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Top of page
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Introduction
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The National Road or Cumberland Road was
one of the first major improved highways in the United
States, built by the Federal Government.
Construction began in 1811 at Cumberland, Maryland, on the Potomac
River, and the road reached Wheeling, Virginia (now West
Virginia) on the Ohio River in 1818. Plans were made to continue
through St. Louis, Missouri, on the Mississippi River to Jefferson City, Missouri, but funding
ran out and construction stopped at Vandalia, Illinois in 1839. A chain of turnpikes
connecting Baltimore, Maryland, to the National Road at
Cumberland was completed in 1824, forming what is somewhat erroneously
referred to as an eastern extension of the National Road. This eastern
portion of the National Road is generally referred to as the Cumberland Road. In 1835 the road east of Wheeling was
turned over to the states for operation as a turnpike, and came to be known
as the National Pike, a name also applied to the Baltimore extension. The approximately 620-mile (1000 km)
road provided a portage
between the Potomac and Ohio Rivers
and a
gateway to the West for
thousands of |
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thumbnail map to view a full-sized image |
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settlers. It was the first
road in the U.S. to use the new macadam road surfacing. Today the alignment is followed by U.S.
Highway 40 with only minor realignments. The full road, as well as its
extensions east to Baltimore and west to St. Louis, was designated "The
Historic National Road", an All-American Road, by U.S. Secretary of Transportation
Norman Y. Mineta in 2002. |
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Road Trip
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If you have traced your 18th
or 19th century ancestors to any of the counties listed below it
is quite possible that they traveled to that location along this migration
route. Therefore you may find
additional relevant information about your ancestral lineages by taking the
following road trip through these localities. |
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COUNTY
(Road Trip Segment) |
COUNTY
(Road Trip Segment) |
COUNTY
(Road Trip Segment) |
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Allegany County, MD
(3) Baltimore City, MD (1) Baltimore County, MD (1) Bedford County, PA (3) Belmont County, OH (5) Berkeley County, WV (2) Bond County, IL (12) Brookfield County, WV (5) Carroll County, MD (1) Champaign County, OH (7) Clark County, IL (11) Clark County, OH (7) Clay County, IN (10) Coles County, IL (11) Coshocton County, OH (6) Crawford County, IL (11) Cumberland County, IL (11) Darke County, OH (8) Delaware County, IN (9) Delaware County, OH (7) Edgar County, IL (11) Effington County, IL (12) Fairfield County, OH (6) Fayette County, IL (12) Fayette County, IN (8) |
Fayette County, PA (4) Franklin County, OH (7) Frederick County, MD (1,2) Garrett County MD (3) Greene County, OH (7) Greene County, PA (4) Guernsey County, OH (5,6) Hamilton County, IN (9) Hancock County, IN (9) Harrison County, OH (5) Hendricks County, IN (10) Henry County, IN (9) Howard County, MD (1) Jasper County, IL (11) Jefferson County, WV (2) Johnson County, IN (9) Licking County, OH (6) Madison County, IN (9) Madison County, OH (7) Marion County, IN (9) Marshall County,
WV (5) Miami County, OH (8) Mineral County, WV (3) Monongalia County, WV (4) Monroe County, OH (5) |
Montgomery County, IL (12) Montgomery County, MD (1) Montgomery County, OH (8) Morgan County, IN (10) Morgan County, WV (2,3) Muskingum County, OH (6) Noble County, OH (5) Ohio County, WV (5) Owen County, IN (10) Parke County, IN (10) Perry County, OH (6) Preble County, OH (8) Putnam County, IN (10) Randolph County, IN (8) Rush County, IN (9) Shelby County, IL (12) Shelby County, IN (9) Somerset County, PA
(3) Sullivan County, IN (11) Union County, IN (8) Union County, OH (7) Vermillion County, IN (10) Vigo County, IN (10, 11) Washington County, PA (4) Wayne County, IN (8) |
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= Counties
where our direct ancestors were either, born, married, died or known to have
resided. |
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Genealogy Road Trip
This “Genealogy Road Trip” is divided into segments that require
between 1 and 2 hours of driving time. The entire 1,100 mile journey should take
approximately 20
hours to drive at 55 miles per hour. Within each segment you will find links to
resources* that will assist you in planning a successful and enjoyable
experience. The following maps are
designed to show a close-up view of the counties and communities along this
migration route. Relevant county seats
are designated with a |
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Baltimore City, MD to Frederick, MD |
Frederick, MD to Hancock, MD |
Hancock, MD to Addison, PA |
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Addison, PA to Claysville, PA |
Claysville, PA to Cambridge, OH |
Cambridge, OH to Wagram, OH |
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Wagram, OH to Donnelsville, OH |
Donnelsville, OH to Cambridge City, OH |
Cambridge City, OH to Bridgeport, OH |
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Bridgeport, OH to Terre Haute, IN |
Terre Haute, IN to Woodbury, IL |
Woodbury, IL to Vandalia, IL |
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SOURCES: (1) Wikipedia; (2) The USGenWeb Project; (3) National Register of Historical Places |
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Baltimore City, MD to Frederick, MD |
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Driving Distance = 56 miles;
Driving Time = approximately 1.00 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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General Profile |
Genealogy & History
Resources |
Historical Sites |
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Frederick, MD to Hancock, MD |
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Driving Distance = 59 miles;
Driving Time = approximately 1.25 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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General Profile |
Genealogy & History
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Hancock, MD to Addison, PA |
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Driving Distance = 70 miles;
Driving Time = approximately 1.75 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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General Profile |
Genealogy & History Resources |
Historical Sites |
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Addison, PA to Claysville, PA |
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Driving Distance = 81 miles;
Driving Time = approximately 1.75 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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General Profile |
Genealogy & History
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Claysville, PA to Cambridge, OH |
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Driving Distance = 71 miles; Driving Time = approximately 1.25 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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General Profile |
Genealogy & History
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Cambridge, OH to Wagram, OH |
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Driving Distance = 65 miles;
Driving Time = approximately 1.25 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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General Profile |
Genealogy & History
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Wagram, OH to Donnelsville, OH |
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Driving Distance = 73 miles;
Driving Time = approximately 1.50 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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General Profile |
Genealogy & History
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Donnelsville, OH to Cambridge City, OH |
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Driving Distance = 74 miles;
Driving Time = approximately 1.50 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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General Profile |
Genealogy & History
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Cambridge City, OH to Bridgeport, OH |
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Driving Distance = 60 miles;
Driving Time = approximately 2.00 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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General Profile |
Genealogy & History
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Bridgeport, OH to Terre Haute, IN |
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Driving Distance = 62 miles;
Driving Time = approximately 1.75 hours |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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General Profile |
Genealogy & History
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Terre Haute, IN to Woodbury, IL |
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Driving Distance = 53 miles;
Driving Time = approximately 1 hour |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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General Profile |
Genealogy & History
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Woodbury, IL to Vandalia, IL |
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Driving Distance = 52 miles;
Driving Time = approximately 1 hour |
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Click on the map to view a full-sized image |
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General Profile |
Genealogy & History
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Internet Resources
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The Google search engine button
and following web sites
may provide you |
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with additional information to assist with your research about this topic.
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· Migration Routes, Roads &
Trails · Trails West - TNGenWeb · Historical
U.S. roads and trails - Wikipedia · U.S. Historical Maps -
Perry-Castañeda Collection · Early
American Roads and Trails |
· American
Migration Fact Sheets · Map guide to American
migration routes,1735-1815 · The Overland Trail
Links--Ancient Indian Trails · Migration
Message Boards – Ancestry.com · The African-American Migration
Experience · Migration Trails – map of many U.S. trails |
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· A Guide to the National
Road - A book by Karl
Raitz. · Historical National Road - Indiana portion · History Magazine - The National Road
· The National Road
- A book by Karl
B. Raitz. · The National Road - Description and map from the N P S. |
· The National Road
- Map by Beverly Whitaker.
· National Road Association of Illinois - Effingham, Il · National Road/Zane Grey Museum ~ Ohio Hist. Society · Road through the Wilderness:
The Making of the National Road · National
Road - MINERRD.COM |
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Download a free 2-page Fact Sheet |
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about American migration routes |
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The following Link will take you to our
library of genealogy reference books.
Here you will find books about historic
American roads, trails, and paths. In
addition, there are texts that pertain to ethnic and religion groups, history, geography as well as other books that will assist you with
your research. |
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This Link will take you to our |
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collection
of reference books. |
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Image Gallery
During
our research we have collected images and photographs that are of general
interest to a variety of historic American roads, trails and migration. Some of them are presented on this website
because we believe they tend to provide the reader with additional
information which may aid in the
understanding of this topic as well as our ancestors past lives. |
Searight’s
Tollhouse, Uniontown, Pennsylvania |
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Use this LINK to see the “Image |
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Gallery” that pertain to this
topic. |
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Use the power of Google™ to find more interesting images about
this topic. This button will link you to the Google Images Search page.
Enter the topic
you are |
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searching in the box and
click “Search Images”. At the “Images” display page you will see the
image, as well as the website of which it is associated. |
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Contact Information
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Snail mail: Fred USA |
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Pony Express: Tom Sooke, BC V9Z 0Y7 Canada |
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%20NORTH-CENTRAL%20LAKES%20PLAINS/NATIONAL%20ROAD/NationalRoadentireroute.JPG)
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beginning and end points of each segment are noted with a 
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