from http://www.nps.gov/fone/historyculture/nationalroad.htm
The National Road, today called U.S. Route 40, 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.
From wiki "The National Road (Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States to be built by the federal government. The approximately 620-mile (1,000 km) long National Road provided a connection between the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and a gateway to the West for thousands of settlers."
From http://www.cumberlandroadproject.com/
Welcome!
The year 2011 marks the 200th
Anniversary of the start of construction on the Cumberland Road /
National Road, America's first federally funded interstate highway.
Construction began at "a stone at the corner of lot No. 1, in
Cumberland, near the confluence of Will's creek and the north branch of
the Potomac river" in May, 1811 and ended in Vandalia, Ill. in 1839.Over its venerable history, the road has gone by various names... The Cumberland Road, The National Turnpike, The National Road, The National Highway and US Route 40, to name but a few. The original Road has been "realigned" and "redirected" in some places over the years, fueled by our need for speedy automobile travel, but, for the most part, the old road lives on.
The history of the Road itself, the planning, construction and politics has been well documented over the last 200 years. The grand purpose of the Cumberland Road Project, instead, is to document the history of the people, families, businesses, towns and cities that grew alongside. What I hope will evolve is cloth woven of personal and family histories, stories of towns, cities and businesses prospering and, sometimes, fading away and observations of travelers, both past and present, of life along the road.
I invite you to share your family histories, information, photographs, references and observations. Your contributions will enhance our collective knowledge of a most important part of America's past.
~ Steve Colby, Cumberland, MD (I am sending Steve an email to perhaps include some of these photos which need location identification support
Town Hill Mountain, with Tom Roehm leaning on the sign at the left. Town Hill Hotel at the right. 1928 by Noah Elwood Weaver. page 85 of Album
"Imperial" "Gulf" observation gas station. Paul H Weaver, my father in front with the two Ohio cars on the right. Page 85 in album
From Steve Colby "
Photo "b" on your blog is Yonkers Store and observatory that used to be
atop Polish Mt. East of Flintstone, MD. (The I-68 cut destroyed the Site.) http://www.
Casselman Bridge - Note the large span...
from page 85 of the album by Noah Elwood Weaver
Info from website -
http://www.cumberlandroadproject.com/maryland/garrett/sesquicentennial-casselman-bridge.php
Capt. Hoye on the Casselman Bridge
Bridges and culverts on the Cumberland Road were well
built of stone. One of the most noted of the bridges was at the Little
Crossings over the Casselman River, then known as "Little Youghiogheny."
This 80 foot span was the largest stone arch in America when
constructed in 1813. It is said that it was built larger than needed to
carry the river water in order that the proposed C. & O. canal might
pass under it. A public celebration was held on the day the
supporting timbers of the bridge were removed. But people who had seen
the arch under construction said it would collapse when the supports
were removed. So the superintendent, David Shriver, with a few laborers,
on the night before the celebration, quietly removed the "key" of the
supporting timbers. The bridge stood without support, as it stands
today. It carried the traffic of a great highway for 120 years, until
the present iron bridge was built in 1933. ~ Capt. Charles. E. Hoye: The Glades Star, September 30, 1947
Noah Elwood with his straw hat, Big Savage Mt Sign. Photo page 86, likely by his son Paul Henry Weaver
From Steve Colby
Tom,
The photo taken atop Big Savage is the Big Savage Hotel (and other names).
This page in the Postage library of CRP shows the hotel and a camp: http://www.
Noah Elwood and Edna Eicher Weaver stopping for a water break. Page 88 album Near Uniontown PA. Watering Trough Four Miles East of Uniontown....PA
From Steve Colby
The two people drinking from the trough is most like the Watering Trough on
the West side of Laurel Mt. East of Uniontown, PA. http://www.
Described here as "The Watering Trough - Four miles east of Uniontown"
Tom's step son Laurence Reichelderfer, Tom Roehm, Edna E Weaver and Tom's wife Gladys , lunch break on wooden fence. Page 86
They posted this low res photo with the ID from ""S" bridge west of Hendrysburg, OH."
byNEW.jpg)
From the www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/06nov/02.cfm, site- Labeled
"As late as the 1930s, U.S. 40 included this National Road "S" bridge
west of Hendrysburg, OH. The bridge was replaced with an arch bridge
during reconstruction of the highway in 1933. "
Long wavy bridge without cars.National Road, 1927-28 West of Hendrysburg, OH by NEW p88
Noah Elwood Weaver took this close up of the S Bridge West of Hendrysburg, OH, likely in 1928 as is is posted on page 89 of his travel album I am scanning here in 2014.
From page 43 Ohio National Road Travelers Guide Copyright 2010 by the Ohio National Road Association, Inc. "S Stands for Bridge S-bridges are a unique feature of the National Road. Folklore abounds as to why they were built. One story suggests the s-shape forced drivers to slow their horses, reducing the chance of accidents. Some said the bridges were originally built around huge trees, while others claimed they were the result of inebriat- ed bridge builders. However, there is a logical explanation for Ohio’s crooked bridges. The National Road seldom encountered streams and rivers at a direct 90-degree angle. In order for bridges to be constructed so as to cross these bodies of water at 90 degrees while maintaining the direction and location of the Road, an S-shaped design was select- ed as the solution. The S-shape easily accommodated slow-moving droves of animals and horse and oxen-drawn wag- ons, but with the advent of higher-speed automobile traffic they became a hazard. Most were soon bypassed, although at least one — near Hendrysburg — was straightened in 1933 and continued in use for several more years."
Below "Tom"'s son and wife at the opening to a mine with tracks. Page 88 of the Album.
The photo above titled “ Noah Elwood Weaver took this close up of the S Bridge West of Hendrysburg, OH, likely in 1928 as is is posted on page 89 of his travel album I am scanning here in 2014” is not of the S bridge west of Hendrysburg. Instead, it appears to be the S bridge east if Old Washington on Rhinehart Road.
ReplyDelete