The Cumberland Road

By Jack KramerPeriod 3

Cumberland Road

• The Cumberland Road was built in 1811 at Cumberland, Maryland, on the Potomac River.

• It crossed the Allegheny Mountains and Southwestern Pennsylvania, reaching Wheeling, West Virginia.

• It was then planned to continue through St. Louis, Missouri but funding ran out and construction stopped at Vandalia, Illinois in 1838.

History Of Road

• The road was used during the Braddock expedition, an attempt to assault the French Fort Duquesne by General Braddock and George Washington.

• Construction of the Cumberland Road was authorized on March 29, 1806, by President Thomas Jefferson.

• 5 years after funding they started in 1811.

More Information

• The Cumberland Road is also called the National Road.

• Thomas Jefferson appointed a board of commissioners to decide upon the exact route through which the extended road would run.

• Most of the construction was done in 1815 because of the War of 1812.

Other Information

• The Cumberland Road cost the government around $7,000,000 dollars.

• It was the first American interstate highway.• On April 1st, 1835, the road became a turnpike.

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