Purposes
- Unify the country
- Reach western settlements
- Deliver mail
- Improve communication problems
- Other roads were harder to travel on because they were poorly built.
Important Dates
1806 - approved by President Jefferson
1811 - construction begins
1818 - reaches Wheeling, VA, which is now a part of West Virginia
1834 - construction completed at the Ohio River
Once completed, the National Road became the first highway that was funded by the federal government.
Traveling the National Road
Many people decided to move to the Midwest by using the National Road.
- Used stagecoaches and covered wagons that were pulled by horses
- Travel during the day
- Aided by mile markers
- Towns founded along the road
- Taverns, inns, and supply shops
- Able to settle and trade along route
- Increased population
Along the Route
- From Cumberland, Maryland, to Vandalia, Illinois
- About 600 miles long
- Passed over the Alleghany Mountains
- Through state capitals of Indiana and Ohio
- Crossed Ohio and Wabash Rivers
- Important structure - Casselman River Bridge
Responsibilities
The National Road was used by enormous amounts of travellers daily and needed to be maintained for safe and easy travel.
- Partially paid for by the states
- Raised money by selling land to settlers
- Tolls paid by travellers
- Repairs taken on by the state and government
Credits:
Created with images by Eric Fischer - "Map of the Cumberland Road (1920)" • CircaSassy - "A short history of the United States; for school use (1900)" • skeeze - "covered wagons transportation historical"