Old National Pike Milestones

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Old National Pike Milestones
Old National Pike Milestone at Dahlgren Road MD1.jpg
Old National Pike Milestone at Dahlgren Road, September 2012
USA Maryland location map.svg
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Location MD 44 and MD 165, US 40, US 40 Alt, and US 40 Scenic, near Baltimore, Maryland
Coordinates 39°25′13″N77°16′1″W / 39.42028°N 77.26694°W / 39.42028; -77.26694 Coordinates: 39°25′13″N77°16′1″W / 39.42028°N 77.26694°W / 39.42028; -77.26694
Area0.1 acres (0.040 ha)
Built1806 (1806)
NRHP reference # 75002107 [1]
Added to NRHPNovember 27, 1975

The "Old National Pike Milestones" marked each mile of the old National Road in Maryland, an eastern coastal state of the United States, from its dominating city of Baltimore to major towns of western Maryland, as Frederick, and between it and Hagerstown, to Hancock, through to Cumberland in the western panhandle of the state in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The surviving stones have been included in the "National Register of Historic Places", maintained by the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior, and may be seen along the route variously designated as U.S. Route 40, Maryland Route 144, Alternate U.S. Route 40, and several other roads that trace the path of the original "Old National Pike". From Baltimore to Cumberland, the road was surveyed and laid out with construction in several phases over different periods of time by several turnpike companies, chartered by the General Assembly of Maryland beginning in 1808. Earlier in 1806, the United States Congress with the approval of third President Thomas Jefferson, authorized the surveying and further construction of a "national road" to continue on from Cumberland on the upstream of the Potomac River further to the west across additional mountainous ranges in the Allegheny Mountains to the newly admitted State of Ohio (admitted 1803 as the seventeenth state). Later the congressional action was amended to direct the road to the state boundaries on the Ohio River and it eventually landed at Wheeling, West Virginia. In later decades, the road was extended west across Ohio, Indiana and into the Illinois Country, to eventually terminate by the 1840s in Vandalia, the territorial capital of Illinois, just east of the Mississippi River, and northeast of the newly emergent, frontier river port metropolis of St. Louis of the Missouri Territory and the former Louisiana Purchase of 1803 to the west.

National Road auto trail

The National Road was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the 620-mile (1,000 km) road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main transport path to the West for thousands of settlers. When rebuilt in the 1830s, it became the second U.S. road surfaced with the macadam process pioneered by Scotsman John Loudon McAdam.

Maryland U.S. state in the United States

Maryland is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east. The state's largest city is Baltimore, and its capital is Annapolis. Among its occasional nicknames are Old Line State, the Free State, and the Chesapeake Bay State. It is named after the English queen Henrietta Maria, known in England as Queen Mary, who was the wife of King Charles I.

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the most populous city is New York City. Most of the country is located contiguously in North America between Canada and Mexico.

The "Old Pike" milestones in Maryland are about 30 inches tall, twelve inches wide and eight inches deep, with rounded tops and the inscription XX miles to B, referring to the distance to Baltimore, the road's terminus. The composition of the stones varies, with the first 39 milestones of Baltimore gneiss from the area of Ellicott City. Stones from Frederick to Boonsboro are quartzite from the area of the Monocacy River. A unique white limestone with a distinctive inscription was employed from Boonsboro to Hagerstown, while west of Hagerstown the stones are gray limestone. [2]

Gneiss A common high-grade metamorphic rock

Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. Gneiss is formed by high temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Orthogneiss is gneiss derived from igneous rock. Paragneiss is gneiss derived from sedimentary rock. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures and pressures than schist. Gneiss nearly always shows a banded texture characterized by alternating darker and lighter colored bands and without a distinct foliation.

Ellicott City, Maryland Census-designated place in Maryland, United States

Ellicott City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its population was 65,834 at the 2010 census, qualifying it as the largest unincorporated county seat in the country.

Frederick, Maryland City in Maryland, United States

Frederick is a city in, and the county seat, of Frederick County in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the intersection of a major north–south Indian trail and east–west routes to the Chesapeake Bay, both at Baltimore and what became Washington, D.C. and across the Appalachian mountains to the Ohio River watershed. It is a part of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA Combined Statistical Area. The city's population was 65,239 people at the 2010 United States Census, making it the second-largest incorporated city in Maryland, behind Baltimore. Frederick is home to Frederick Municipal Airport, which accommodates general aviation, and to the county's largest employer U.S. Army's Fort Detrick bioscience/communications research installation.

Sixty-nine stones still remained on the "Old National Pike" at the time the stones were nominated to the National Register.

National Register of Historic Places Federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred in preserving the property.

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U.S. Route 40 highway in the United States

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U.S. Route 340 is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from Greenville, Virginia to Frederick, Maryland. In Virginia, it runs north–south, parallel and east of US 11, from US 11 north of Greenville via Waynesboro, Grottoes, Elkton, Luray, Front Royal, and Berryville to the West Virginia state line. A short separate piece crosses northern Loudoun County on its way from West Virginia to Maryland.

Western Maryland Railway defunct American Class I railway

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West Virginia Route 480 is a 5.64-mile-long (9.08 km) state highway in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Known for most of its length as Kearneysville Pike, the highway extends from WV 115 in Kearneysville north to the Maryland state line at the Potomac River in Shepherdstown, from where the highway continues as Maryland Route 34. The route is one of the main north–south highways of northern Jefferson County and passes through the campus of Shepherd University. WV 480 was originally established in the early 1920s as West Virginia Route 48. The highway was paved in the mid-1920s, which included a different routing through Shepherdstown. WV 48's present routing through the town was established in the late 1930s when the first James Rumsey Bridge was completed; that bridge was replaced with the current bridge in the mid-2000s. WV 48 was renumbered to WV 480 in the mid-1970s after U.S. Route 48 was established in West Virginia and Maryland.

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Maryland Route 144 highway in Maryland

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U.S. Route 40 in Maryland section of U.S. Highway in Maryland, United States

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The Hagerstown & Frederick Railway, now defunct, was an American railroad of central Maryland built in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Maryland Route 34 highway in Maryland

Maryland Route 34 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known for most of its length as Shepherdstown Pike, the state highway begins at the West Virginia state line at the Potomac River, where the highway continues south as West Virginia Route 480 through Shepherdstown. The state highway runs 9.95 miles (16.01 km) east to U.S. Route 40 Alternate in Boonsboro. MD 34 is the main east–west highway of southern Washington County, connecting Shepherdstown and Boonsboro with Sharpsburg and Keedysville. The state highway, which was preceded by the Boonsboro and Sharpstown Turnpike, was constructed as a modern highway in the late 1910s and early 1920s. MD 34's bypass of Keedysville opened around 1960. The western end of the state highway has had three bridges. A 19th-century bridge was destroyed in a 1936 flood and replaced by the James Rumsey Bridge in 1939. The present bridge, also named for James Rumsey, opened in 2005.

Maryland Route 60 highway in Maryland

Maryland Route 60 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known for most of its length as Leitersburg Pike, the state highway runs 7.27 miles (11.70 km) from the intersection of Potomac Street and Northern Avenue in Hagerstown east to the Pennsylvania state line near Leitersburg, where the highway continues as Pennsylvania Route 316. MD 60 connects Hagerstown with Leitersburg and Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. MD 60 was paved over the course of an old turnpike from Hagerstown toward Waynesboro in the mid-1920s. The state highway was reconstructed in the mid-1950s, including the highway's bypass of Leitersburg.

Maryland Route 68 highway in Maryland

Maryland Route 68 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The state highway runs 18.50 miles (29.77 km) from U.S. Route 40 in Clear Spring east to US 40 Alternate in Boonsboro. MD 68 crosses central Washington County to the south of Hagerstown, connecting Clear Spring and Boonsboro with Williamsport, where the highway runs concurrently with MD 63. A small segment of MD 68 west of Boonsboro was constructed around 1920, using as part of the route two early 19th-century stone bridges. The remainder of the highway between Boonsboro and Williamsport was constructed in the second half of the 1920s. MD 68 was extended west from Williamsport to Clear Spring in the mid-1950s. The state highway was relocated south of Williamsport for the construction of Interstate 81 (I-81) in the mid-1960s. Since the early 1990s, I-68 has also existed in Washington County; signs on I-70 aim to avoid confusion between I-68 and MD 68.

Hagerstown, Maryland City in Maryland, United States

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Boonsboro Historic District United States national historic site

Boonsboro Historic District is a national historic district at Boonsboro, Washington County, Maryland, United States. The district includes 562 contributing elements. Its component buildings chronicle the town's development from its founding in 1792 through the mid 20th century. Most of the late 18th and early 19th century development in Boonsboro occurred along Main Street, then part of a principal market road between Williamsport, Hagerstown, Frederick, and Baltimore, Maryland. They are mainly of log, frame, or brick construction, with a few stone buildings interspersed. The majority of the buildings in the district date from the 1820-1850 period coinciding with peak use years of the National Road. Other features of the district include the Boonsboro Cemetery laid out about 1855 in a 19th-century curving plan with a number of exceptionally artistic gravestones, and the office/depot of the Hagerstown-Boonsboro Electric Railway. The period of significance, from 1792-1959 tracks the continuous growth and evolution of the town through the date by which the district had substantially achieved its current form and appearance.

U.S. Route 40 has at least nine extant special routes.

U.S. Route 40 Alternate (US 40 Alternate) is an alternate route of US 40 in the U.S. state of Maryland. The highway runs 22.97 miles (36.97 km) from Potomac Street in Hagerstown east to US 40 in Frederick. US 40 Alternate parallels US 40 and much of Interstate 70 (I-70) to the south through eastern Washington County and western Frederick County. The alternate route connects Hagerstown and Frederick with Funkstown, Boonsboro, Middletown, and Braddock Heights. US 40 Alternate crosses two major north–south components of the Blue Ridge Mountains that separate the Great Appalachian Valley and the Piedmont: South Mountain between Boonsboro and Middletown and Catoctin Mountain, which is locally known as Braddock Mountain, at Braddock Heights.

References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. 2010-07-09.
  2. ↑ Edwin Darby Nye (August 1973). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Old National Pike Milestones" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2016-01-01.


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