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</center><br> <br>{{TitleStyle1}}Welcome to the Bank Road page{{/p}} | |||
In the early 1800s Maryland's roads west were impassable much of the year. President Thomas Jefferson signed legislation in 1806 authorizing the Federal Government to construct the National Road from Cumberland to Wheeling, where travelers could take the Ohio River west. Cumberland was the eastern terminus because at the time, it was the closest that ships on the Potomac River could take travelers to the Northwest Territory (the land north of the Ohio River, east of the Mississippi River). | In the early 1800s Maryland's roads west were impassable much of the year. President Thomas Jefferson signed legislation in 1806 authorizing the Federal Government to construct the National Road from Cumberland to Wheeling, where travelers could take the Ohio River west. Cumberland was the eastern terminus because at the time, it was the closest that ships on the Potomac River could take travelers to the Northwest Territory (the land north of the Ohio River, east of the Mississippi River). | ||
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The work consisted of resurfacing a former county road. This section was in a sad state of deterioration. The surfacing was completed in 1823. | The work consisted of resurfacing a former county road. This section was in a sad state of deterioration. The surfacing was completed in 1823. | ||
Soon, Conestoga wagons were carrying wheat, corn, and pork from the West to Baltimore, and returning with manufactured goods needed in the Ohio Valley. The advantages, however, of overland travel were threatened when New York's Erie Canal opened in 1825 and drew the western trade to the harbor at New York City. To compete with the canal for the western commerce, a group in Baltimore received a charter in February 1827 for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. The railroad reached Cumberland in 1842 and Chicago in 1874, enabling the city to retain its hold on at least some of the western market. </div> | Soon, Conestoga wagons were carrying wheat, corn, and pork from the West to Baltimore, and returning with manufactured goods needed in the Ohio Valley. The advantages, however, of overland travel were threatened when New York's Erie Canal opened in 1825 and drew the western trade to the harbor at New York City. To compete with the canal for the western commerce, a group in Baltimore received a charter in February 1827 for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. The railroad reached Cumberland in 1842 and Chicago in 1874, enabling the city to retain its hold on at least some of the western market. </div> | ||
[[Category:US Migration Trails and Roads]] [[Category:Maryland | [[Category:US Migration Trails and Roads]] [[Category:Maryland Migration Routes]] | ||