The Cumberland Road, also called the Great National Pike and the National Road, was the first United States federal highway. Construction of the turnpike was authorized on March 29, 1806, and began in 1811 at Cumberland, Maryland. The final western terminus of the road was Vandalia, Illinois. The modern U.S. Highway 40 and Interstate 70 now follow much of the original route.

Due to the state of road technology at the time, and the barrier of the Appalachian Mountains, the Cumberland Road was of limited usefulness as a means of transporting cargo. Transport over water tended to be cheaper; the Erie Canal (completed in 1825) was a more attractive option for transporting goods between the Midwest and the eastern seaboard. One important function that the road did indeed serve was the transport of settlers.

See also

• National Auto Trail

The following is copied from a page administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/trailsc.htm):

"After the Revolutionary War, Washington saw the need for such a road to link the States along the East Coast and the territories west of the Allegheny Mountains. He feared that without better transportation, the western territories would be drawn to the English in the north or Spanish interests in the south. President Thomas Jefferson signed the legislation authorizing the National Road on March 29, 1806, to serve as a portage linking the Potomac and Ohio Rivers. It went from Cumberland, Maryland (the head of navigation on the Potomac River in those days) to the Ohio River at Wheeling. The National Road to Wheeling, built of crushed stone and completed in 1818, soon became the route of commerce that helped bind the union of settled East Coast communities and the pioneer communities in the territories.

In 1820, funds were approved to extend the road to a point on the Mississippi River between St. Louis and the mouth of the Illinois River. The western terminus was changed to Jefferson City, Missouri, in 1825. By 1833, the National Road was completed as far as Columbus, Ohio, and it would reach Springfield, Ohio, but beyond that point, the road was simply laid out to Vandalia (then the capital of Illinois). A dispute over location west of Vandalia was not resolved before the coming of the railroad rendered the road obsolete. "

External links

• North American Auto Trails