The National Road Museum in Norwich, OH, is a wonderful place to learn more about this important highway -- "the road that helped build America." Nice to see your always thorough insight into this bit of history.
4:40 The really amazing thing is that macadam roads are STILL the standard road surfacing method used today. We used an improved method that adds tar to help waterproof the surface and stabilize it. The improved method is called tat macadam, or tarmac for short.
Not exactly - Macadam roads were made from layers of packed stone of decreasing size, ending with a surface of 2 inch stones rammed tight with the gaps filled with rock dust. Horses and carts tended to trample and roll the surface so it remained tight. When motor cars came along the powered wheels would loosen the stones and the speed of movement sucked the dust out, loosening the surface. The solution was to cover the surface with tar, creating what was called the tar-sealed macadam road. Modern roads are made of sub-layers of packed stone beneath a running surface of 8 to 24 inches of tarmac or bitmac (small stones stuck together with tar or bitumen) or asphalt (a mixture of sand and bitumen) and have nothing to do with macadam
Nastyswimmer: You and Eric Taylor are both correct. While "real" roads are built today as you say; in much of the USA, tarmac is still used for rural secondary roadways, and sometimes just the Macadam without the tar. Where I live, "tarmac" is referred to as a "chip and seal" road. Macadam roads are referred to as "gravel" roads just like anywhere else in the English speaking world. Of course, gravel roads are never made from gravel. Gravel is the stuff that comes from river beds. The stones are smooth and don't interlock together so that they shift around when you walk or drive on them. Only crushed stone can be used for Macadam. Hence, when you hear references to prisoners sentenced to hard labor turning "big rocks into little rocks", that was an actual needed service. The prisoners weren't doing it just for punishment.
@@ericferguson68 Hey Eric! You still out there? Question for you! In the movie "Cool Hand Luke", what type of road were the prisoners working on? The classic scene where they were racing the truck, and finished work early! It seems like they were just mixing sand and oil, or tar over bare dirt? Is that legit? (Rural Deep South - 1950s) If so, what is that type of road called? Please and Thank You!
@@michealpowell1299: From time to time, a new top layer gets put on the MacAdam. I believe the road in the movie is already tarmac and they are just adding a new finish layer/re-sealing it. I just watched the scene and it looks like they are using very fine stone or sand. It seems reasonable to me, but I'm no expert. I assume the powdered stone would be to keep car tires from sticking to the tar on warm days.
As a trucker, this subject fascinates me. My dream is to spend my vacations driving the old US highways, as there have always been interstates since I started driving professionally. Thank you for expanding my knowledge, on the many subjects you cover.
I live in Vandalia, OH. 40 runs right through downtown where it intersects with the Dixie Highway. Our town is called the Crossroads of America because we have the intersection of the National Road and Dixie Highway and we have the intersections of I-70 and I-75. Our town is actually called Vandalia because our founders were on their way to Vandalia, IL and decided to stay here. Thanks for the great video!
My hometown of Terre Haute Indiana is also know as the "Crossroads of America" Us 40 and US 41 cross each other at 7th St. and Wabash Ave, where my grandfather's office sat, and across the street was the Terre Haute House (hotel that was re-built three times since the pioneer days. The 1928-2005 version was were my grandpa sat next to John Dillinger at the hotel's coffee shop.
As a native of Western Maryland (Hagerstown, near Cumberland), I am very glad you chose this story to report on. Well done. By the way, March 29th has another significance. In 2017, President Donald Trump signed a bill designating March 29th as Vietnam Veterans Memorial Day. As I am also a proud Vietnam veteran, I was very pleased to see this as well. Again, thanks and God bless. C.D. Coyle, DRE.
Trump also refused to sebd anyone to to take down the child sex camps in Tucson, AZ. The Veterans on Patrol - Team Pulaski took down these camps, prepared to make arrests, yet someone told them they were coming and they abandoned open camps with hot fires, etc. It was very graphic, to the point they could only describe but showed enough so you knew it was real. Trump protects the crooks and so will this shill who calls himself Joe Biden. Neither real or fake should be even on the ballot. 1972 #Rigged election #CarWreck killing family members - two sins managed to survive and Joe Biden couldn't have been more disappointed, based on.my impression. Didn't delay being sworn in to take care of his boys, severely injured, hospitalized. Biden lied about the car wreck ever since. And so does his obvious look alike. PubliusRoots.com
You cannot know how much I appreciate your efforts. Would that more folks see the value you bring to us. God bless you; and Merry Christmas to you and yours.
I am from Washington Pa, and grew up in Annapolis MD. We traveled back "home" to Washington at least 7 times a year, and my dad refused the Turnpike unless we had an emergency trip to Washington ( the rest of both sides of my family live in WashPa and a few in Youngstown Ohio) we used US 40 regularly. I still use that route today myself, with my wife and kids!
@@g-mang-man7924 I used to drink at the biker bar right across the street from Ruses Roost, it was called the Foothill Saloon. I shot that chicken more than once, it never did quit spinning around.
I grew up just north of Wheeling, WVA on the Ohio side of the river. I find that there is lots and lots of history in the Ohio Valley that is so interesting to hear about. I can remember driving Interstate 40 with my father and how it would wind its way through the small towns and hollows in eastern Ohio.
Same here , the drawing of the bridge in Wheeling crossing to Ohio is a real bridge and it’s still there . I grew up there and walked across it hundreds of times as did many others to and from the downtown area. It’s closed now due to overweight vehicles abusing it . The state is trying to get a plan to repair it but it’s been years and any solution will be years away. Knew a few guys who would jump off of it during a July 4th festival if I remember correctly. And the old road markers are littered alone Rt40 along with a bunch of huge monuments, Madona of the Trail or some thing a beacon of hope for travelers.
History Guy rocking the black shirt a no bowtie. Great look sir! Thank you SO much for putting even MORE unknown history in my brain. Back in the day, I used to almost always win at Trival Pursuit. Your channel would have removed the "ALMOST" portion of that sentence. Keep them coming History Guy and Mrs. History Guy!
As a native Marylander I have travelled the National Road thousands of times. I am glad you used the photograph of the little known one arch stone bridge that I have walked over many times.
I found a lot of geodetic markers here in Indiana! Along U.S. 40! Working near the power lines, that parallel 40! We basically walked from Richmond to Indianapolis! Along the route. Clearing back tree's and brush, for line clearance purposes. It was very fun at the time. Although I was younger then. Thanks for your channel and the effort you put into it!
Love your Chanel I recommend it to everyone I know one of our employees at our restaurant that I was recommending you to told me you were local Cassandra keep up the great work I will continue to recommend this channel to everyone
In the UK you can't turn around without tripping over a Roman road. After Rome dumped us it wasn't until the 18th century that we managed to create Turnpike Trusts and start laying metalled roads for ourselves! As always, H.G. gold.
General Braddock passed over a mountain in Frederick county MD on his way to the battle where he lost his life. This particular mountain is in the Appalachia mountain range, and was named after General Braddock (Braddock Heights). Both Rte 40 and Alt Rte 40 cross over the top, and I-70 cuts through it. On Alt Rte 40 traversing up the mountain heading West you will find a memorial in his name on the side of the road. Tons of history here in Frederick county Md!!!
I enjoy your channel very much. The opportunity to learn about history is always a pleasure. Thank You for providing everyone with a much needed lessons about our past.
I grew up in Cumberland, Md and learned the importance of this road. You should've showed the last remaining toll house in LaVale, Md with the published price of using it.
Craig L. Young Do you mean the last toll house in Maryland or the last toll house on 40? Because I am almost certain there is still a toll house on 40 between Uniontown, Pa and Brownsville, Pa.
I bought real estate for my State along the National Road and its interstate replacement during the 80's and I will always enjoy being a very small part of such a huge endeavor.
Roads are sometimes built in segments, and sometimes stretches of prior-built road requires updating to meet interstate specs. In Maryland, US Rt 48 "National Freeway" was started in the 60's and completed in 1991 at which time it was redesignated I-68. It roughly follows the path of rts. 40 and 144 (National Road) from Hancock Maryland until the State's westernmost extreme, where it turns toward Morgantown WV to meet I-79...
Your mention of the cost of repairs for the road reminded me of a local turnpike road the repair of which was much complained about. Apparently the most damage caused by any vehicle using the road was actually caused by the cart used to carry the material to repair the road. Of course part of the reason for paying to use a road was to cover the costs of repair. So something of a paradoxical problem. Your mentioning the use of existing Indian roads was also interesting. When I studied archaeology I discovered that many English roads in use today followed property bounders dating back to the Bronze Age. So over two and a half thousand years old. In fact many boundaries for village townships date from prehistoric times. Well, another of your interesting little gems.
Roads are so much taken for granted today yet are probably one of the most significant inventions of mondern society. Successful civilizations have always recognized the value of good roads for commerce and defense.
I just found your channel and it is now one of my favorites So informative and your coverage of forgotten histories is invaluable in reminding people that so much goes into even small events and how much they influence the larger issues
You do woundful programs. I always enjoy learning from you. Your like a free College and I share often to Freinds that like what ever subject you are teaching. I've made a living from what I learned from older Men and Women. I pass it along to any younger than me that want to learn life skills. Those that don't I let struggle but once they figure out it's not easy they come back. You don't have to go to go to College to find knowledge. I learned from good people including The History guy.😁 Thanks for all you do.
4:21 The picture is of Freeport Rd. near the Pittsburgh Waterworks in Aspinwall PA, circa 1905. That concrete retaining wall with the iron railing on top is still there. I grew up near there, so imagine my surprise...
I live a mile off of US 40, (aka National Rd) near Hopewell Ohio. You can see alot of "old 40" and the old bridges on the side roads as you travel near where I live. Thanks for the story and cool info about somthing so close to home.
$20/inch is about $1.3m per mile. That is about what it costs today to pave the same width of road with asphalt. This was another awesome lesson taught by the History Guy.
I can appreciate making gravel out of large rocks with sledge hammers. I volunteered on a crew building mountain bike trails in West Virginia. The Plantation trail crosses some Pete bogs, and we built several hundred yards of gravel trail. Super hard work. The final step uses a knapping hammer, small head on a standard handle. Our pioneer ancestors were bad asses!
I grew up in the Toledo-,Maumee area.Went to a school in Monclova 1st --4th. . My grandmother used to tell us all kinds of stories about the area. We used to find Indian arrowheads on my grandmother 's farm.etc.
Thank you, HG, for two things: 1) highlighting the Nat'l Road (I live about an hour north of Indy and am a native Hoosier (Go Boilers!)) and the fact that it runs through the heart of Indiana is a source of state pride, and 2) for giving me the correct pronunciation of "Macadam", since I've always put the emphasis on the first syllable of the word.......whoops 😁 I can imagine that our sometime very in climate weather would be hell on macadam roads; even modern asphalt and concrete roads after some time begin to crack and buckle. Asphalt usually goes about 2-3 years after being laid before it starts cracking and beginning to "alligator" a little. Concrete takes a little longer depending on materials and construction methods.
In the early '50s and again in the late '50s, my dad was stationed in Rantoul Illinois and my grandparents were in Cumberland Md. We'd leave home before dawn and drive 600 miles, mostly on Rt 40, to La Vale Md. just West of Cumberland. We'd finally arrive late at night. Their home was in La Vale just a few blocks from Rt 40 and we would count down the miles on the white stone mile markers along Rt 40 as we traveled. They lived on Braddock St along Braddock Run stream and they called their home "Braddock Farm" since they had a very large garden and fruit trees. All named after the General Braddock. The current owners of "Braddock Farm" had a shiny copper colored roof installed that shines brightly on Google Maps.
certain videos require him to act animated in ways to tell that moment in time! This video is not about a airplane-crash or a commander in war, so it wouldn't be as excited. I believe that's the allure or that's why people like this channel because (he) makes history exciting/fun and not boring! If he moves too fast then you need to keep-up or search for video(s) that feature Ben Stein's (history moments)...yikes.😂😴
Fast paced is excellent for those of us who are consumed by ADD. It keeps me from trying to watch a second video to keep me stimulated in between words.
I have a really cool Cumberland 132 mile marker Pic if you are interested from the Wheeling area....Rt 40 ROCKS! I took a drive in my first car on Rt 40. A 74 Chevy Nova. I was 18 yrs old. Just kept driving right near of Cambridge.... and then the road STOPPED! .. right up into the trees. It just stopped. I think 40 picks up on the east side of Zanesville. My poor old Chevy Nova had good brakes thanks to my Dad. That poor old car was a piece of junk in the 80's . Love you History Guy.
Building the old Line Road from Ft. Scott KS to Ft.Smith, AR consisted of cutting trees low enough that wagons would not hang up on the stump and marking the trees along the way. The Butterfield stage went on horrible roads thru the Ozarks.
My OCD was getting the best me, your classes were sitting on your face crooked and all I could think about was straightening them. Thank you for your channel I sure enjoy it
My family came to southwest Pennsylvania in 1789 as Scots Irish from County Cork Ireland, they arrived at Charleston South Carolina, undoubtedly they came over the "Nemacolin Trail" to get to there.
My ancestors came to southern Illinois in the early 1800s. The entire family clan traveled by wagon train. They were known as the Cherokee farmers. They had fully integrated into American society, literate and Christian and settled among and intermarried with those of European descent. They had left decades before the Trail of Tears. It was considered an embarrassment to be "Injun" and they passed themselves off as whites on the census rolls. Even in my grandfather's day, it was still shameful to admit Native American ancestry.
The description of building a Macadam Road is delightful. I’d like to learn more about the ways and methods of building roads back then. I’ve been around road building and aggregate operations my whole life. My maternal grandfather had been the original president of the Michigan Road Builders Association in the 1950s so I’m certain that If it wasn’t for mechanization I would have been breaking gravel with a hammer after school.
To slightly expand on Michael Dougfir's comment below, The National Highway system has been set to music at least once in the late 20th Century. In the early 1970s, the Folk/Rock duo Brewer and Shipley toured extensively in Northwest Missouri driving on US 59 which bisects the United States from South Texas to Manitoba, Canada. Brewer and Shipley travelled US 59 extensively in Eastern Nebraska, Northwest Missouri and Eastern Kansas on US 59 - also known as the "Tarkio Road" so-named because they could drive on one tank of gasoline from Tarkio, Missouri to St Joseph, Missouri. Touring in 1971, the duo wrote and recorded the song "Tarkio Road" as an ode to one of their favorite roads they travelled while on tour. The song was second to "One Toke Over The Line" in their list of hit singles on Kama Sutra Records.
WOW! Brewer and Shipley! You must be the only other person in the world who even remembers them! "Tarkio Road, it's a mother, it's like oh so many others, Where the children reject you, and the police inspect you..." Love that song.
Whenever I visit family in West Virginia, I get to see the National Road and many other historic roads in the area. When I was there in 2013 I got to see the Mason Dixon Line close up. I had always assumed it was further south. I have been on the Interstate through Cumberland several times now.
DM Fraser: If this topic is of interest to you, next time you visit check out the Fort Necessity monument/museum run by the National Park Service. It's located about 10 miles east of Uniontown, PA(maybe 30 miles north of I68) along US 40/The National Road/Nemacolin's Trail. They tell the whole story about George Washington starting the French and Indian War (Braddock's expedition mentioned in this video happened the year after George Washington's defeat at Fort Necessity), and the story of the National Road. There is a giant 150 year old Hotel a few hundred yards up the road and Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Waters house is nearby. It's well worth the trip if you are in the area.
DM Fraser: I'll add to Eric's comment to also visit Casselman River Bridge State Park, located just off I-68 at Grantsville, MD. It features the 1813 bridge pictured at 05:51.
DM - I grew up in Frostburg, MD which was founded in 1812 along the original National Road. The town is named for Meshech and Katherine Frost who owned a stagecoach 'stand' along the pike. This 'stand' was actually an inn for travelers in the early 19th century and was called Highland Hall. The building was later remade into the Catholic Rectory ( priest's house ) for St. Michael Catholic Church. The town is nestled in the Appalachian Mountains, and experiences long cold winters. Some people think it's named because of the weather.
Greetings from Rural NE California! Before we laud the Eisenhower Interstate highway system too much, there is another, earlier federal highway system to cover. It is simply the US system, (by whatever name,) that is well marked with black and white signs. Here in the far West, it once ran from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. That was US 395, which runs through California, Oregon & Washington. But there is also a wee bit that runs through the bend of western Nevada for about 83 miles. My father used to ask, "What goes from Los Angeles to Chicago without moving?" The answer was the real and original "Route 66!" (In the West we say, US 66.) In NJ there is a "route 66", but that's not the historic road. Out here we have US 50 which goes through Carson City, the capitol of Nevada. I never thought much about it until one day, after we moved to the East, I was on the DC Beltway, and, hey look! There was a sign for US 50. I had no idea that this highway crossed most of the continent. There is more to the story. This is just your free sample. But we had an extensive federal highway system well before the Interstate highways. And much of it is very worth exploring.
Michael Dougfir I certainly agree that the US has a number of historic roads and highways that are worthy of notice. I do plan more episodes about some of those. But your comment is perplexing. This video is not about the Interstate highway system.
The US Highway system was started in the 20's. The "Route 66" of Bobby Troup's song (sang by Nat King Cole, & others), was part of that system. The one in Jersey (Asbury Park area) is just a local road. Since US Hwy 66 doesn't go thru Jersey, that number is free for them to use. Toward's the coast (Los Angeles), we have US Hwy 101, which sometimes merges with California State Hwy 1 (aka Pacific Coast Hwy - PCH). But there IS a US Hwy 1 ! US Hwy (highway btw) runs north-south along the east coast. Atlantic coast, Maine to Florida, for geographically challenged. California can use that route number, since US Hwy 1 doesn't run thru it, last I checked. The earth does move here, so that's never a universal given.
The Macadam system was widely used in the UK, but the distances are much shorter and (I think) not so wide. There was also 'Tar Macadam' which was used when I was a boy - the smell of hot tar was wonderful. Your mention of the surveyors and 'chainsmen' reminded me of what I think is a lovely piece of British history that deserves to be remembered. I don't know if you are aware of 'Ordnance Survey maps' which are incredibly detailed and beautiful maps that have been drawn for a long, long time and cover the whole of the British Isles. About 210 maps, I think. In the mid nineteen thirties, a requirement arose to actually measure all the features on the map to ensure they were where the maps said they were. A Brigadier Martin Hotine was directed to 'retriangulate' the whole country and verify distances to a high degree of accuracy. He instituted a system of 'Trigonometrical Points' on hilltops from Lands End to John O'Groats. Each point was to be to the same design and consist of exact amounts of concrete, with a brass plate in the top to accept a theodolite. Then the distance between the first pair was measured by men with survey chains. The first datum measured 26Km (the UK is mapped using 100Km squares, even when Hotine's maps were 'one inch to the mile') and was somewhere in Dorset, I think. From 6500 'Trig Points' over the whole British Isles, the position of every one could be calculated by triangulation. The survey began in 1936, was interrupted by WWII and completed in 1962. The final act was to physically measure the last calculated distance - somewhere near Inverness in Scotland. The difference was 17 inches! Pre lasers, pre satellites and pre computers, the difference was a mere 17 inches.
I hadn't realised they were still measuring as late as 1962. I was aware this retriangulation had happened previously on a case by case basis (or county by county) but didn't know about the 1936 initiative. It helps explain markers close to home which I thought were repurposed milestones. I'm now pretty sure they are repurposed trig pillars.
I have driven many times on a road in Waukasha, Wisconsin called Watertown Plank Road. I have heard of other 'plank roads' in America and assume that's how they were laid - with planks - but it doesn't sound like a very reliable way of doing things. Is there a story there?
You are right. Though I surmised the story was going in the direction of Interstate highways. I am married. I know how to stand corrected. Thank you. Actually, thank you for two recent answers.
Good summary. Additional fact: this road -- at least the portion in Pennsylvania -- was (probably) the only one in the U.S. where, by law, the "conductors or drivers of carriages" had to "at all times pass on the left of each other." A violation carried a two-dollar penalty. Source: Peter Kincaid, "The Rule of the Road," Greenwood Press, 1986, p.178 (quoting an act of the Pennsylvania legislature from the 1830-1831 session.) This appears to have been the only official American exception to right-side driving on public roads, not counting the U.S. Virgin Islands, where they still drive to the left.
Actually, not an exception to right side driving. If both parties are driving to their right side, when they encounter on coming traffic they pass each other's left side.
I should have included in my comment that Mr. Kincaid's 1986 book quoted "The Law of Roads in Pennsylvania," published by William Duane in 1848, when the National Road (also called the Cumberland Road) was still heavily used. Mr. Duane wrote: "usage in Pennsylvania has settled that travellers meeting on a road are bound to take, respectively, the right of the road," except that "in the Cumberland road travellers meeting are required to pass each other on the left." Apparently the special "Cumberland road" rule was gone by 1917, when a Pennsylvania court decision stated: "There is no absolute right to occupy either side of the road. The law of the road is that vehicles going in opposite directions shall in passing turn out to the right, but common experience shows that drivers on country roads usually use the center of the road." That ambiguity was remedied (in Pennsylvania) by Act of June 30, 1919 (amended June 14, 1923) stating that motor vehicle operators must "keep as close as possible to the right-hand side of the highway, allowing other vehicles free passage to the left."
Interesting bit about Macadam roads, which didn't wear very well. Was Edgar Purnell Hooley, the county surveyor of Nottingham, noticed a barrel of tar had burst open over a road in Derbyshire. He noticed it didn't wear. And had discovered 'tarmac' asphalt. The very first road to have it was Radcliffe road Nottingham. Macadam is well known, but hooley is largely forgotten. Even in Nottingham very few people know the history of him, or the road, which is still a busy thoroughfare. Maybe he deserves to be remembered
I lived on a small stretch of the original national road in Morristown Ohio. I took the time to learn a bit about while I lived in that part of the state. Thank you for filling in many of the blank spots for me. Ps. 2 or 3 of the original markers still exist between Blain Ohio and Morristown Ohio, or atleast they did in 99 when moved from the area.
I used to live on the Lincoln Highway in Massillon, Ohio, which was renamed State Route 172 after they built a bypass for US 30 about 50 years ago around Massillon and Canton. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massillon,_Ohio
Hey history guy brad here again my grand father was in the 103rd Lafayette escadrille in France in 1919 the photo looks just like the one I have my grandfather was 25 years old and he is the tallest man on back row I was told the photo has a historical value I would like to know more about this Don't stop what you're doing thanks
Thanks for another great history lesson that was not in my history books in school. I lived in Garland Texas for about 25 years. I visited a local brew pub that was named after the Bankhead Highway that ran through downtown Garland. I believe they claim it was the first "coast to coast" highway across the United States. Would you do a history lesson on the Bankhead Highway? Thanks for the wonderful job you do presenting history in an interesting and easily understood method. Great job!
Part of the Bankhead Hwy/ Garland Road were originally part of the Republic of Texas National Road built in the 1840's to connect to the Natches Trace. If you are familiar with the area it passed by what is now White Rock Lake. Interestingly I grew up on the Bankhead Highway and been studying the areas history all my life and no one ever referred to it as such until just a few years ago. Even though I accept it was called that in other parts of the country. Trying to re-brand it is a relatively new endeavor.
David Harris - Yes I'm very familiar with the Garland Rd / White Rock Lake area. I lived about 2 or 3 miles East of Garland Road just off of Northwest Highway. My son lives just off of the Bankhead Highway at Simms TX, near Texarkana. Two years ago I decided that the Garland area was not where I wanted to spend my retirement years listening to gunshots, seeing gangs "tagging" everything in sight, traffic jams, drugs, LBJ freeway, toll roads, wrecks, etc, etc..... We moved to Canyon Lake TX, about 60 miles North of San Antonio in the hill country. Now, instead of gunshots in the neighborhood, we're on a wooded acre with deer, road runners, jackrabbits, hummingbirds, and all kinds of songbirds. The only gunshots we hear now are shotguns during Dove season from the hunters on ranches in the area. During firearm deer season we hear an occasional rifle shot. The lake is about 1/2 mile from the house, and is fed by the Guadalupe River, which is mostly spring water. The furthest south in the USA where trout fishing can be accomplished successfully is in the Guadalupe River below Canyon Lake Dam. Very cold water from the bottom of Canyon Lake where 60,000 rainbow trout are stocked through the winter months. I guess I'm a little off the subject of an old highway! Thanks for your reply.
On a drive out west I stopped at a cheap motel in Childress, Tx. In the room, a sign above the sink read, "Don't clean birds in sink." It seemed odd. The next morning I got up before dawn and went out to get coffee. The parking lot was full of pickup trucks, ATV's and men dressed in camo. I walked over and ask one of the guys what was going on. He told me it was opening day of dove season. Now the sign made sense.
This may be surprising to you (but probably not), but as I recall the arguments about the appropriateness of the federal government to maintain waterways and build roads precedes, and to some degree antecedes, the arguments about a National Bank, effectively making the road argument round one on the "road" toward the party system we still live with today. However, this may only be true when one looks at the letters written by the founding fathers, as opposed to when the subject of federally funded transportation and trade becomes a cause of contention in Congress. I'm glad you made this video because I doubt that most Americans are aware of this aspect of our history.
Great episode! I have a photo of The Ellicott Stone, but don't see how to upload. A stone marking the Southern boundary of the US in 1799 is still in place near Mobile,AL. That was another big treaty land addition. Thanks!
just a suggestion. when using a measurement like rods, it would be nice to also give the measurement in feet,meters, or a familiar measure. love your stuff, you deserve more subs.
I imagine he just said "rods" because he was reciting the road specifications as enacted. Also it may have been a slight oversight since the measurement is taught early in American elementary schools (or at least used to be - who knows what they're teaching these days). Anyway, you can find the answer immediately on Google.
Two points to add: 1. @3:04 The way I learned it, the "Indian Trails" actually followed deer tracks. 2. In New Jersey the Route 40 extension didn't come until the 20th century. It was known locally, (in Salem county, anyway), as the Harding Highway. I can't recall if it was called that because it came about during Pres. Harding's administration, Or if he had actually visited there and used the road. My parents told me once, but that was over 50 years ago.
Wonderful. I was just following the tracks of a group of German emigrants from Baltimore to Glandorf, Ohio in October 1838. I concluded, they must have taken the National Road as well. Alternatives like the railroad and the canal towards Cumberland still being under construction. And there was that gap in Wheeling with the suspension bridge coming only a few years later - 1845?. Nevertheless nice to have some impression of the state of transport during that time.
I have to wonder if he came from a funeral, and simply removed his tie upon reaching his study. He seems rather somber in the opening and closing of this episode.
Man, I LOVE history too, and your videos make me love it even more! The "Era of Good Feeling"....when there was very little political party bickering and it was basically a few years where the nation came first.
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The National Road Museum in Norwich, OH, is a wonderful place to learn more about this important highway -- "the road that helped build America." Nice to see your always thorough insight into this bit of history.
4:40 The really amazing thing is that macadam roads are STILL the standard road surfacing method used today. We used an improved method that adds tar to help waterproof the surface and stabilize it. The improved method is called tat macadam, or tarmac for short.
Not exactly - Macadam roads were made from layers of packed stone of decreasing size, ending with a surface of 2 inch stones rammed tight with the gaps filled with rock dust. Horses and carts tended to trample and roll the surface so it remained tight. When motor cars came along the powered wheels would loosen the stones and the speed of movement sucked the dust out, loosening the surface. The solution was to cover the surface with tar, creating what was called the tar-sealed macadam road. Modern roads are made of sub-layers of packed stone beneath a running surface of 8 to 24 inches of tarmac or bitmac (small stones stuck together with tar or bitumen) or asphalt (a mixture of sand and bitumen) and have nothing to do with macadam
Nastyswimmer: You and Eric Taylor are both correct. While "real" roads are built today as you say; in much of the USA, tarmac is still used for rural secondary roadways, and sometimes just the Macadam without the tar. Where I live, "tarmac" is referred to as a "chip and seal" road. Macadam roads are referred to as "gravel" roads just like anywhere else in the English speaking world. Of course, gravel roads are never made from gravel. Gravel is the stuff that comes from river beds. The stones are smooth and don't interlock together so that they shift around when you walk or drive on them. Only crushed stone can be used for Macadam. Hence, when you hear references to prisoners sentenced to hard labor turning "big rocks into little rocks", that was an actual needed service. The prisoners weren't doing it just for punishment.
Where came from in Maryland
The road surface is referred to as Tar and Chip
@@ericferguson68 Hey Eric! You still out there? Question for you!
In the movie "Cool Hand Luke",
what type of road were the prisoners working on? The classic scene where they were racing the truck, and finished work early! It seems like they were just mixing sand and oil, or tar over bare dirt? Is that legit? (Rural Deep South - 1950s) If so, what is that type of road called? Please and Thank You!
@@michealpowell1299: From time to time, a new top layer gets put on the MacAdam. I believe the road in the movie is already tarmac and they are just adding a new finish layer/re-sealing it. I just watched the scene and it looks like they are using very fine stone or sand. It seems reasonable to me, but I'm no expert. I assume the powdered stone would be to keep car tires from sticking to the tar on warm days.
History Guy I love history, and this is definitely the channel for me.
The way you present these stories is just perfect!
Recovering from kidney stone removal I'm most grateful this blast from the past popped up. Thankful for THG to brighten my day.
As a trucker, this subject fascinates me. My dream is to spend my vacations driving the old US highways, as there have always been interstates since I started driving professionally. Thank you for expanding my knowledge, on the many subjects you cover.
I live in Vandalia, OH. 40 runs right through downtown where it intersects with the Dixie Highway. Our town is called the Crossroads of America because we have the intersection of the National Road and Dixie Highway and we have the intersections of I-70 and I-75. Our town is actually called Vandalia because our founders were on their way to Vandalia, IL and decided to stay here. Thanks for the great video!
My hometown of Terre Haute Indiana is also know as the "Crossroads of America" Us 40 and US 41 cross each other at 7th St. and Wabash Ave, where my grandfather's office sat, and across the street was the Terre Haute House (hotel that was re-built three times since the pioneer days. The 1928-2005 version was were my grandpa sat next to John Dillinger at the hotel's coffee shop.
Isn’t there an original marker up there along US 40? I’m near Miamisburg.
Indianapolis is a Crossroads city. I-70, US 40, I-69, I-74, I-65, Hwy-37 all come together in Indy from all corners of the compass.
As a native of Western Maryland (Hagerstown, near Cumberland), I am very glad you chose this story to report on. Well done. By the way, March 29th has another significance. In 2017, President Donald Trump signed a bill designating March 29th as Vietnam Veterans Memorial Day. As I am also a proud Vietnam veteran, I was very pleased to see this as well. Again, thanks and God bless. C.D. Coyle, DRE.
Actually it was Obama, on March 29th, 2012, who created Vietnam Veterans Day. Trump just signed the act that Obama had created.
Trump also refused to sebd anyone to to take down the child sex camps in Tucson, AZ. The Veterans on Patrol - Team Pulaski took down these camps, prepared to make arrests, yet someone told them they were coming and they abandoned open camps with hot fires, etc. It was very graphic, to the point they could only describe but showed enough so you knew it was real. Trump protects the crooks and so will this shill who calls himself Joe Biden. Neither real or fake should be even on the ballot. 1972 #Rigged election #CarWreck killing family members - two sins managed to survive and Joe Biden couldn't have been more disappointed, based on.my impression. Didn't delay being sworn in to take care of his boys, severely injured, hospitalized. Biden lied about the car wreck ever since. And so does his obvious look alike. PubliusRoots.com
I live 1 mile south of U.S. 40 in Indiana. The road has always been a part of my life and I always enjoy it's history. Thanks History Guy.
You cannot know how much I appreciate your efforts. Would that more folks see the value you bring to us. God bless you; and Merry Christmas to you and yours.
I am from Washington Pa, and grew up in Annapolis MD. We traveled back "home" to Washington at least 7 times a year, and my dad refused the Turnpike unless we had an emergency trip to Washington ( the rest of both sides of my family live in WashPa and a few in Youngstown Ohio) we used US 40 regularly. I still use that route today myself, with my wife and kids!
The bottom of the street I grew up on intersects with 40 on the edge of Uniontown, between it and Hopwood.
@@dukecraig2402 We had fried chicken every time we went to Ohiopyle, from the chicken stand in Hopwood too! The one with the chicken on the sign!
@@g-mang-man7924
I used to drink at the biker bar right across the street from Ruses Roost, it was called the Foothill Saloon.
I shot that chicken more than once, it never did quit spinning around.
@@dukecraig2402 too funny!
I grew up just north of Wheeling, WVA on the Ohio side of the river. I find that there is lots and lots of history in the Ohio Valley that is so interesting to hear about. I can remember driving Interstate 40 with my father and how it would wind its way through the small towns and hollows in eastern Ohio.
Same here , the drawing of the bridge in Wheeling crossing to Ohio is a real bridge and it’s still there . I grew up there and walked across it hundreds of times as did many others to and from the downtown area. It’s closed now due to overweight vehicles abusing it . The state is trying to get a plan to repair it but it’s been years and any solution will be years away. Knew a few guys who would jump off of it during a July 4th festival if I remember correctly. And the old road markers are littered alone Rt40 along with a bunch of huge monuments, Madona of the Trail or some thing a beacon of hope for travelers.
History Guy rocking the black shirt a no bowtie. Great look sir! Thank you SO much for putting even MORE unknown history in my brain. Back in the day, I used to almost always win at Trival Pursuit. Your channel would have removed the "ALMOST" portion of that sentence. Keep them coming History Guy and Mrs. History Guy!
As a native Marylander I have travelled the National Road thousands of times. I am glad you used the photograph of the little known one arch stone bridge that I have walked over many times.
It's a beautiful drive too. I love taking the side roads and seeing America.
I found a lot of geodetic markers here in Indiana! Along U.S. 40! Working near the power lines, that parallel 40! We basically walked from Richmond to Indianapolis! Along the route. Clearing back tree's and brush, for line clearance purposes. It was very fun at the time. Although I was younger then. Thanks for your channel and the effort you put into it!
Love your Chanel I recommend it to everyone I know one of our employees at our restaurant that I was recommending you to told me you were local Cassandra keep up the great work I will continue to recommend this channel to everyone
I sure do love all these tid bits that you put out for us. Thank you sir.
In the UK you can't turn around without tripping over a Roman road. After Rome dumped us it wasn't until the 18th century that we managed to create Turnpike Trusts and start laying metalled roads for ourselves! As always, H.G. gold.
Well, you do didn't have autos yet so the supply fit the demand.
General Braddock passed over a mountain in Frederick county MD on his way to the battle where he lost his life. This particular mountain is in the Appalachia mountain range, and was named after General Braddock (Braddock Heights). Both Rte 40 and Alt Rte 40 cross over the top, and I-70 cuts through it. On Alt Rte 40 traversing up the mountain heading West you will find a memorial in his name on the side of the road. Tons of history here in Frederick county Md!!!
I enjoy your channel very much. The opportunity to learn about history is always a pleasure. Thank You for providing everyone with a much needed lessons about our past.
I grew up in Cumberland, Md and learned the importance of this road. You should've showed the last remaining toll house in LaVale, Md with the published price of using it.
Craig L. Young Do you mean the last toll house in Maryland or the last toll house on 40? Because I am almost certain there is still a toll house on 40 between Uniontown, Pa and Brownsville, Pa.
Searight's Tollhouse near Fort Necessity Pa.
As a surveyor I see the pay hasn't gotten any better, the survey methods have though and easier too. Thanks again History Guy!
I have been traveling Rt. 40 here in Ohio for 70 years now , it's a far cry from what it used to be in the glory days !
I bought real estate for my State along the National Road and its interstate replacement during the 80's and I will always enjoy being a very small part of such a huge endeavor.
The interstate wasn't built until the 80's?
Roads are sometimes built in segments, and sometimes stretches of prior-built road requires updating to meet interstate specs. In Maryland, US Rt 48 "National Freeway" was started in the 60's and completed in 1991 at which time it was redesignated I-68.
It roughly follows the path of rts. 40 and 144 (National Road) from Hancock Maryland until the State's westernmost extreme, where it turns toward Morgantown WV to meet I-79...
@History Guy! So your intro is awesome! When you put on auto captions it says "Hi! Im the History God..." and I totally believe it! Good Job!
Your mention of the cost of repairs for the road reminded me of a local turnpike road the repair of which was much complained about. Apparently the most damage caused by any vehicle using the road was actually caused by the cart used to carry the material to repair the road. Of course part of the reason for paying to use a road was to cover the costs of repair. So something of a paradoxical problem.
Your mentioning the use of existing Indian roads was also interesting. When I studied archaeology I discovered that many English roads in use today followed property bounders dating back to the Bronze Age. So over two and a half thousand years old. In fact many boundaries for village townships date from prehistoric times.
Well, another of your interesting little gems.
Roads are so much taken for granted today yet are probably one of the most significant inventions of mondern society. Successful civilizations have always recognized the value of good roads for commerce and defense.
They are not taken for granted here in Louisiana. We don't drive on the left of the road, we drive on what's left of the road.
@@traeherren2269 , Ain't that the truth!
Trae Herren hahahaha
Just ask any Inca. 😉 Or Roman, for that matter!
@@traeherren2269 Good one
I just found your channel and it is now one of my favorites
So informative and your coverage of forgotten histories is invaluable in reminding people that so much goes into even small events and how much they influence the larger issues
The best in a very good series! I loved the map, tell that story! Grew up in Connecticut, was not aware that the Western Reserve was that large!
What an interesting episode! I think of the Lincoln Highway and Route 66, but you really broadened my knowledge
Thank you History guy. The national road goes right through my hometown of Zanesville, Ohio. There are markers still visible route 40
You do woundful programs. I always enjoy learning from you. Your like a free College and I share often to Freinds that like what ever subject you are teaching. I've made a living from what I learned from older Men and Women. I pass it along to any younger than me that want to learn life skills. Those that don't I let struggle but once they figure out it's not easy they come back. You don't have to go to go to College to find knowledge. I learned from good people including The History guy.😁 Thanks for all you do.
I almost missed you I didn't see the bow tie. Thanks for making history fun again...
👍❤😷
I really enjoy your channel.
4:21 The picture is of Freeport Rd. near the Pittsburgh Waterworks in Aspinwall PA, circa 1905. That concrete retaining wall with the iron railing on top is still there. I grew up near there, so imagine my surprise...
That's right. We call that road "Old Route 28".
I live a mile off of US 40, (aka National Rd) near Hopewell Ohio. You can see alot of "old 40" and the old bridges on the side roads as you travel near where I live. Thanks for the story and cool info about somthing so close to home.
Best Channel on YT
$20/inch is about $1.3m per mile. That is about what it costs today to pave the same width of road with asphalt. This was another awesome lesson taught by the History Guy.
I can appreciate making gravel out of large rocks with sledge hammers. I volunteered on a crew building mountain bike trails in West Virginia. The Plantation trail crosses some Pete bogs, and we built several hundred yards of gravel trail. Super hard work. The final step uses a knapping hammer, small head on a standard handle.
Our pioneer ancestors were bad asses!
Have you ever thought about doing a video on the Natchez Trace? It was another important road back in the day.
Lol I live in Natchez
Thank you history guy, your the best. Keep it coming
Good stuff here, History Guy! You never disappoint.
Excellent once again sir.
This episode brought back memories of doing a diorama on macadam roads and turnpikes in junior high school!
Great presentation! Thanks:
I grew up in the Toledo-,Maumee area.Went to a school in Monclova 1st --4th. . My grandmother used to tell us all kinds of stories about the area. We used to find Indian arrowheads on my grandmother 's farm.etc.
Thank you, HG, for two things: 1) highlighting the Nat'l Road (I live about an hour north of Indy and am a native Hoosier (Go Boilers!)) and the fact that it runs through the heart of Indiana is a source of state pride, and 2) for giving me the correct pronunciation of "Macadam", since I've always put the emphasis on the first syllable of the word.......whoops 😁
I can imagine that our sometime very in climate weather would be hell on macadam roads; even modern asphalt and concrete roads after some time begin to crack and buckle. Asphalt usually goes about 2-3 years after being laid before it starts cracking and beginning to "alligator" a little. Concrete takes a little longer depending on materials and construction methods.
dhession64 Boiler Up Hammer Down!!!!!!!
In the early '50s and again in the late '50s, my dad was stationed in Rantoul Illinois and my grandparents were in Cumberland Md. We'd leave home before dawn and drive 600 miles, mostly on Rt 40, to La Vale Md. just West of Cumberland. We'd finally arrive late at night. Their home was in La Vale just a few blocks from Rt 40 and we would count down the miles on the white stone mile markers along Rt 40 as we traveled. They lived on Braddock St along Braddock Run stream and they called their home "Braddock Farm" since they had a very large garden and fruit trees. All named after the General Braddock. The current owners of "Braddock Farm" had a shiny copper colored roof installed that shines brightly on Google Maps.
I really enjoyed that - and you spoke at a much less frantic pace than with some of your other videos - so I heard every word.👍
certain videos require him to act animated in ways to tell that moment in time!
This video is not about a airplane-crash or a commander in war, so it wouldn't be as excited.
I believe that's the allure or that's why people like this channel because (he) makes history exciting/fun and not boring! If he moves too fast then you need to keep-up or search for video(s) that feature Ben Stein's (history moments)...yikes.😂😴
Well I'm glad he doesn't make history boring
Norman: Anytime the narration is too fast or slow in a video, just turn the speed up or down.
Fast paced is excellent for those of us who are consumed by ADD. It keeps me from trying to watch a second video to keep me stimulated in between words.
It's interesting how animated he gets talking about war, lol!
I grew up crossing the national road daily.
Thanks.
Quality content. Thank you.
I have a really cool Cumberland 132 mile marker Pic if you are interested from the Wheeling area....Rt 40 ROCKS! I took a drive in my first car on Rt 40. A 74 Chevy Nova. I was 18 yrs old. Just kept driving right near of Cambridge.... and then the road STOPPED! .. right up into the trees. It just stopped. I think 40 picks up on the east side of Zanesville. My poor old Chevy Nova had good brakes thanks to my Dad. That poor old car was a piece of junk in the 80's . Love you History Guy.
Building the old Line Road from Ft. Scott KS to Ft.Smith, AR consisted of cutting trees low enough that wagons would not hang up on the stump and marking the trees along the way. The Butterfield stage went on horrible roads thru the Ozarks.
My OCD was getting the best me, your classes were sitting on your face crooked and all I could think about was straightening them. Thank you for your channel I sure enjoy it
I lived on old 40/National Road. It was some of the best scenic road that I have ever driven on in my life.
Enjoyed as usual
My family came to southwest Pennsylvania in 1789 as Scots Irish from County Cork Ireland, they arrived at Charleston South Carolina, undoubtedly they came over the "Nemacolin Trail" to get to there.
My ancestors came to southern Illinois in the early 1800s. The entire family clan traveled by wagon train. They were known as the Cherokee farmers. They had fully integrated into American society, literate and Christian and settled among and intermarried with those of European descent. They had left decades before the Trail of Tears. It was considered an embarrassment to be "Injun" and they passed themselves off as whites on the census rolls. Even in my grandfather's day, it was still shameful to admit Native American ancestry.
The description of building a Macadam Road is delightful. I’d like to learn more about the ways and methods of building roads back then. I’ve been around road building and aggregate operations my whole life. My maternal grandfather had been the original president of the Michigan Road Builders Association in the 1950s so I’m certain that If it wasn’t for mechanization I would have been breaking gravel with a hammer after school.
Hi History guy!! good to see ya.
I'd love it if you did a video on the Toledo War.
To slightly expand on Michael Dougfir's comment below, The National Highway system has been set to music at least once in the late 20th Century. In the early 1970s, the Folk/Rock duo Brewer and Shipley toured extensively in Northwest Missouri driving on US 59 which bisects the United States from South Texas to Manitoba, Canada. Brewer and Shipley travelled US 59 extensively in Eastern Nebraska, Northwest Missouri and Eastern Kansas on US 59 - also known as the "Tarkio Road" so-named because they could drive on one tank of gasoline from Tarkio, Missouri to St Joseph, Missouri.
Touring in 1971, the duo wrote and recorded the song "Tarkio Road" as an ode to one of their favorite roads they travelled while on tour. The song was second to "One Toke Over The Line" in their list of hit singles on Kama Sutra Records.
WOW! Brewer and Shipley! You must be the only other person in the world who even remembers them! "Tarkio Road, it's a mother, it's like oh so many others,
Where the children reject you, and the police inspect you..."
Love that song.
@@cavecookie1 I remember them!
Whenever I visit family in West Virginia, I get to see the National Road and many other historic roads in the area. When I was there in 2013 I got to see the Mason Dixon Line close up. I had always assumed it was further south. I have been on the Interstate through Cumberland several times now.
DM Fraser: If this topic is of interest to you, next time you visit check out the Fort Necessity monument/museum run by the National Park Service. It's located about 10 miles east of Uniontown, PA(maybe 30 miles north of I68) along US 40/The National Road/Nemacolin's Trail. They tell the whole story about George Washington starting the French and Indian War (Braddock's expedition mentioned in this video happened the year after George Washington's defeat at Fort Necessity), and the story of the National Road. There is a giant 150 year old Hotel a few hundred yards up the road and Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Waters house is nearby. It's well worth the trip if you are in the area.
DM Fraser: I'll add to Eric's comment to also visit Casselman River Bridge State Park, located just off I-68 at Grantsville, MD. It features the 1813 bridge pictured at 05:51.
DM - I grew up in Frostburg, MD which was founded in 1812 along the original National Road. The town is named for Meshech and Katherine Frost who owned a stagecoach 'stand' along the pike. This 'stand' was actually an inn for travelers in the early 19th century and was called Highland Hall. The building was later remade into the Catholic Rectory ( priest's house ) for St. Michael Catholic Church. The town is nestled in the Appalachian Mountains, and experiences long cold winters. Some people think it's named because of the weather.
Been on old US40 in Vigo County Indiana. Middle of nowhere and there was this beautiful brick road. Interesting.
Awesome and very interesting. Good ol Route 40.
Re-watching this episode makes me miss the old intro and the old history guy a bit.
Don't get me wrong I already watched it because I like it!
Greetings from Rural NE California!
Before we laud the Eisenhower Interstate highway system too much, there is another, earlier federal highway system to cover. It is simply the US system, (by whatever name,) that is well marked with black and white signs.
Here in the far West, it once ran from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. That was US 395, which runs through California, Oregon & Washington. But there is also a wee bit that runs through the bend of western Nevada for about 83 miles.
My father used to ask, "What goes from Los Angeles to Chicago without moving?"
The answer was the real and original "Route 66!" (In the West we say, US 66.)
In NJ there is a "route 66", but that's not the historic road.
Out here we have US 50 which goes through Carson City, the capitol of Nevada. I never thought much about it until one day, after we moved to the East, I was on the DC Beltway, and, hey look! There was a sign for US 50. I had no idea that this highway crossed most of the continent.
There is more to the story. This is just your free sample. But we had an extensive federal highway system well before the Interstate highways. And much of it is very worth exploring.
Michael Dougfir I certainly agree that the US has a number of historic roads and highways that are worthy of notice. I do plan more episodes about some of those. But your comment is perplexing. This video is not about the Interstate highway system.
The US Highway system was started in the 20's. The "Route 66" of Bobby Troup's song (sang by Nat King Cole, & others), was part of that system. The one in Jersey (Asbury Park area) is just a local road. Since US Hwy 66 doesn't go thru Jersey, that number is free for them to use. Toward's the coast (Los Angeles), we have US Hwy 101, which sometimes merges with California State Hwy 1 (aka Pacific Coast Hwy - PCH). But there IS a US Hwy 1 ! US Hwy (highway btw) runs north-south along the east coast. Atlantic coast, Maine to Florida, for geographically challenged. California can use that route number, since US Hwy 1 doesn't run thru it, last I checked. The earth does move here, so that's never a universal given.
The Macadam system was widely used in the UK, but the distances are much shorter and (I think) not so wide. There was also 'Tar Macadam' which was used when I was a boy - the smell of hot tar was wonderful.
Your mention of the surveyors and 'chainsmen' reminded me of what I think is a lovely piece of British history that deserves to be remembered. I don't know if you are aware of 'Ordnance Survey maps' which are incredibly detailed and beautiful maps that have been drawn for a long, long time and cover the whole of the British Isles. About 210 maps, I think. In the mid nineteen thirties, a requirement arose to actually measure all the features on the map to ensure they were where the maps said they were.
A Brigadier Martin Hotine was directed to 'retriangulate' the whole country and verify distances to a high degree of accuracy. He instituted a system of 'Trigonometrical Points' on hilltops from Lands End to John O'Groats. Each point was to be to the same design and consist of exact amounts of concrete, with a brass plate in the top to accept a theodolite. Then the distance between the first pair was measured by men with survey chains. The first datum measured 26Km (the UK is mapped using 100Km squares, even when Hotine's maps were 'one inch to the mile') and was somewhere in Dorset, I think. From 6500 'Trig Points' over the whole British Isles, the position of every one could be calculated by triangulation.
The survey began in 1936, was interrupted by WWII and completed in 1962. The final act was to physically measure the last calculated distance - somewhere near Inverness in Scotland. The difference was 17 inches! Pre lasers, pre satellites and pre computers, the difference was a mere 17 inches.
I hadn't realised they were still measuring as late as 1962. I was aware this retriangulation had happened previously on a case by case basis (or county by county) but didn't know about the 1936 initiative. It helps explain markers close to home which I thought were repurposed milestones. I'm now pretty sure they are repurposed trig pillars.
I have driven many times on a road in Waukasha, Wisconsin called Watertown Plank Road. I have heard of other 'plank roads' in America and assume that's how they were laid - with planks - but it doesn't sound like a very reliable way of doing things. Is there a story there?
you can still walk on portions of the original road, adjacent to Braddock's grave as well as other places
I thought Braddock was actually buried under the road? Didn't Washington order all the wagons and horses to drive over his grave to disguise it?
he was originally- there is a marker where his grave was under the original cobbles; it now stands on the hill nearby easily visible from US-40.
RC - I've seen this marker ( near Uniontown PA ? ), when we used to pass it on our way to baseball games in Pittsburgh on old rt. 40.
I live on US 40 in wheeling West Virginia. That suspension bridge from the picture is still there and still in use.the first bridge over the Ohio.
Another roadway topic, The Old Motor Parkway, going from Manhattan out through Long Island. It was directly behind my house growing up.
Thew subjects of your narrations are inherently interesting but your enthusiasm leaves you wanting more.
Yet another awesome and informative clip, sir. I wonder if one day, you might make a video about the colony that almost was - Vandalia.
You are right. Though I surmised the story was going in the direction of Interstate highways. I am married. I know how to stand corrected. Thank you.
Actually, thank you for two recent answers.
Big festival along the road in May every year. Covered wagon train goes thru and yard sales/roadside bbq as far as the eye can see.
Good summary. Additional fact: this road -- at least the portion in Pennsylvania -- was (probably) the only one in the U.S. where, by law, the "conductors or drivers of carriages" had to "at all times pass on the left of each other." A violation carried a two-dollar penalty. Source: Peter Kincaid, "The Rule of the Road," Greenwood Press, 1986, p.178 (quoting an act of the Pennsylvania legislature from the 1830-1831 session.) This appears to have been the only official American exception to right-side driving on public roads, not counting the U.S. Virgin Islands, where they still drive to the left.
Actually, not an exception to right side driving. If both parties are driving to their right side, when they encounter on coming traffic they pass each other's left side.
I should have included in my comment that Mr. Kincaid's 1986 book quoted "The Law of Roads in Pennsylvania," published by William Duane in 1848, when the National Road (also called the Cumberland Road) was still heavily used. Mr. Duane wrote: "usage in Pennsylvania has settled that travellers meeting on a road are bound to take, respectively, the right of the road," except that "in the Cumberland road travellers meeting are required to pass each other on the left." Apparently the special "Cumberland road" rule was gone by 1917, when a Pennsylvania court decision stated: "There is no absolute right to occupy either side of the road. The law of the road is that vehicles going in opposite directions shall in passing turn out to the right, but common experience shows that drivers on country roads usually use the center of the road." That ambiguity was remedied (in Pennsylvania) by Act of June 30, 1919 (amended June 14, 1923) stating that motor vehicle operators must "keep as close as possible to the right-hand side of the highway, allowing other vehicles free passage to the left."
Interesting bit about Macadam roads, which didn't wear very well. Was Edgar Purnell Hooley, the county surveyor of Nottingham, noticed a barrel of tar had burst open over a road in Derbyshire. He noticed it didn't wear. And had discovered 'tarmac' asphalt. The very first road to have it was Radcliffe road Nottingham. Macadam is well known, but hooley is largely forgotten. Even in Nottingham very few people know the history of him, or the road, which is still a busy thoroughfare. Maybe he deserves to be remembered
I lived on a small stretch of the original national road in Morristown Ohio. I took the time to learn a bit about while I lived in that part of the state. Thank you for filling in many of the blank spots for me.
Ps. 2 or 3 of the original markers still exist between Blain Ohio and Morristown Ohio, or atleast they did in 99 when moved from the area.
this is a great book on early road travel.
American Road: The Story of an Epic Transcontinental Journey at the Dawn of the Motor Age
Great story! Now lets talk about the Lincoln Highway, another great road building project that also caused a great deal of gnashing of teeth.
Lincoln Highway is Route 30
Started as a privately funded project, but it was in the age of progressive pushes as well.
Or the Pacific railroad, which may have never been built if not for the civil war.
I used to live on the Lincoln Highway in Massillon, Ohio, which was renamed State Route 172 after they built a bypass for US 30 about 50 years ago around Massillon and Canton. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massillon,_Ohio
@@kathleenmurphy2379 It's Highway 50 in Nevada. (aka "US Route 50)
Hey history guy brad here again my grand father was in the 103rd Lafayette escadrille in France in 1919 the photo looks just like the one I have my grandfather was 25 years old and he is the tallest man on back row I was told the photo has a historical value I would like to know more about this
Don't stop what you're doing thanks
Thanks for another great history lesson that was not in my history books in school. I lived in Garland Texas for about 25 years. I visited a local brew pub that was named after the Bankhead Highway that ran through downtown Garland. I believe they claim it was the first "coast to coast" highway across the United States. Would you do a history lesson on the Bankhead Highway? Thanks for the wonderful job you do presenting history in an interesting and easily understood method. Great job!
Part of the Bankhead Hwy/ Garland Road were originally part of the Republic of Texas National Road built in the 1840's to connect to the Natches Trace. If you are familiar with the area it passed by what is now White Rock Lake. Interestingly I grew up on the Bankhead Highway and been studying the areas history all my life and no one ever referred to it as such until just a few years ago. Even though I accept it was called that in other parts of the country. Trying to re-brand it is a relatively new endeavor.
David Harris - Yes I'm very familiar with the Garland Rd / White Rock Lake area. I lived about 2 or 3 miles East of Garland Road just off of Northwest Highway. My son lives just off of the Bankhead Highway at Simms TX, near Texarkana. Two years ago I decided that the Garland area was not where I wanted to spend my retirement years listening to gunshots, seeing gangs "tagging" everything in sight, traffic jams, drugs, LBJ freeway, toll roads, wrecks, etc, etc..... We moved to Canyon Lake TX, about 60 miles North of San Antonio in the hill country. Now, instead of gunshots in the neighborhood, we're on a wooded acre with deer, road runners, jackrabbits, hummingbirds, and all kinds of songbirds. The only gunshots we hear now are shotguns during Dove season from the hunters on ranches in the area. During firearm deer season we hear an occasional rifle shot. The lake is about 1/2 mile from the house, and is fed by the Guadalupe River, which is mostly spring water. The furthest south in the USA where trout fishing can be accomplished successfully is in the Guadalupe River below Canyon Lake Dam. Very cold water from the bottom of Canyon Lake where 60,000 rainbow trout are stocked through the winter months. I guess I'm a little off the subject of an old highway!
Thanks for your reply.
On a drive out west I stopped at a cheap motel in Childress, Tx. In the room, a sign above the sink read, "Don't clean birds in sink." It seemed odd. The next morning I got up before dawn and went out to get coffee. The parking lot was full of pickup trucks, ATV's and men dressed in camo. I walked over and ask one of the guys what was going on. He told me it was opening day of dove season. Now the sign made sense.
This may be surprising to you (but probably not), but as I recall the arguments about the appropriateness of the federal government to maintain waterways and build roads precedes, and to some degree antecedes, the arguments about a National Bank, effectively making the road argument round one on the "road" toward the party system we still live with today. However, this may only be true when one looks at the letters written by the founding fathers, as opposed to when the subject of federally funded transportation and trade becomes a cause of contention in Congress. I'm glad you made this video because I doubt that most Americans are aware of this aspect of our history.
Great episode! I have a photo of The Ellicott Stone, but don't see how to upload. A stone marking the Southern boundary of the US in 1799 is still in place near Mobile,AL. That was another big treaty land addition. Thanks!
Very interesting, thank you!
Very interesting once again.
just a suggestion. when using a measurement like rods, it would be nice to also give the measurement in feet,meters, or a familiar measure. love your stuff, you deserve more subs.
I imagine he just said "rods" because he was reciting the road specifications as enacted. Also it may have been a slight oversight since the measurement is taught early in American elementary schools (or at least used to be - who knows what they're teaching these days). Anyway, you can find the answer immediately on Google.
This is awesome I'm from South Vienna Ohio and I have one of the original route 40 markers I love you Channel
Two points to add: 1. @3:04 The way I learned it, the "Indian Trails" actually followed deer tracks. 2. In New Jersey the Route 40 extension didn't come until the 20th century. It was known locally, (in Salem county, anyway), as the Harding Highway. I can't recall if it was called that because it came about during Pres. Harding's administration, Or if he had actually visited there and used the road. My parents told me once, but that was over 50 years ago.
Wonderful. I was just following the tracks of a group of German emigrants from Baltimore to Glandorf, Ohio in October 1838. I concluded, they must have taken the National Road as well. Alternatives like the railroad and the canal towards Cumberland still being under construction. And there was that gap in Wheeling with the suspension bridge coming only a few years later - 1845?. Nevertheless nice to have some impression of the state of transport during that time.
My mother was born in 1905 and raised in a house outside Springfield, Ohio. Their address was National Road East.
Great stuff 😊
Forgive me, but the first thing I noticed was the lack of a tie.
I have to wonder if he came from a funeral, and simply removed his tie upon reaching his study. He seems rather somber in the opening and closing of this episode.
His tie may be the same color as his shirt......
Rebecca Quartieri nope, as then you couldn’t see the second button
Just great 😀
Yeah! Wheeling is my hometown!
Man, I LOVE history too, and your videos make me love it even more! The "Era of Good Feeling"....when there was very little political party bickering and it was basically a few years where the nation came first.
Watching this right before traveling up to Cumberland, Maryland. 😎
I live right up the road from the National Road in Wheeling
I love your videos! I'm a history nut too! Keep up the great work!
It was kind of cool that they actually gave Nemocolin credit for the road.