National Road
1950 postcard from collection of Chuck Julian.
The National Road was the first highway funded by the US government. Politically there was much debate whether federal or state governments should develop infrastructure. The Whigs believed that the federal government should but they could not get Congress to fund any but the National Road. New York built the Erie Canel because the federal government would not, ultimately making New York City the center of trade.
Construction of the National Road started in 1811 in Cumberland, Maryland and reached Wheeling in 1818. This was a tremendous asset for Wheeling, because it channeled travel and trade to the west through our town. And it led directly to the building of the Wheeling Suspension Bridge in 1848, which further cemented Wheeling's importance as a transportation hub.
National Road is also known more prosaically as Route 40.
National Road website
National Road Mileage Markers----
- xx National Road Belmont Covered Bridge (demolished, replaced by Bridgeport Iron Bridge)
- xx National Road Wheeling Suspension Bridge
- xxx National Road The Mingo
- xxx National Road McColloch's Leap
- 905 National Road Vance Memorial Presbyterian Church
- National Road & Leatherwood Don's Lubridome Gas Station
- 1154 National Road Edgewood Lutheran Church
- 1225 National Road St Michael's Church
- 1325 National Road Truxell House (demolished)
- 1803-1835 National Road Madonna of the Trail
- 2183-2241 National Road Elm Grove Stone Bridge
- xxxx National Road Monument Place
- 2411 National Road Motel Fort Henry (demolished)
- National Road S Bridge, Triadelphia (demolished)
- 15 National Road Dunbar School, Triadelphia
