Jump to content
American Road Magazine
Celebrating our two-lane highways of yesteryear…And the joys of driving them today!

National Road Offers Trip Back In Time


Jennifer
 Share

Recommended Posts

National Road offers trip back in time

Ohio section dates to 1806

 

By KARL RITZLER

 

Constant construction, bumper-to-bumper traffic, tollbooths and big rigs loaded with freight.

 

These plagues of modern drivers are nothing new. They also were common on the National Road of the early 1800s, the nation's first federally funded highway, as it cut through the wilderness from Baltimore to St. Louis.

 

This year marks the bicentennial of the National Road, which dates its beginnings to the first funds allotted by Congress in 1806 to build the road westward from Cumberland, Md.

 

For the complete article, click here:

National Road offers trip back in time

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of the better known books (actually a two volume set) on the National Road was edited by Karl Raitz. When I saw the name on the newspaper article (Karl Ritzler), I had to pull out the book to double check my memory. Pretty good article on a stretch of road that I'm fairly familiar with and think everybody should visit.

 

What Ritzler says seems pretty accurate with one outstanding exception. "11 Madonnas"? Everyone knows that Madonnas, like eggs, are sold by the dozen. I've never seen the Madonna population miscounted before and I doubt that Mr. Ritzler actually thinks there are only eleven. It's gotta be a typo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...