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Milestone Maps


cbustapeck
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I've been working to find and map all the extant National Road milestones. The following are the maps that I've completed so far. I think that the maps are a good way to visualize this information. In the future, I hope to include photographs that better illustrate just where the milestones are. I may also link to more extensive sets of photographs of a given milestone.

 

Maryland - Milestones 1-25

Maryland - Milestones 26-50

Maryland - Milestones 51-75

Maryland - Milestones 76-100

Maryland - Milestones 101-125

Maryland - Milestones 126-150

Maryland - Milestones 151-171

 

Pennsylvania - Milestones 96 3/4-77

Pennsylvania - Milestones 76-57

Pennsylvania - Milestones 56-37

Pennsylvania - Milestones 36-15

 

West Virginia - Milestones

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I've been working to find and map all the extant National Road milestones. The following are the maps that I've completed so far. I think that the maps are a good way to visualize this information. In the future, I hope to include photographs that better illustrate just where the milestones are. I may also link to more extensive sets of photographs of a given milestone.

 

 

Nice job! I had no idea there were that many milestones still around. The photos are interesting as well! A terrific effort, and a worthy one as well!

 

BTW, a hearty welcome to this hang out for roadies! You'll will find kindred spirits here!

 

Keep the Show on the Road

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Nice job! I had no idea there were that many milestones still around. The photos are interesting as well! A terrific effort, and a worthy one as well!

 

BTW, a hearty welcome to this hang out for roadies! Youi will find kindred spirits here!

 

Keep the Show on the Road

 

Thank you. It does seem like fun so far.

 

I didn't have any idea that there were so many milestones out there, either, which is how I got into this mess. I was driving home to Baltimore from a wedding in Cleveland and had some extra time, so I thought I'd take the old National Road east from Wheeling. I started photographing milestones, and when I got home, worked on adding the appropriate metadata to them like the good librarian that I am. I found that most of the sources said that no more than a third of the milestones were extant. I thought I'd seen about that many on my drive that day and took it as a challenge. You can see the result.

 

The biggest area where I think that more (original) milestones can be found is Pennsylvania. The road has been regraded and leveled a fair amount, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few milestones hiding at the tops of hills, among the brush, ten or fifteen feet above the road bed.

 

- Christopher

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Whoa!! Another prime example of the old "miss a day miss a lot" rule. I've only been connected sporatically since Friday and am only online briefly now but do want to welcome Chris. And I'm even thankful for the additions he's made to my to-do list. I'll eventually get to that blog and those maps and that bridge thread and the other stuff that is sure to pop up before I get home.

 

Good looking stuff, Chris. I'll be back.

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A most impressive collection of photos.

 

Strictly speaking, markers east of Cumberland were not on the National Road but that doesn't make them less interesting. I was aware of (and have visited a few of) the markers near Baltimore. Adam Paul covers some of them here. They pre-date the National Road by several years. I'm guessing that most of the stones between Frederick and Cumberland (which I haven't seem) are from the Cumberland Turnpike which I believe was built about the same time that the first phase of the NR was being built. Of particular interest are the two stones just east of Cumberland (5MtoC & 6MtoC) which are a different shape then the other MD state stones. Possibly a different turnpike company.

 

You've touched on the large number of reproductions in Pennsylvania. I recall being truly impressed by what I took to be a long string of preserved and consecutive markers only to find that many were fiberglass reproductions. As you compile your catalog, noting which are original would be quite useful.

 

I'm not sufficiently familiar with either Flickr or Google Maps to access coordinate information. Is this possible?

 

I believe there are only two original NR markers left in Indiana and none in Illinois so it won't take a whole lot of storage space to document the last two states on the road. :)

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A most impressive collection of photos.

 

Strictly speaking, markers east of Cumberland were not on the National Road but that doesn't make them less interesting. I was aware of (and have visited a few of) the markers near Baltimore. Adam Paul covers some of them here. They pre-date the National Road by several years. I'm guessing that most of the stones between Frederick and Cumberland (which I haven't seem) are from the Cumberland Turnpike which I believe was built about the same time that the first phase of the NR was being built. Of particular interest are the two stones just east of Cumberland (5MtoC & 6MtoC) which are a different shape then the other MD state stones. Possibly a different turnpike company.

 

You've touched on the large number of reproductions in Pennsylvania. I recall being truly impressed by what I took to be a long string of preserved and consecutive markers only to find that many were fiberglass reproductions. As you compile your catalog, noting which are original would be quite useful.

 

I'm not sufficiently familiar with either Flickr or Google Maps to access coordinate information. Is this possible?

 

I believe there are only two original NR markers left in Indiana and none in Illinois so it won't take a whole lot of storage space to document the last two states on the road. :)

 

Denny,

 

I agree that it is important to differentiate between original and replacement milestones - I should have been clearer in the key to my maps. Blue flags represent original milestones, whereas light blue / aqua flags represent replacements. Red flags represent stones that either do not exist or that I have been unable to locate. If you click on a given flag, a picture will come up. If you click on the picture, you will be taken to the Flickr page.

 

As for the milestones leading to Cumberland:

1435119937_618315b748_m.jpg 1434983691_7e002f7ed9_m.jpg 1247229622_e41aa186e8_m.jpg

 

It is my understanding that milestone 9 M to C, which is in the Allegany County museum, is also of the same format, however I haven't been able to photograph it yet - it was closed when I was there last.

 

Also, if it is easier to browse, I have sets on Flickr of the milestones in (original) geographical order, from east to west, though some cleanup is needed (new photographs have just been put at the end, rather than being ordered correctly). The sets are here for Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio.

 

As for coordinates, I don't know off hand of any way to extract them from Flickr or Google Maps, though I'm relatively sure that they're out there, for Google Maps. I'll look into that.

 

Storage space isn't really an issue - for my yearly subscription to Flickr, I get unlimited uploads and downloads - it's getting the time and money to travel - if anyone wants to give me a reasonable (frugal, even!) stipend, I'd be happy to document the rest of them.

 

- Christopher

 

This is saving me sooooooooo much research for when I make the trip out east!

 

Jim,

 

If you really want to go crazy, I've downloaded all of the USGS topos from Baltimore to Vandalia - I could burn you a copy onto a CD and mail it to you.

 

- Christopher

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As for coordinates, I don't know off hand of any way to extract them from Flickr or Google Maps, though I'm relatively sure that they're out there, for Google Maps. I'll look into that.

 

- Christopher

 

Welcome aboard, Christopher! You are providing great information - as you can see, it is much appreciated by the members - we love this stuff!

 

I like what you did with the Google Map, and the link back to Flickr. I have been geotagging my photos using Location Stamper (we had a discussion about that when I bought my new GPS)....it is such a time and "brain" saver when I'm trying to figure out just where I took certain photos - that aren't obvious, anyway. I just use DeLorme SAHH to track our trip, and use the GPX file to geotag the photos in Location Stamper.

 

I noticed that the coordinates for each location are available in Flickr...once you click over to the Flickr site, then click view on map, and the coordinates are available down on the lower right of the pop-up map. I couldn't figure out how to get the coordinates from the Google Map, though if you click directions to or from the location, the coords end up in the to / from field.

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Welcome aboard, Christopher! You are providing great information - as you can see, it is much appreciated by the members - we love this stuff!

 

I like what you did with the Google Map, and the link back to Flickr. I have been geotagging my photos using Location Stamper (we had a discussion about that when I bought my new GPS)....it is such a time and "brain" saver when I'm trying to figure out just where I took certain photos - that aren't obvious, anyway. I just use DeLorme SAHH to track our trip, and use the GPX file to geotag the photos in Location Stamper.

 

I noticed that the coordinates for each location are available in Flickr...once you click over to the Flickr site, then click view on map, and the coordinates are available down on the lower right of the pop-up map.

 

Jennifer,

 

I'm glad to finally find some people who find this information useful.

 

I don't have a GPS and probably won't get one anytime soon - goodness knows I don't need another gadget getting in my way. I've had pretty good luck with figuring out where I took photographs based on maps, aerial photographs, and occasionally other documentation. With the exceptions of the photographs of some downtowns, my geotags are generally quite accurate - though in the areas with lower quality satellite imagery, like southwestern Pennsylvania, the quality of the geotagging goes down with the quality of the satellite photos.

 

- Christopher

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I should have been clearer in the key to my maps. Blue flags represent original milestones, whereas light blue / aqua flags represent replacements.
Nope. You explained it quite well. I just didn't read the two-blues part.

...milestone 9 M to C, which is in the Allegany County museum, is also of the same format...
I'm certainly curious as to how they describe it. Particularly what they call the road they say it is from.

I have sets on Flickr of the milestones in (original) geographical order...
Yep. Found those and clicked through several in my home state. That's how I knew you didn't have Indiana or Illinois. :) That storage space comment was made with tongue firmly in cheek but, as we all find, one of the few time people are likely to take you seriously is when you're trying to be funny.
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That storage space comment was made with tongue firmly in cheek but, as we all find, one of the few time people are likely to take you seriously is when you're trying to be funny.

 

So are you saying that instead of your comment being tongue in cheek it comes across more as foot in mouth? LOL :lol:

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That storage space comment was made with tongue firmly in cheek but, as we all find, one of the few time people are likely to take you seriously is when you're trying to be funny.

 

Hey, it's been said that I wouldn't know humor unless it smacked me in the face. Then again, if it smacked me in the face, I probably wouldn't find it funny, either.

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Hey, it's been said that I wouldn't know humor unless it smacked me in the face. Then again, if it smacked me in the face, I probably wouldn't find it funny, either.

 

Which was a funny thing to say! Which, if you think about it, creates a paradox. Unless you didn't know you were saying something funny, of course.

 

Anyway, Chris, I'm glad you found us here. I have found that it doesn't matter how far into the depths of my road-geekery I reach, if I bring it up here, people respond enthusiastically!

 

Now, Denny said that only two IN milestones exist, and none in IL. I was not aware that IL or IN had any! I surmise that the two left in IN must be out east, probably close to OH. I haven't followed the NR in eastern IN yet, in no small part because my research shows that US 40 follows the old road pretty closely. As anyone here can tell you, I live for the old alignment, and if it's abandoned, all the better. That's why I've enjoyed your photos -- lots of old road.

 

I would very much enjoy a CD of the USGS topos along the Road. I'm in no hurry, though; I've got a couple short trips planned for Nov, but after that I'm hanging it up until the spring.

 

 

I can't find a "view on map" button. Do I need a Flickr account? If not, maybe you can give me the button's coordinates.

 

On the right side of the page, scroll down to the Additional Information section. Under the copyright notice there's an item telling where the photo was taken, with (map) in parentheses. "map" is a link; click it to see the photo's position on the map.

 

Peace,

jim

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On the right side of the page, scroll down to the Additional Information section. Under the copyright notice there's an item telling where the photo was taken, with (map) in parentheses. "map" is a link; click it to see the photo's position on the map.
Still no Joy. This picture:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cbustapeck/14...57602256032563/

has this info:AddInfo.gif

 

The two Indiana NR markers are near Centerville.

 

I wouldn't know a paradox if they both hit me in the face.

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Still no Joy. This picture:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cbustapeck/14...57602256032563/

has this info:post-209-1193678042_thumb.jpg

 

The two Indiana NR markers are near Centerville.

 

I wouldn't know a paradox if they both hit me in the face.

 

 

Erm. I'm not so familar with the geography and location in Ohio, thus, with a number of photographs, like the one you mention, I don't have any geographic data for. However, if you look at the next one in the set, you will see its location on a map.

 

Also, if you (or anyone) can precisely location the pictures that don't have location data, I'd love to hear about it.

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Still no Joy. This picture:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cbustapeck/14...57602256032563/

has this info:AddInfo.gif

 

The two Indiana NR markers are near Centerville.

 

I wouldn't know a paradox if they both hit me in the face.

 

 

I viewed that one, both signed in and not signed in, and that one doesn't have the coordinates tagged into the EXIF information. Try this one:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cbustapeck/1792156629/

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Ahhh! I think I'm starting to understand. Unlike what Jennifer and (sometimes) I do, the coordinates are not made part of the photo's EXIF data but are recorded by Flickr by virtue of manually being placed on a map.

 

BTW, I believe that the picture you pointed me to as "next one in set" is at the Peters Creek S-Bridge. That's the bridge that was totally rebuilt last year and had grass growing between the bricks this year.

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Ahhh! I think I'm starting to understand. Unlike what Jennifer and (sometimes) I do, the coordinates are not made part of the photo's EXIF data but are recorded by Flickr by virtue of manually being placed on a map.

That is correct.

BTW, I believe that the picture you pointed me to as "next one in set" is at the Peters Creek S-Bridge. That's the bridge that was totally rebuilt last year and had grass growing between the bricks this year.

Totally rebuilt? Wow. I don't suppose you have any "before" photographs?

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Ahhh! I think I'm starting to understand. Unlike what Jennifer and (sometimes) I do, the coordinates are not made part of the photo's EXIF data but are recorded by Flickr by virtue of manually being placed on a map.

 

As I have time (and when I know the information), I manually update the location information on my older photos by adding them to the Flickr map. You can also manually add the location information with Location Stamper in the same way as Flickr, by dragging it onto the map. That way, the local version on your computer also had the location info.

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That way, the local version on your computer also had the location info.

 

Ack! Don't remind me about how much data I have on Flickr that would be essentially lost if it were to go down. I need a Flickr Downloadr to go with the Flickr Uploadr. =)

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As I have time (and when I know the information), I manually update the location information on my older photos by adding them to the Flickr map. You can also manually add the location information with Location Stamper in the same way as Flickr, by dragging it onto the map. That way, the local version on your computer also had the location info.
Does this update the EXIF in the photo or just record it in some Stamper file?
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I've been working to find and map all the extant National Road milestones. The following are the maps that I've completed so far. I think that the maps are a good way to visualize this information. In the future, I hope to include photographs that better illustrate just where the milestones are. I may also link to more extensive sets of photographs of a given milestone.

 

Maryland - Milestones 1-25

Maryland - Milestones 26-50

Maryland - Milestones 51-75

Maryland - Milestones 76-100

Maryland - Milestones 101-125

Maryland - Milestones 126-150

Maryland - Milestones 151-171

 

Pennsylvania - Milestones 96 3/4-77

Pennsylvania - Milestones 76-57

Pennsylvania - Milestones 56-37

Pennsylvania - Milestones 36-15

 

West Virginia - Milestones

 

 

Don't know about anybody else, but Maryland links 1 thru 100, sent me to Google Maps in Coffeeville, Kansas. The rest seem to work as advertized.

 

Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

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Don't know about anybody else, but Maryland links 1 thru 100, sent me to Google Maps in Coffeeville, Kansas. The rest seem to work as advertized.

 

Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

 

Erm. Yes, that seems to be happening for me, as well. I'm hoping it's a temporary bug.

 

That said, if you click on any of the milestones listed over on the left, it'll take you to the right spot on the map. Alternately, you can drag the map over to the correct location... but that seems rather time consuming.

 

I'll check on it tomorrow - hopefully it will be straightened out by then.

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