of Old Washington, Ohio. Built in 1828 as part of the National Road, it is a single arch stone structure. This one of four in the state is deteriorated and is now used for only pedestrian traffic. However the owners of the bridge are attempting to obtain funding for its restoration. The stone Casselman River Bridge still stands east of Grantsville, Maryland. A product of the early 19th century federal government improvements program along the National Road, the Casselman River Bridge was constructed in 1813-1814. Its 80-foot span, the largest of its type in America, connected Cumberland to the Ohio River. In 1933 a new steel bridge joined the banks of the Casselman River. The old stone bridge, partially restored by the State of Maryland in the 1950s is now the center of Casselman River Bridge State Park

I ask why were not more roads built....

 

[jgoodguy]

The road was a success: I wonder why more were not built around our nation like one across the south...

Big country small budget.

 

[O' Be Joyful]

I ask why were not more roads built....

Andy Jackson

http://mswallaceonline.weebly.com/uploads/9/0/0/1/9001256/maysville_road_veto__1830_.pdf

May 27, 1830: Veto Message Regarding Funding of Infrastructure Development | Miller Center

millercenter.org

The Maysville Road veto occurred on May 27, 1830, when President Andrew Jackson vetoed a bill that would allow the Federal government to purchase stock in the Maysville, Washington, Paris, and Lexington Turnpike Road Company, which had been organized to construct a road linking Lexington, KY. and Maysville, KY., on the Ohio River, the entirety of which would be in the state of Kentucky. Its advocates regarded it as a part of the national Cumberland Road system. Congress passed a bill in 1830 providing federal funds to complete the project. Jackson vetoed the bill on the grounds that federal funding of intrastate projects of this nature was unconstitutional. He declared that such bills violated the principle that the federal government should not be involved in local economic affairs. Jackson also pointed out that funding for these kinds of projects interfered with paying off of the national debt.[1]Proponents of internal improvements, such as the development of roads and bridges, argued that the federal government had an obligation to harmonize the nation's diverse, and often conflicting, sectional interests into an "American System." Jackson's decision was heavily influenced by his Secretary of State Martin Van Buren. Some authors have described the motives behind the veto decision as personal, rather than strictly political. The veto has been attributed to a personal grudge against Henry Clay, as well as to preserve the trade monopoly of New York's Erie Canal, in Van Buren's case.[2] Martin Van Buren then became known as a failure in the White House because of the economic problems at the time., the road connected the interior of Kentucky to the Ohio River, and therefore served as the main artery for the transportation of goods. Kentucky Representative Robert Letcher made this Debate in Congress Supporters of the bill insisted on the project's national significance. This particular project was intended to be a part of a much larger interstate system extending from Zanesville, Ohio to Florence, Alabama. If the highway as a whole was of national significance, they argued, surely the individual sections must be as well.[3] They looked to the Supreme Court decision handed down six years before in Gibbons v Ogden, in which the court confirmed the power to regulate commerce among the states including those portions of the journey which lay within one state or another.

Then came Eisenhower to finish the job.

 

[O' Be Joyful]

Btw, that is the approximate trace of today's I-70.

 

[jgoodguy]

The only way we got the Interstate we have today is fear of the Russians.

 

[diane]

Enter Senator Randolph Collier, the Father of the Freeways.

Randolph Collier of Etna Becomes California's Freeway "Father"

The silver-haired and voiced Senator who became known as the “father of the California freeways,” Randolph Collier, was born in Etna in 1902. During his…

www.ijpr.org

Being as Collier grew up a couple miles down the road from us, we knew him reasonably well! Quite the old time politician, he was, and he wasn't embarrassed about being next door neighbors with us. Every other thing around here is named after him. Here's his statue:



If you sit down on the bench, his eyeballs gaze gratefully right down your blouse! (Which was very Senator Collier...)

 

[O' Be Joyful]

If you sit down on the bench, his eyeballs gaze gratefully right down your blouse! (Which was very Senator Collier...)

Politicians are always lookin' for a coupla votes.

 

[diane]

Yep, and always have a hand out! Got to say, though, he was looking out for his home county - did well while he was senator and he helped us work out a few problems with our land. Termination, you know. He was definitely into making America so strong the commies would think twice, and interstate travel at warp speed was his baby. From Alaska to Terra del Fuego was his goal! He was thinking Roads and Belts before the Chinese, keep South America out of the Russian orbit through commerce.

 

[O' Be Joyful]

keep South America out of the Russian orbit through commerce.

Now it's the Chinese working it there, and the rooskies on the net. I'm gonna name my next pet racoon Sputnick.

Where have You Gone Monroe Doctrine...whoa, whoa...whoa....