"missing" Section Of Nat'l Road Found - West Side Of Sideling

[Steve_Colby]

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

Edited March 25, 2010 by Steve_Colby

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

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

 

Steve,

 

I remain awed by your efforts, and Christopher deserves kudos for finding that old photo.

 

Somewhere you must have mentioned what SHA stands for, but I'm assuming it is State Highway Administration. Is the photo labeled.....how did Christopher link your site with the photo? They certainly correspond, but given the changes in flora, it takes a super eye to connect them.

 

My respect for what remains of the National Road grows with each new description you post. Your work is top notch. Each new discovery or description opens the door to further exploration. The buildings you note do look commercial, one a service station and the other possibly a hotel or boarding house.

 

I want to make a small suggestion, for the sake of posterity. When you document sites, consider adding 3D. You can even do it with one camera, and you don't have to do anything with them but save them. Take one photo, and them move about six inches right or left and take another. Since roads seldom move between photos, you effectively have a stereo pair. Its easy, fast, and free.

 

Roads and their surroundings are three dimensional affairs. Many details are "invisible" in 2D photos. And the feel of the road and area is always enhanced in 3D. You may have no use for the stereo sets today, but one day you or a successor will.

 

Just a thought, but 5 seconds today may be a big deal later. And BTW, the same goes for panoramas....fast, easy, and valuable. So maybe its an extra 30 seconds at a site.

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

[Steve_Colby]

Steve,

 

I remain awed by your efforts, and Christopher deserves kudos for finding that old photo.

 

Somewhere you must have mentioned what SHA stands for, but I'm assuming it is State Highway Administration. Is the photo labeled.....how did Christopher link your site with the photo? They certainly correspond, but given the changes in flora, it takes a super eye to connect them.

 

My respect for what remains of the National Road grows with each new description you post. Your work is top notch. Each new discovery or description opens the door to further exploration. The buildings you note do look commercial, one a service station and the other possibly a hotel or boarding house.

 

I want to make a small suggestion, for the sake of posterity. When you document sites, consider adding 3D. You can even do it with one camera, and you don't have to do anything with them but save them. Take one photo, and them move about six inches right or left and take another. Since roads seldom move between photos, you effectively have a stereo pair. Its easy, fast, and free.

 

Roads and their surroundings are three dimensional affairs. Many details are "invisible" in 2D photos. And the feel of the road and area is always enhanced in 3D. You may have no use for the stereo sets today, but one day you or a successor will.

 

Just a thought, but 5 seconds today may be a big deal later. And BTW, the same goes for panoramas....fast, easy, and valuable. So maybe its an extra 30 seconds at a site.

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

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

[Mark G Simon]

Aha! Now that I've been there, I get it. This is why the white former service station at the bottom of Hixon Rd. has a sign that reads "Dead end road. No trespassing". That's where the National Road originally turned. Eighty years after this segment of road was by-passed, there are still people who would like to use it.

[Steve_Colby]

Aha! Now that I've been there, I get it. This is why the white former service station at the bottom of Hixon Rd. has a sign that reads "Dead end road. No trespassing". That's where the National Road originally turned. Eighty years after this segment of road was by-passed, there are still people who would like to use it.

 

Mark,

I really wanted to go down and photograph the big white house... Which looks very much like an old commercial building. The "No Trespassing" sign at the end of the road and the somewhat remote location (Hillbilly Cannibals <g>) kept me from venturing forth.

~ Steve

[Mark G Simon]

Mark,

I really wanted to go down and photograph the big white house... Which looks very much like an old commercial building. The "No Trespassing" sign at the end of the road and the somewhat remote location (Hillbilly Cannibals <g>) kept me from venturing forth.

~ Steve

 

 

Maybe that building is the Cities Service station.