■3B7

Most historic Thoroughfare in the United States,

and strategic eastern link in the National Old

Trails Ocean-to-Ocean Highway

j;l|'

i

CD O CD O

Baltimore and Washington to Frederick, Hagerstown, Cumber- land and Frostburg, Maryland; Uniontown, Brownsville and Washington, Pennsylvania, and Wheeling, >^^est Virginia -:-

Including a series of detailed maps, showing topography and principal points of historic interest

By Robert Bruce

PRICE ONE DOLLAR

uitLU tiiiuuiiuuiUiiiiii J

NATIONAL HIGHWAYS ASSOCIATION

FOREWORD

ARYLAND and Pennsylvania have so greatly improved their portions of the National Road that through travel over it is rapidly increasing. There is also a growing interest in historic places, so many of which are found along the route from Baltimore and Washington across the Alleghany Mountains to the Ohio River at Wheeling, and the junction of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers at St. Louis.

The detailed maps on the following pages are intended not only as a correct guide to the route — which is very easily followed throughout — ^but also as a study in topography, especially through the mountain sections. In the present edition these maps are carried only from Washington and Balti- more to Wheeling; but it is expected to shortly ex- tend them to St. Louis, and ultimately over the Na- tional Old Trails route to the Pacific Coast.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author's most cordial thanks are due to G. G. Townsend, of Frostburg, Md., J. K. Lacock, of Cambridge, Mass., and Amity. Pa., Mrs. W.n. Hyde Talbott, of Rock- ville, Md., James Hadden, of Uniontown, Pa., and C. A. Robinson, of Wheeling, W. Va., for invaluable assistance on important details of this work; also to a number of others whose co-operation, though less extensive, is equally appreciated. :: :: ;: :: :;

R. B.

Clinton, Oneida County, N. Y. March 14, 1916.

Wording of the first public document

authorizing the beginning of work

on the National Road.

(See facsimile on opposite page)

Thomas Jefferson, President of theUnited States

of America. To all who shall see these presents, GREETING.

Know Ye, That in pursuance of the Act .of Congress passed on the 29th of March, 1806, entitled "An Act to regulate the laying out and making a road from Cumberland in the State of Maryland to the State of Ohio" and reposing special Trust and Confidence in the Integrity, Diligence and Discretion of Eli Williams of Mary- land, 1 have nominated and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate do appoint him a Commissioner in connection with Thomas Moore of Maryland, and Joseph Kerr of Ohio, for the purposes expressed in the said Act; and to Have and to Hold the said office, with all the powers, privileges and Emoluments to the same of right appertaining, during the pleasure of the President of the United States for the time being.

In Testimony Whereof, I have caused the Letters to be made patent and the Seal of the United States to be herewith affixed.

Given under my hand, at the City of Washing- ton the Sixteenth day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight hundred and seven: and of the Independence of the United States of America, the Thirty-first. (Recorded.)

TH. JEFFERSON. By the President.

JAMES MADISON.

Secretary of State.

This Commission dated 16th July 1806, was issued in the recess of the Senate who have since ratified the appointment and this Commission issued in consequence of that ratification.

w

' Of tyftyuu&ay

S a/t aaJo JcM JU -t£i ^.'UM.^ ^M/luil4

ett4l^^<) 'i-tU.

'USh -

f

^

^

»^ ^Sl^va:^ ^L£& //^Dx^ -^e.

Ztiu ^ta,\.

( n*'^^^/ •

■y'^j^-*«-A«.«

»^^i?Xv'"'

35587b

mMJrim

11

o^

i

o

juaxiooniMi

*>

W:-

pj

•^s.

1

w a:

i-!M--

^

3 a

m

a <

o n

*- o a

^r»l7B(7wO;;;«5

r o

i

:;:':■-

o

OS

f::fik

H

C

1

7.

O

/5

o n

""""W

Q

•is 1^

p

<

n

D

rttj

u

^ii

o

mAltOJ.SH36VH

)

Z

. o

o

H

&3

Q

^

U3

^ 5

rt o

s

^

OH

S.i

o

M

<D

s

«*:

\\^--l&'

1

ffiO

J3 U

VI

ff^S'i

IdO

B|

s

||;vi>^-:

« t)

i

pi

OO

2S

^

ps

PS

i

"^mmi

< en

Mi

«^

JlJ^fi*

^§

o

■111

Is

^ ^

H

•s>.

1

'Tjl^:^;:^;:

< « o

s^

oMtrii/SBun^&A

O in

.2 J)

O

1 1 \\^' ■■'■'■: -''■'-

S<

> '^

S:

!U^-'- ■:'.■■ "■■';'

o

u .

5;

y^tfnGis'onj}.

O

.5 00

^J 7 l/AS'J. N\fS9 V ■;

O

<

t-

w

Q <

e'5"

o aj "

NMQJMO/N/K0K-V:

tn

bfiC 7 u o o

rniASUMOti

H

i

Z

P

o is

5

r

1

o

•5i5„

s

$

K

r-6-=

\

iS!

U3

c*-« -^

M0J3N/HS*M^^:^/::^[:

s

s«2

f. :.■■■>.-.-■;;-

VSV>v;;v:

<;

="^?,

l^-:^.^-n

«

.»J5^

nt--'-'':-^:

o

fe.y-

mm

<

^*

eNn33H/m$:

>

3

^;2

8§||§§§88§^

; 'koto by Gilbert, Frostburg

THE CUMBERLAND NARROWS, ONE OF THE MOST STRATEGIC, PICTURESQUE AND HISTORIC LOCALITIES IN THE UNITED STATES, AND GATEWAY TO THE WEST BY THE OLD

NATIONAL ROAD

Taken from an exposed point on the high escarpment of Castle Rock or "Lover's Leap," about 800 feet above the stream. In the gorge: the B. & O., C. & P. and Eckhart Branch railroads on the right; Wills Creek, a tributary of the nearby Potomac, in the center; next the National Pike, on which runs the Cumberland-Frostburg trolley; on the extreme left, the Western Maryland Railway and the Pennsylvania Railroad in Maryland. The view is through the west portal of the Narrows, just beyond which (right at the high, two-span bridge of the AVestem Maryland Railway), the Valley of Braddock Run curves to the left, and is followed by the Pike. Wills Creek turns abruptly to the right; and about two miles further on the valley of Jenning's Run opens to the left.

The National Road, up the valley of Braddock's Run and the scenic Mt. Savage road, along the picturesque valley of Jenning's Run (both shown on the detailed map, pages 38-39), make two complete routes between the Narrows and Frostburg, encircling Andy's Ridge, a limestone hill facing the Narrows, whose sightly fields, on the eastern slope, are cultivated to the top, and Piney Mountain, the dark wooded mass in the background. Jenning's Run flows through the low gap at the northern end of Piney Mountain. In the extreme distance, on the right, is a dim outline of the northern part of Big Savage Mountain, whose summit is crossed by the National Pike a short distance west of Frostburg.

VIEW FROM THE HEAD OF NAVIGATION ON THE"

POTOMAC AT CUMBERLAND, ACROSS PART OF

THAT CITY INTO THE "NARROWS"

This passage into the mountains largely de- termined the course of the National Turnpike from the head of navigation on the Potomac to the Youghiogheny River. The end of the narrows in the middle distance is 2 3/10 miles from Ba-ltimore and Center Streets, Cumber- land; just one mile nearer that city, and almost, but not quite, within the picture, is the historic stone bridge shown on pages 36 and 41. For a general view of the topography along this por- tion of the National Road, see the detailed map of Cumberland, page 35, and the condensed ex- tension of same on page 39 and top of page 48.

THE OLD NATIONAL ROAD

Most Historic Thoroughfare in the United States, and Strategic Eastern Link IN THE National Old Trails Ocean-to-Ocean Highway

By Robert Bruce

the several fare in the United States can the name "National

, ASILY first among through highways running west from the Atlantic seaboard, and ranking with the Santa Fe and Oregon trails of the far West, is the old National Road, which, though completed as a government project only from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling (then Virginia, now West Virginia), was connected up with the older pikes from Baltimore, Frederick and Hagerstown, and subsequently with the newer lines west of the Ohio River, making for all time the shortest and most natural way for road travel from tide- water at Chesapeake Bay to the junction of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers at St. Louis, Missouri. It follows as direct a course across the Alleghany Mountains as the nature of the country in western Maryland and southwestern Pennsylvania would permit; it is a wonderfully scenic route, and has a historic background beyond comparison with any of its rivals.

This Old National Road has been from the first an unique American institution, and was for many years a vital factor in the life, politics and industry of the country. To no other thorough-

Road" be correctly applied up to the present time. Between Cumberland and Wheeling, the names "National Pike" and "Cumberland Road" are interchangeable, both having been used indis- criminately by the Secretary of War, Chief En- gineer and the field forces in their extensive cor- respondence during the progress of the work.

The map extending across pages 8 and 9 shows graphically this old road as a base-line from which branch, and into which come, the next most important routes between Chesapeake Bay and the forks of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, across about one- third of the "Continent. It is unquestionably the most direct route of its length in the United States today, the only deviations from a straight line being occasional short offsets in going through some of the towns; and such windings as were found necessary to make safe ascents and descents of the numerous ridges in the Appalachian Chain.

So carefully was the route originally laid out that the loss of distance in the mountains between Clear Spring, Maryland, and Uniontown, Pa., is remarkably small, the road seeming always to

typical of the roadway from BALTIMORE TO WHEELING; NEARLY ALWAYS upgrade or downgrade, with OCCASIONALLY A RESTFUL LEVEL stretch

find the shortest and easiest way across from one summit to another — usually by running down along the side of one ridge to the foot; and then, perhaps at once, but more often after a restful stretch of level road, making the corresponding ascent on the other side. Generally, too, there is a broad sweep to the curves, and a fair margin of safety to the traveler, in pleasing contrast to the narrow roads and sharp curves often found in equally hilly sections.

Many times between Baltimore and Hagers- town, and occasionally beyond, even close to the Ohio River, the motorist beginning one long descent may look ahead, perhaps three or four miles, across the intervening valley and see an automobile, or even a shadowy motorcycle, start- ing down the opposite grade. Let them "sight" each other, as over an imaginary rifle barrel, and often the first apparent variation of either from the perfectly straight line will be at a point where each swerves enough from the center of the road to avoid a collision as they pass. Rid- ing by night on these stretches, a star will often hang persistently in the same general position mile after mile. Except on the mountains, where long straightaways are impossible, as many as four or five ascents and descents can sometimes be seen ahead or behind — usually all in a straight line.

It will also be observed from the same map that the Old National Road is a highway of the East, of the North and the South. In the early days it was also considered a thoroughfare of the great West; but not so much in present usage, since "the West" has now come to mean the Rocky Mountains country and the Pacific Coast,

rather than the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri River valleys, which seemed so much farther away to our forefathers.

Striking Comparisons of Distance

Recalling that the traveler of a century or more ago invariably experienced the full physical proportions of every mile, it is easier to under- stand the enormous advantages to the emigrant, stage coach patron and freight wagon driver, of the shortest possible distance between strategic points on highway and waterway, which lends special interest to some comparisons of distance greatly favorable to the Old National Road. From Baltimore through Cumberland to Wheel- ing is slightly under 300 miles, if anything, a trifle less than the distance from Albany to Buffalo, N. Y. But the latter Is only a fraction of the road mileage from New York City or New England by the northern route to the Ohio River, by which a great part of the central West was settled long before the route through New York State and along the Great Lakes was opened up.

Prior to the completion of this old road, as much as possible of the journey from East to West was rnade by water, especially the Potomac River, most convenient from the tidewater. Pied- mont and Shenandoah Valley districts of Virginia, from which the Central West drew most heavily. But how much greater the distance that way is shown graphically by the map on top of page 9, of the river and road between Hancock and Cumberland, Maryland. Note the curious multiple windings of the upper Potomac, necessi- tated by the many hills that could alter its course a hundred times, but nowhere completely check

Between/ Wlueling on, lAe Ohio River, and St.Louis, at Ute JimcUon or the Missitsippi and Missouri, is mostly an^ easy roUmg country wH/v ftvqaent long straigtuaways for the entire disuuux ofaioiU 550 miles. -^»5

MAP SHOWING THE NEARLY-DIRECT ROUTE ACROSS THE SEVERAL RIDGES BETWEEN HANCOCK

AND CUMBERLAND, MD.; AND, IX CONTRAST, THE LONG ROUNDABOUT COURSE OF THE

POTOMAC RIVER, BY WHICH TRAVEL FROM BALTIMORE, WASHINGTON, FREDERICK,

AND HAGERSTOWN REACHED THE WEST BEFORE THE HIGHWAY WAS BUILT

its progress. The distance from Hancock to Cumberland by water is possibly three times that by the Old National Road, which, as if to scorn the roundabout and more deliberate way of the river, took a bold western course into the mount- tains.

Hardly less striking is the comparison of dis- tance, clearly brought out by the diagram on page 10, between Cumberland and Wheeling by the Old National Road and the two lines of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, as used by travelers between these points today. The former was laid out to secure the shortest practicable highway from the Potomac to the Ohio ; the latter largely to tap important traffic points off the direct route. So while the road traveler only needs to go 131 miles between Cumberland and Wheeling,

the B. & O. passenger by the upper line must cover 207 miles, even to transfer between con- necting trains at Glenwood, or 217 miles by the usual way into and out of Pittsburgh.

The corresponding rail distance through Graf- ton and Fairmont is 201 miles, which figures a saving by the Old National Road of 70 miles over the lower line, or from 76 to 86 miles over the upper line. Under favorable conditions a good driver can safely run an automobile be- tween Cumberland and Wheeling in not much more time than it takes by the fast trains of the B. & O. ; and in fact the passenger would be obliged to figure very close connections not to be left considerably behind.

Also between Baltimore and Cumberland the old pike has the shortest route — 140 miles direct

"^%

Short stroke lutes 1 5;^v indicate the AppaJar/Ua/v chaiiv or mountains, of whtcK Ui€ Alleghenies are apart. The Old ^'^ XiUx4)n*ii Road, is the shortest and easiest highway aeross Ihenv

'^*^ through' t/te 'Narrows " immediaiely west of CwnberUuut. Md.

u.

^'-.

E.Liverpool

STEUBEN) -VILLEJ

i

BeaverX

^Rochesfer

^Sewickley FORKS OF THC OHia

PITTSBURQilnJ

CARNEOICC

Bridoevillec

.^

it^Glenwood

3BRADD0CK

In^KECSPORT

Diagram ofcomparahve distances by road and by rail between CUMBElRLAm and WHEEUNS; a/so comparahve distances by road and by water t)etv/een BroiMnsville,PiH-sbur^t) and Wtieelin^

Ganonsbur

WASHINGTON

^RW.Newton

Slaysville I W.AIexander liWHEELING

ioundsvilLe

^tosneryHill Beallsviiie^

Cameron

awson

BROWNSVILLE^fcCONNELLSVlLLE

^^eel\ ,,v

•0»_

JJNJONTOWN

''S^^^ Braddocia^

Scale of Miles

Rockwood

^rave

Fort Necessity

iomerfield

nColmar

L\ "ere^tMeadolvs" ~areaK(SP«SSiS"^'° vV ^"^ColtT «^; J Cross/^^^^^^dlSOn W )7 .

Littleton

MCK4.

^ Manninjten jt^J FAIRMONT*

MhSava«a

Terra Alt'a„

LQRAFTON

through Frederick and Hagerstown, as against 192 on the B. & O. However, the comparison does not mean as much as those on the mountain divisions, for the reason' that the main line of the railroad makes a considerable southward detour through Washington, D. C. ; and for most of the way from Baltimore west to Hagerstown and Cumberland, roads and rails are far apart. The diagram above also shows the very long way around from Pittsburgh to Wheeling by water through what is now Sewickley and Beaver, Pa., and Steubenville, Ohio. Some of the earliest emigration took that route, though Indian /"unners between points west of the pres- ent site of Wheeling and the Forks of the Ohio, the downtown Pittsburgh of today, had long used a short-cut of which the Wheeling-Washington (Pa.) portion of the Old National Road was unquestionably a part.

Background of Historic Interest

A clear perspective requires at least a brief his- . torical chronology of the Old National Road; and timely interest is added by the fact that this

great natural thoroughfare will undoubtedly be brought up to a high modern standard through- out, and become a basic trunk line in our coming transcontinental highway system. This will in- volve a radical change from the original purpose, for while the regular passengers, the mails and the heavy freight it was destined to carry have been transferred almost entirely to the rails, a new forrn of travel has come forward to more than take their place.

Hardly had American independence been won and the full responsibilities of a new nation undertaken, than the need for better means of communication and transport between the Atlan- tic seaboard and the growing settlements in what is now the Central West became generally ap- parent. Daring pioneers had already blazed a few primitive trails through the Alleghenies to the Ohio River or its tributaries; over these long trails passed many emigrants from the East and South to new homes in the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys, but principally by boat from the present ■sites of Pittsburgh or Wheeling, as east-and-west roadways across Ohio and Indiana came later.

10

3-

The Government saw the necessity of keeping in communication with and protecting these emi- grants; and, in fact, was frequently called upon to do so, especially during the Indian wars. Travel, the mails and all commerce were entirely dependent upon open thoroughfares and navigable watercourses; and of course Federal authority had to be transmitted and upheld through the same channels. Roads were the one possible solu- tion, and only the Nation itself could at that time build so great and expensive a road as that needed to keep open communication between Washington and the Ohio River across the moun- tains. sj It is fairly well established that to George Washington was due the original conception of the National Road, and that he also foresaw the commercial importance of the Hudson River- Mohawk Valley-Great Lakes route between the East and the Central West. This is a reasonable supposition, for as a young man he made two round trips between Virginia and Fort Duquesne through a considerable part of which territory the Old National Road was afterward built, and became well acquainted with the topography of the Hudson River and the Mohawk Valley during the Revolutionary War. The "Father of his Country" did not live to see the great project undertaken, but the idea found valiant champions in Albert Gallatin, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun and Thomas Jefferson, so that in 1802 (only three years after the death of Wash- ington), Congress took it up along with a bill to admit Ohio into the Union; and afterward arranged for financing it through sales of public lands in the new states it would principally benefit.

On March 29, 1806, President Jefferson signed a bill appropriating $30,000 for a preliminary survey from Cumberland, head of navigation on the Potomac, through the Cumberland Narrows and across the mountains to the Ohio River at Wheeling; construction (supported by appro- priations made as needed) followed as soon as practicable thereafter, but was nearly stopped by the war of 1812. Work was resumed on a larger scale in 1816, and continued, despite some interruptions, through western Maryland, south- western Pennsylvania, and across a corner of what is now upper West Virginia to the Ohio River, so that it was opened to Wheeling in 1818, having been built that far during the administra- tions of Jefferson, Madison and Monroe.

One result of this was to make Wheeling, which was settled as far back as 1769, a very important point of embarkation, for the bulk

of emigration that started west over the National Road preferred to float from the Ohio River toward the present sites of Marietta, Cincinnati and Louisville, rather than to strike through the little-known wilderness more directly west. Sixty or seventy flat-boats, loaded with emigrants and their belongings, frequently passed a certain point in a single day; these were not all brought to the great river by the National Road, for some came from the partly-settled valleys of the Allegheny and Monongahela to Pittsburgh or Brownsville, without the necessity of crossing the mountains, but the Old Road was undoubtedly the more important factor of the two.

The original statute under which construction 1 . had been carried to the Ohio River, provided for nothing west of Wheeling; but so great use was made of the completed portion, and so insistent became the demand for its extension, especially across Central Ohio and Indiana, that on May 15, 1820, Congress appropriated $10,000 for a new survey from Wheeling to the Mississippi River opposite St. Louis — the act calling specifi- cally for a "straight line, eighty feet wide." This was followed by liberal appropriations from 1820 to 1838, during which time a vast amount of work was done in Ohio and Indiana ; but toward the last Congress seemed to lose interest in the project, and voted funds only for grading and bridging that part of it in southern Illinois.

Such work as was done along the route in. that state was not of a substantial or permanent char- acter; so the Old National Road never became, as Clay and Gallatin had expected it would, an improved thoroughfare from east of the Alle- ghenies all the way to the Mississippi River valley. Meanwhile, it was evident that the country was at the beginning of a great railway era, and rumblings of an impending civil waj began to be heard. The cost of repairs on the ' completed portions had been greatly underesti- mated, and one by one the states of Ohio, Mary- , land, Virginia and Pennsylvania in the order named, accepted the offer of Congress for them to take over and maintain that part of the road within their borders.

Except for short pieces of road in national Cemeteries, Army Posts, National Parks, irri- gation districts and th» like, the Federal govern- ment then gave up all highway construction, and has never resumed it on this continent. The final appropriation was on June 17, 1844, when a supplementary bill was passed carrying $1,359.81 for "arrearages," and the accounts for the Old National Road were closed, after a total expenditure of $6,824,919.33, a large sum in

11

^sm^f-

3

ROADWAY IN MARYLAND, NEAR THE FOOT OF GREEN RIDGE

those days ; but without question, for every dollar spent in the building and maintenance of this road, ten dollars were added to the wealth of the territory it traversed, and thereby to the Nation.

Coaches carrying passengers and the mails, and freight wagons in large numbers, continued to use the Old National Road until about 1852, when the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was so far complete as to make the general use of the highway no longer profitable. Unfortunately, there was nothing at that time to take the place of the traffic that was shifted to the railroad, and for that reason no real incentive to keep it in good condition. Not only was the modern idea of touring over the roads as a means of pleasure and recreation unthought of, but the opportunities for its enjoyment would have been small at best, as the crowded, lumbering coaches afforded no comfort at the ordinary speed of ten or twelve miles per hour; and no long trip was without its dangers, as the records of the stage companies and occasional letters from travelers abundantly prove.

What may be called the modern history of the National Highway dates back to its transfer (during 1831 and 1832) from Federal to an in- dividual State control, followed by a long period of neglect, during which time the old Pike fell from its once-proud estate, largely because when government interest and supervision ceased, the original commanding purpose was lost, and the project was never carried through to its logical

conclusions by the states concerned — Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Perhaps this was only natural, as they never had any uniform or united plan for its repair and maintenance; and, at least until com- paratively recent years, lacked the machinery to do this in the most effective way.

But latterly, both Maryland and Pennsylvania have made so great and permanent improvements over the mountain divisions that it has not only been fully restored to through travel, but is generally conceded to be. the most natural eastern connection for the National Old Trails Ocean- to-Ocean Highway, one of the large, vital factors in our coming transcontinental development.

Great Service to the Central West

Aside from carrying the mails, the greatest usefulness of the Old National Road was in breaking a way through- the Appalachian Moun- tains, enabling thousands of emigrants to pass through to the West more easily and quickly than through any other channels. The influence of the Great Lakes on the course of travel between the East and the Central West came later, for Marietta, Cincinnati and Louisville were settled long in advance of Cleveland, Toledo, India- napolis and Chicago, which had no such feeders as the National Road and the Ohio River.

The centers of population were also quite dif- ferent from what they are today ; our first census —that of 1790— gave a little less than 4,000,000 inhabitants for the entire country, about one-fifth of whom were slaves. Among the states Virginia ranked first, then Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, South Carolina and Connecticut, while Ohio, Indiana and Illinois were scarcely more than a boundless wilderness and prairie country, separating the Alleghenies from the Mississippi River Valley.

There were only five cities of 10,000 or over — Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Charleston and Baltimore, and the center of population was about twenty-three miles east of the latter. Such part of the Northwest and Southwest as had been explored owed that fact principally to their accessibility by the Mississippi and Missouri rivers ; and at least to the pioneer from the South, the Hudson River-Mohawk Valley-Great Lakes route to the West was almost entirely unknown. Zanesville, Columbus, Indianapolis, Terre Haute and hundreds of other places between owe much of their importance, if not always their actual locations, to the line of travel thrown into that channel by the pioneer trunk line from Cumber- land to Wheeling.

12

No other highway in this country has ever equalled the National Road in political and com- mercial importance, or has had so many pic- turesque country taverns built upon it; some of these are still standing, and occasionally one caters to the passing motorist, though the greater dis- tances traveled today naturally give an advantage to the city hotels located at important route centers. In the course of these articles, careful note will be made of such of these old places as can be easily identified by the leisurely traveler, and insofar as possible the locations of others, not now in existence but of importance in the olden days, has been shown on the maps.

Some hauls were made over the old Pike and its western connections by heavily loaded wagons that seem long even to the motorist of today, such as from Baltimore to Terre Haute, Ind., Spring- field, 111., or even Nashville, Tenn., which fre- quently took from three to four months or more for the round trip. One old "wagoner," John Snider, hauled a load of goods from Baltimore to Wheeling, Cincinnati and Nashville, striking across from the Tennessee capital to Lynchburg, Virginia, where he took on another load and drove it back to Baltimore.

Reviving the Historic Interest

Without the automobile, and the demand for Improved through roads that has been so wonder- fully aided by it, the Old National Pike would probably not be undergoing its present almost complete transformation, and it is certain the motorists will soon, if they do not now, greatly outnumber all other travelers over the entire Baltimore - Hagerstown - Cumberland -Wheeling line. A growing percentage of these will be from distant parts of the country, with a real interest in historic routes and places.

The literature, so to speak, of the National Road is practically out of the reach of the average motor tourist. The History of the Old Pike, by T. B. Searight, published at Uniontown, Pa., in

1894, dealt largely with the personal, individual side of the old tavern keepers, freight wagon drivers, stage coach proprietors, etc., in which the average through tourist can 6^ interested only in a slight degree. That book, written for the generation that knew its human characters, is an invaluable reference for the student of life on the old road; but it is now practically out of print, and was never intended as a guide for the traveler.

Neither Mr. Searight's history, nor the briefer monograph of Prof. Archer Butler Hulbert (1904) attempted to bring out the topographical features, which are of the very first importance to the present-day traveler, who would secure a basic understanding of the National Road and its part in the early history of the country. In fact, both were published before topographic route mapping had begun in the United States, and when road conditions were of much less im- portance thafl now.

Scarcely/more has yet been included in the motoristslr formal guide-books than mileages, names of cities and villages, and landmarks neces- sary for actual directions, with perhaps a brief introductory paragraph summarizing the route as a whole. As a result, the road traveler has had nothing to help him identify the inter- .esting old houses, or to connect those and various other points of interest graphically with the past.

So, in the present work, the actual topography of the line from Baltimore to Wheeling has been made a feature of first importance, particularly the detailed maps in the succeeding chapters.' Though only recently made a thoroughly prac- ticable touring route, there is no reason to doubt that it will continue to grow in favor with middle and long-distance tourists, especially as the prog- ress so evident east of the Ohio River is now almost equally apparent on its principal central- western connections, making a thoroughfare greater than was dreamed of a century ago.

rnotograph by Underwood & Utiacrzcood CHARACTERISTIC BIT OF SCENERY NEAR CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND

13

WASHINGTON MONUMENT, WASHINGTON PLACE. NORTH CHARLES STREET AND MT. VERNON

PLACE, BALTIMORE

Usually considered the touring center of that city. Peabody Institute on right; across the street, also on the right, the Mt. Vernon Church. View looking up North Charles Street

Chapter 2: BALTIMORE THROUGH FREDERICK TO HAGERSTOWN,

MARYLAND

In this and following chapters, the trip from Baltimore to Wheeling is taken up in detail, and made graphic by the large-scale maps. Usually the best plan would be to leave Balti- more in the morning, running through Frederick to Hagerstown, lunching there and continuing through to Cumberland for the intermediate night stop. In this way, the forenoon will be spent "

covering the long rolling stretches character- istic of Central Maryland; in the afternoon, there will be about twenty miles of the same kind of traveling to the edge of the mountains, and then one ridge after another will be crossed on the balance of the way into Cumberland. It will add greatly to the interest of your trip to make a few preliminary observations about

14

Baltimore, especially in the old part, now about the center of the manufacturing and wholesale district. Perhaps the greatest surprise to the stranger will be the vast amount of marine com- merce, as evidenced by the number and size of the boats that use at least four solid blocks on Light Street, immediately below Pratt Street, for docks. That locality is now, as it was 100 years ago, the shipping center, likewise, the most westerly point reached by boat from the northern seaboard ; this has been of great commercial ad- vantage to Baltimore, and is the basis of the rail- way freight "differential," with respect to west- ern and southern trade, which that city holds today.

Moreover, the old highway from here to the Ohio River owed much of its importance to the fact that both passengers and wagon freight could be quickly and easily transferred between boat and road. It was but natural that the old taverns, largely patronized both by stage-coach passengers and freight-wagon drivers, should have been located within a few blocks of the wharves, and on streets conveniently situated for beginning the long trip over the old road leading West. Two of these, greatly altered of course, and long since put to more common uses, can still be seen, and some slight traces of a third one.

MONUMENT ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF THE

SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN

REVOLUTION

On the left is a small part of the Mount Royal Station,

B. & O. R- R. ; on the right a view in Mount Royal

Avenue, with the Watson Monument in the distance

CONFEDERATE MONUMENT, FACING SOUTHWEST

ON MT. ROYAL AVENUE, BETWEEN LAFAYETTE

AVENUE AND MOSHER STREET

This monument can be plainly seen just ahead as one

turns from Mt. Royal Ave. into Lafayette Ave., in

making the westward exit from Baltimore

toward Ellicott City that way

Undoubtedly, the most popular starting point for stage coach travel and transportation of goods was the May Pole Tavern, which stood until comparatively recent years on the southwest corner of German and Paca Streets, only a block from West Baltimore Street, the shortest way into the Old Frederick Road. "In front of it stands," {Searight's History, 1894), "a tall, thin granite column, representative of a pole, and preserva- tive of the ancient name." The pole, or column has since disappeared, but one may at least imagine that some parts of the somewhat dilapi- dated business building on that corner today were left from the old tavern.

On the northeast corner of Paca and Pratt Streets is what remains of the Three Tun Tavern, a favorite stopping place for stage-coach travelers to and from Washington, as well as for those by the old road to the West. Over twenty years ago it ceased to accommodate transients; the ground floor is now used for a saloon, and the rest of the building for miscellaneous purposes. Its stables, which stood until a few years ago on the corner of Pratt and Green Streets, shel- tered in their day large numbers of stage coaches, freight wagons and prairie schooners.

Probably the only one of the old taverns in Baltimore that still displays its former name (in letters on the front), is the Hand House, on the

IS

west side of Paca Street, just above Lexington. It was built at least 140 years ago, so solidly that it might stand as long again ; little has been done to change the appearance, and the interior is practically the same as when it took care, of travelers, though the old signboard, in the shape of a hand, has disappeared. At one end of the cellar, cut ofif from the outer wall by a lighter wall of brick, is said to be a small room with a barred window, often used as a detention place for negroes in the prime of the slave trade. There are several other tavern sites of lesser interest if one has time to look them up.

Newer Exits Better Than the Old

Tourists who wish to go out of Baltimore by the identical route followed by the stage coaches and freight wagons can do so by following West Baltimore Street direct to the left fork of Fred- erick Avenue at Gilmor Street and along into the Old Frederick Road. But Baltimore Street is not a suitable exit for automobiles ; and as the city has grown northward, it is worth while to take one of the longer but better ways shown on the detail map pages 16 and 17. Charles Street is usually considered the basic thoroughfare for planning trips into or out of the city, and the impressive Washington Monument, at Mount

Vernon Place, shown on page 14, the actual route center.

One short good way would be from North Charles Street, starting west from the residence of Cardinal Gibbons (on northwest corner of N. Charles and Mulberry Streets), at once pass- ing the cathedral on the right, and running along Mulberry Street to the intersection of Fulton Avenue. Now either turn right on Fulton Avenue, cross Franklin Street, and turn next left into Edmondson Avenue; or turn left on Fulton Avenue to the unmistakable right fork of Frederick Avenue, a few blocks below. But if one is desirous of seeing still more of the monu- ments for which Baltimore is justly famous, it is even preferable to go up North Charles Street to Mt. Royal Avenue, turning left and follow- ing that beautiful avenue, either a short way to Lafayette Avenue or through to North Avenue, using in either case the connections shown on the large-scale map pages 16 and 17 into Edmondson Avenue.

No effort has been made to select one arbitrary way out of the city, but rather to make the con- siderable choice clear to the stranger. This is the only part of the route where such choice is possible, as from Ellicott City through to Cum- berland and Wheeling, the one line of the old

See next page

GRAPHIC SUMMARY OF MAIN-TRAVELED ROADS LEADING FROM BALTIMORE WAY TO THE WEST. TO A CONSIDERABLE EXTENT THESE SAME

WAGON, IN THE PALMY

Through traffic over them was "never as great as it is by automobile today. The principal

the Patapsco River, by which marine commerce from

16

road takes preference over everything else. The landmarks and points of interest on these various exits are so many that it would be difficult to include even mention of them in a travel sketch; but as many as space allow are shown on the map across this and the opposite page.

Beyond the city line, there is little choice be- tween the Frederick Avenue and the Edmondson Avenue routes, the former passing through and the other a trifle above Catonsville; it will be noted that both come together about two miles east of Ellicott