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The old
National Road was built through Guernsey county in 1827
and 1828. By an act of Congress in 1806, a road to be
constructed at federal expense, from Cumberland,
Maryland, to the river Ohio, was authorized. Work on the
highway was begun in 1812, and it was completed to
Wheeling West Virginia, in 1818. The average cost of the
road from Cumberland to Wheeling, which included the cost
of masonry, bridges and culverts, as approximately
$13,000 per mile.
- Immediately
following the completion of the National Road to Wheeling
a flood of traffic swept over it. The West had been
opened up for settlement, and people were pouring into it
for the purpose of making their future homes there. They
traveled as far as Wheeling by way of the new federal
road and crossed into Ohio by ferry. Zane's Trace was
then followed to the interior of the
state.
-
- Henry
Clay Favored the Road.
But Zane's Trace as poor
excuse for a road; it was but little more than a trail
through the forest. The original purpose in building the
National Road was to provide a way whereby the people
migrating to the West might get over the mountains. It
was believed that they would then navigate the river and
thus reach their destinations in that way.
-
- Many
preferred to travel overland from Wheeling westward, and
so an extension of the road from that place through the
state of Ohio. was asked of Congress. Many members of
congress objected to building the road further. Among
those who favored it and worked for an appropriation was
Henry Clay to whom much credit for the National Road has
been given. The people were so grateful to Clay that it
is said, he could travel from one end of the road to the
other and find toll gates and taverns opened free to
him.
-
- Work
Was Begun in Ohio in 1825.
It was on March 3,
1825, that an appropriation of $150,000 was made by
Congress for building the road from Wheeling to
Zanesville. Two years later an additional $170,000 was
allowed. The work was begun at St. Clairsville, July 4,
1828. Within the next two or three years it was being
carried through Guernsey county.
-
- The law
providing the appropriation provided further that the
road should go west on the straightest possible line.
This is the general course through Guernsey county. The
average cost per mile in this county was $3,400. This
included three inches of broken stone, masonry, bridges
and culverts.
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