Maryland and the National Road
The following is a brief historical sketch of Maryland's relationship to the Cumberland / National Road. The source is the book "Highway Legislation in Maryland - And Its Influence On the Economic Development of the State" (p.178) by St. George Leakin Sioussat, 1899:
WASHINGTON AND THE OHIO COUNTRY
In the interval between the French and Indian War and the Revolution, Washington in various ways secured possession of large tracts of land in the Ohio country, having regard, however, for " an extensive public benefit, as well as private advantage." He began negotiations for the introduction of German settlers from the Palatinate, of whose thrift and success in the cultivation of new country the German colonizers of western Maryland had doubtless afforded him ample proof. He next turned to the consideration of a plan for opening communication between the western country and the coast.
The first means which offered itself was naturally the Potomac river, which, as far back as 1754, had attracted his attention. On July 20, 1770, he writes to Thomas Johnson, afterwards Governor of Maryland, urging that public attention be invited to a scheme for opening up the communication of the Potomac "upon a more enlarged plan, as a means of becoming the channel of conveyance of the extensive and valuable trade of a rising empire,"
At the close of the Revolutionary War Washington again turned his attention to this project, and the result was the formation and incorporation of the Potomac Company in 1784. The history of this organization was unfortunate. Washington seems never to have doubted its success; and in his will he made the profits accruing from his share in it the basis of a fund for another of his favorite schemes, a National University. But the company undertook more than its finances would bear; and it was finally superseded by the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY
The last, the celebrated ordinance of 1787, provided that "the navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying-places between the same, shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the citizens of the United States and those of any other states that may be admitted into the Confederacy, without any tax, impost or duty therefor." The sections of public land reserved for sale by the former of these ordinances later furnished the pecuniary basis for the National Road, while the phraseology of the latter anticipated the large national character of that highway.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON AND THE NATIONAL IMPROVEMENT OF HIGHWAYS
ALBERT GALLATIN AND THE INCEPTION OF THE NATIONAL ROAD
Gallatin recommended the construction of these roads in the highest terms. They "will be," he said,"as beneficial to the parts of the Atlantic States through which they are to pass, and nearly as much to a considerable portion of the Union, as to the Northwestern Territory itself."
A year later Congress appropriated three-fifths of the one-twentieth, or five per cent. i. e., three per cent, of the whole, to "laying out and making roads from the navigable waters emptying into the Atlantic to the river Ohio, to the said State." In the next Congress an attempt was made to pass a law authorizing the President to provide for the exploration of suitable routes, but this was frustrated by the Senate. In 1805, however, a report was presented by Mr. Tracy of Massachusetts, showing that the net proceeds of the sales of lands in the state of Ohio from July 1, 1802, to September 30, 1805, amounted to $632,604.27, 2 per cent, of which, or $12,652, was then subject to the uses directed by the law of 1802. This report also discussed the best location for the proposed road or roads, treating especially of the relative distances of the cities of the Atlantic coast to the Ohio river.
A route was recommended as follows:
"... To enlarge upon the highly important consideration of cementing the union of our citizens located on the "Western Waters with those of the Atlantic States, would be an indelicacy offered to the understanding of the body to whom this report is addressed, as it might seem to distrust them. But from the interesting nature of the subject the Committee are induced to ask the indulgence of a single observation. Politicians have generally agreed that rivers unite the interests and promote the friendship of those who inhabit their banks, while mountains, on the contrary, tend to the disunion and estrangement of those who are separated by their intervention. In the present case, to make the crooked ways smooth, will, in effect, remove the intervening mountains, and by facilitating the intercourse of the western brethren with those of the Atlantic, substantially unite them in interests, which the Committee believe, is the most effectual cement of union applicable to the human race."
THE MARYLAND ROUTE SELECTED
The Commissioners appointed by President Jefferson Eli Williams, Thomas Moore, and Joseph Kerr presented one report December 30, 1806, and a second January 15, 1808. The latter was transmitted to Congress by President Jefferson with his approval on February 19, 1808.
CONSENT OF THE STATES AND FEDERAL APPROPRIATIONS
The details of the construction of the National Road and its very interesting historical associations must be omitted here, with the exception of a brief resume of the important events of its subsequent history. In 1817, John C. Calhoun introduced into the House of Representatives a bill to set aside for roads and canals the bonds and dividends received by the United States from its newly chartered National Bank. Henry Clay supported the bill; but as amended and passed, it was vetoed by President Madison upon the ground that it was beyond the constitutional powers of Congress. Five years later President Monroe vetoed another bill which, besides making a regular appropriation for the preservation and repair of the road, provided for the erection of turnpikes and the collection of tolls and for the protection of the road from malicious injuries.
NATIONAL ROAD UNDER STATE CONTROL
A similar act had been passed by the Legislature of Ohio a short time before. In 1832 Maryland proposed her acceptance of the road upon the same terms as Pennsylvania; and Virginia did likewise. Congress assented to this proposition the same year," and commissioners were appointed by the states. The road, as repaired by the Federal Government, was finally accepted by the states at slightly different times. Maryland signified her acceptance in 1834, and the next year made provision for its preservation under state control by the establishment of rates of toll and the appointment of officials.
The road then remained the subject of frequent legislation until 1878, when it was put under the control of Allegany and Garrett counties. Other roads were constructed by the Federal Government at various times and in different parts of the Union; but the road from Cumberland has borne the lasting title of "The National Road." Attempts were made to provide for the construction of other national roads passing through the state of Maryland, but they were entirely unsuccessful. The National Road, however, was a success, and for many years was, indeed, the "channel of conveyance of the extensive and valuable trade of a rising empire."
The National Road was described in 1879 as follows:
Within a mile of the road the country was a wilderness, but on the highway the traffic was as dense as in the main street of a large town. Ten miles an hour is said to have been the usual speed for coaches; but between Hagerstown and Frederick they were claimed to have made twenty-six miles in two hours. These coaches finally ceased running in 1853. There were also through freight-wagons from Baltimore to Wheeling, which carried ten tons. They were drawn by twelve horses, and their rear wheels were ten feet high.
Though its glories have long since departed, and coach and wagon no more throng its way, the National Road, rich in its associations of historic interest, still constitutes one of the most enduring monuments of Maryland's past, while the idea to which it owes its existence the welding of the West and the East in commercial and national unity has found other and more lasting expression.
I invite you to share your family, business and town histories, information, photographs, references and observations. Your contributions will enhance our collective knowledge of a most important part of America's past.