Born in 1651 at the Dutch Fort Casimir, our National Road began as a foot path to the woods for the collecting of logs to build the fort. This location is now a city called New Castle, Delaware. No one realized at that time the importance of this foot path.

At intersection of Route 40 & 48 looking North on Main Street.

In 1749, a land grant from King George II of England gave permission to a group of Virginians to claim land in areas along the Ohio River. They called themselves the “Ohio Land Company” and had deeds from the local Indians to prove the validity of their claim. Unfortunately, French settlers had also laid claim to the area, but with no such deeds.

Using an Indian guide named “Nemacolin”, an explorer, by the name of Thomas Cresap, marked a path from Wills Creek, Maryland to the Monongahela River in Pennsylvania in 1752.

Using this same path in 1753, Major George Washington was hired to travel to these areas to persuade the French to move out peacefully. The famous frontiersman, Christopher Gist, met Washington along the way and together they traveled for weeks in the dead of winter, enduring many hardships. They could not accomplish what they had set out to do, however for the French were unwilling to give up without a fight.

Washington returned to report their findings and collect his pay for the dangerous trip. His reward..expenses covered. Washington recommended that a good road be built to accommodate troops dispatched to the West. Without the road, he felt they would be unable to protect the British territory from the French.

 As Colonial and British soldiers trod over the path marked years ago by Nemacolin, the path was improved slightly. Felling trees and cutting underbrush they widened the road although it was very crude. These sections eventually became adopted into the National Road.

Finally, with money allotted by Congress in 1806, President Thomas Jefferson established a fund to build a national road to reach from Cumberland, Maryland to Illinois. A committee of three recommended two objectives: 1) the road be as straight as possible to the West and 2) touch as many state capitols as possible to bring unity to the new country.

The idea of a perfectly straight road to the west proved too idealistic. In most cases it was easier to build around a hill than to go over it. Detours had to be taken to route the road through important cities. In 1811, actual construction began. Road crews labored slowly to cut trees, pull stumps, build bridges, level and widen the road and crush rock. All the rock used to surface the road was crushed by hand and measured by passing through a three or seven inch ring. The road bed was of seven inch rock and topped with three inch rock for a total of eight or nine inches of crushed rock when compacted.

By 1825, construction finally began in Ohio. A big celebration was held to mark the important event on July 4 in St. Clairsville, Ohio. To be fortunate enough to live along the route of the National Road was once a very coveted position. It would boost a town’s commerce considerably when the road was completed. Many businesses, such as inns and taverns, sprang up along the way to service the dusty travelers. It is reported that there were two taverns per mile on the road between the Ohio River and Zanesville.

At intersection of Route 40 & 48 looking West on National Road.