Steve_Colby

Dave, I'm thinking some guy was wailing away trying to split that rock and it fractured in the wrong place and rolled down the hill. (Although what's the odds of landing chisels up...) Judging by the overall weathered condition, I don't think it split anytime in the recent past. ~ Steve

I've added new photos to two abandoned road section descriptions this morning: Old Section of Nat'l Road Is Now a Rest Area - West of LaVale, MD And... Abandoned Section of National Road - East of Clarysville, MD ~ Steve

Denny, Thanks for the kind comments. I know you, Jim, Dave (and other ARMF members) must have some great Déjà Views... The best format for loading them to the Forum is about 850px total width. I look forward to seeing them! ~ Steve

Dave, I don't think we have to worry about seeing a show with two cool twenty-somethings tooling the National Road in vintage 60's Corvette. But then again, a tricked Conestoga... That could be the ticket. ~ Steve Here's another photo from Hixson Road. I'm in the process of adding more photos to the Sideling Hill to Hancock Photo Library.

It was nice to water without ice floating in it...<g> Steve

Original image circa 1932. New image shot March, 2010. (MAP IT) The mountain in the background is the western slope of Polish Mountain. See more National Road Deja Views... ~ Steve

The original photo is circa 1930 ~ Steve

I wrote an article about my suspicions the new Bear Creek Bridge (West side of Sideling Hill Mtn) is not the bridge shown in the early postcard below. I had the occasion to better reconnoiter the area this week and my earlier suspicions were confirmed. The original bridge was upstream. Here's a photo I took Tuesday. Not only was the original bridge upstream, I believe the course of the creek was also changed when the new bridge was built. More pix. ~ Steve

Dave, Thanks for your kind comments. The link to Christopher's photo was via a "right click/image location link" from the image on his Flickr site. Christopher and I have discussed this section in the past. I had previously located the general area of the road using a 1908 USGS Quad map. I was just waiting for decent weather to go find it. The space in the trees caught my eye as we were driving by. I got out, photographed it, and climbed back in the car for the ride to Hixson Rd. We got about 10-15 feet when I noticed the concrete culvert edge. That was the clincher. When we got up to Hixson, putting the two ends together was fairly easy. Re, the 3D and pans, I'll try them in the future. I shot 110 photos this trip as it was...<g>. ~ Steve

A missing section of the old National Road on the west side of Sideling Hill Mtn. has been found. Here's a SHA photo, circa 1930, of the section (Courtesy of Christopher Bust-Peck): Here's what the junction of the section at McFarland Road looks like today: See more photos... ~ Steve

Mark, The caption is from the back of a B&W photo from the Angela & Albert Feldstein Collection. Al has produced a number of Postcard Histories of Allegany and Garrett Counties. The information was also confirmed by Bob Lemmert, a former resident of the area. Apparently, the Race family owned the surrounding property. I'll see if I can dig up some more info. Steve

Denny, The rather lackluster celebration is even more puzzling when you realize most of the state Road Alliance organizations have been working on it since 2000. The Cumberland celebration is a locally initiated event. We will be asking other road cities to join in. ~ Steve

Chris, The MD State Archives has many plat maps online... SHA goes back to about 1933. Unfortunately, a number of the early SHA maps aren't digitized. ~ Steve

I've added a new feature (when available) to MD abandoned and realigned roads in the Realigned Road Section... MD SHA Road Plat Maps. The new pix and SHA Plats for Red Hill Rd., west of LaVale, MD, can be seen here. Red Hill Rd. ~ Steve

Main Entry: fresh·et Pronunciation: \ˈfre-shət\ Function: noun Date: 1596 1 archaic : stream 1 2 a : a great rise or overflowing of a stream caused by heavy rains or melted snow b : a swelling quantity The National Road Bridge over Will's Creek. March 14, 2010 The stone pillar in the first photo is, essentially, all that's that left of the original stone bridge over Will's Creek. (The are some remains on the opposite bank in the area at the left end of the wood fence.) Cumberland had a history to devastating floods until the construction of the Will's Creek Flood Control Project in the 1950s. The old stone bridge, circa 1835, was bypassed by the new bridge in 1932. The remaining structure was removed during construction of the flood control project. The original bridge was built with arches sufficiently wide and high to allow canal boats to pass underneath. Early plans for the C&O Canal had it traveling on to PA via Will's Creek. The original bridge ~ Steve

Dave, It probably was a carriage house/servants quarters but it really catches your eye from the road. I've seen nothing else like it in the area. ~ Steve

Jim, The interurban got "GMC'd" in the 1930s from what I understand. (The trolleys were replace with "modern" buses.) The road that runs immediately in front of the houses still exists as it did in the early pictures... As a gravel access road. The current National Road covers both the old Nat'l Road and the trolley right-of-way now. (3 lanes) ~ Steve

Dave, I think you hit the date right about on the nose. You were right again on the tracks... They belong to the Cumberland & Westernport. Here's a photo of one of their cars in the old Narrows Park (about 1/2 mile so east.) This Google Sat. Map will put you right on the roof of the house in the first (and second) postcards. The house has a very unusual garage (You can see it in the background of first Deja View shots.). At first I thought it was depot or something similar. I have close-ups of it I will post shortly. ~ Steve

Another abandoned road section... This section now accesses a private driveway. If you look in the distance, you can see I-68. Under the snow is the remains of an old stone bridge. Same section looking toward new (circa 1950s) alignment of Alt 40. Map it You can see the road section leaving Alt 40 and the driveway branching off to the left (or to the right in the photo above). ~ Steve

Here's a couple more Deja Views from LaVale, MD... ~ Steve

We had a great day out on the National Road yesterday without traveling far from the house. We ate lunch at Kline's Restaurant, at the Narrows Bridge/Lover's Leap (Great comfort food) and then shot photos from that point to just below Clarysville. We found two abandoned sections of the road between LaVale and Clarysville. One, unfortunately, was still snow-covered but looks like it may have the remains of a stone bridge. (We go back when the snow melts.) I also got a couple of "Deja Views"... Here's the first: The Emporium at Allegany Grove. I believe the first postcard to be circa late 1930s - Early 1940s. More shortly. ~ Steve

Yeah...! Without the Internet you'd be dancing for no reason a-tull...<g> ~ Steve

I recently found two more photo postcards of the Bellegrove State Tourist Camp. Bellegrove is probably the best photographically documented camp I've come across. There is a question as to whether is was always a MD State Camp or if it later became private. Here's the two most recent postcards and a link to the rest: Bellegrove State Tourist Camp ~ Steve

Just a heads up... I'm working with the City of Cumberland, MD and the local museums group to commemorate the start of construction of the Cumberland/National Road. 2011 is the 200th Anniversary of the start of construction at "a stone in the corner of Lot. #1" in Cumberland, MD (Greene St.). The Greene St. route was replaced in 1835 by the current Narrows route through LaVale, MD. Current plans and events include: (1) The erection of a monument near the spot construction started. (May 2011) The monument will house a time capsule to be opened in 2211. Donations are needed for the monument and the City has set up a bank account to accept them (More info shortly.) (2) The regional meeting of the American Planners Association is tentatively scheduled for May 2011 in Cumberland. (3) Cumberland's annual Heritage Days celebration is in June and we hope to add more emphasis on the Road. (Cumberland is also where the C&O Canal ended and was a B&O Railroad hub.) The City started as an outpost of the Ohio Company in the 1750s and became a fort during the French and Indian War. George Washington was stationed here and the military post was the jumping off point for Gen. Braddock's unsuccessful attack on Fort DuQuesne. (4) I have been allotted about a week-and-a-half for a National Road themed exhibit/show at the Arts Council's Saville Gallery in Aug. 2011. Entries will be accepted for a juried show. (More details soon.) I'll keep everyone updated as more details are available. ~ Steve

Dave, Thanks for your kind comments and the note about the Claysville shot. (I've written so much html code in the last 6 months it's all becoming a blur <g>.) My latest endeavor is to contact local historical societies and ask them to search their files for photos to fill in captions without photos. The results have been unsuccessful so far, with most not responding to my emails. I've initiated a new project I call "Deja Viewing". (The website will be dejaviewing.org) Similar to geocaching, the object is to search photo files and histories of Nat'l Road locations and then photograph them as closely to the origin shot position as possible. The location will be plotted on Google maps (And/or GPS) and the (2) photos will be displayed in the Cumberland Road Project Photo Library. A Deja Viewing Blog and discussion forum are in the works. I'm toying with the idea of allowing members of the forum to vote, by assigning points, on how well the shot captured the original photo. Brownie points will be given for historical data on the site. I'd appreciate any input or suggestions members of this forum might offer. ~ Steve