Description: A toll house along the National Road in Pennsylvania. In this image, three young children stand in front of a picket fence that runs along the front of the toll house. The National Road (also called the Cumberland Road or the U.S. Road) was the first federally sponsored roadway. The U.S. Congress commissioned the National Road in 1806 as a conduit to the West, linking the Potomac River and Cumberland, Maryland, to St. Louis, Missouri, and the Mississippi River. The road opened Ohio and the Northwest Territory to settlement and trade with the eastern U.S. In 1835, when the federal government gave the states control over the National Road, Pennsylvania made its segment a toll road. The toll house in this image was one of six in Pennsylvania. By 1838 the Cumberland Road had reached Springfield, Ohio; three years later it reached Vandalia, Illiinois, where construction stopped due to a funding shortfall. By this time the railroads had attracted travelers and business shipping away from the National Road, and the project was abandoned. The advent of the automobile in the twentieth century renewed the popularity of the National Road's route. The National Road crossed the state of Ohio along what is now U.S. 40. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05818
Subjects: Cumberland Road--History; Toll roads--Pennsylvania--History; Ohio Economy--Transportation and Development
Places: Pennsylvania
 

Description: Buggies, an automobile, and a wagon on the National Road. the National Road (also called the Cumberland Road or the U.S. Road) was the first federally sponsored roadway. The U.S. Congress commissioned the National Road in 1806 as a conduit to the West, linking the Potomac River and Cumberland, Maryland, to St. Louis, Missouri, and the Mississippi River. The road opened Ohio and the Northwest Territory to settlement and trade with the eastern U.S. By 1838 the Cumberland Road had reached Springfield, Ohio; three years later it reached Vandalia, Illiinois, where construction stopped due to a funding shortfall. By this time the railroads had attracted travelers and business shipping away from the National Road, and the project was abandoned. The National Road crossed the state of Ohio along what is now U.S. 40. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05819
Subjects: Cumberland Road--History; Toll roads--Pennsylvania--History; Ohio Economy--Transportation and Development
 

Description: This photograph is a view of a horse-drawn buggy seen from the back. The buggy is traveling along a badly rutted section of the National Road. Ahead of the buggy, on the right, is a low building (or cluster of buildings). Telegraph poles and wire fencing line both sides of the land bordering the road. The National Road (also called the Cumberland Road or the U.S. Road) was the first federally sponsored roadway. The U.S. Congress commissioned the National Road in 1806 as a conduit to the West, linking the Potomac River and Cumberland, Maryland, to St. Louis, Missouri, and the Mississippi River. The road opened Ohio and the Northwest Territory to settlement and trade with the eastern U.S. By 1838 the Cumberland Road had reached Springfield, Ohio; three years later it reached Vandalia, Illiinois, where construction stopped due to a funding shortfall. By this time the railroads had attracted travelers and business shipping away from the National Road, and the project was abandoned. The National Road crossed the state of Ohio along what is now U.S. 40. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05820
Subjects: Cumberland Road--History; Toll roads--Pennsylvania--History; National Road; Transportation--Ohio--History; Ohio Economy--Transportation and Development
 

Description: This photograph shows a work crew crushing rock on the National Road. Six men are clearly visible; one appears to be a foreman because he's watching the others, his arms akimbo, and he's not holding any tools. Wire fencing and utility poles line the sides of the road. The National Road (also called the Cumberland Road or the U.S. Road) was the first federally sponsored roadway. The U.S. Congress commissioned the National Road in 1806 as a conduit to the West, linking the Potomac River and Cumberland, Maryland, to St. Louis, Missouri, and the Mississippi River. The road opened Ohio and the Northwest Territory to settlement and trade with the eastern U.S. By 1838 the Cumberland Road had reached Springfield, Ohio; three years later it reached Vandalia, Illiinois, where construction stopped due to a funding shortfall. By this time the railroads had attracted travelers and business shipping away from the National Road, and the project was abandoned. The National Road crossed the state of Ohio along what is now U.S. 40. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05821
Subjects: Cumberland Road--History; Toll roads--Pennsylvania--History; National Road; Transportation--Ohio--History; Ohio Economy--Transportation and Development