# United States Statutes at Large/Volume 2/9th Congress/1st Session/Chapter 19

The National Road (also known as the Cumberland 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. Warning: template has been deprecated.
Chap. XIX.—An Act to regulate the laying out and making a road from Cumberland, in the state of Maryland, to the state of Ohio.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States ​Three disinterested persons to be appointed commissioners to lay out a road.be, and he is hereby authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, three discreet and disinterested citizens of the United States, to lay out a road from Cumberland, or a point on the northern bank of the river Potomac in the state of Maryland, between Cumberland and the place where the main road leading from Gwinn’s to Winchester, in Virginia, crosses the river, to the state of Ohio: whose duty it shall be, as soon as may be, after their appointment, to repair to Cumberland aforesaid, and view the ground, from the points on the river Potomac herein before designated, to the river Ohio; and to lay out in such direction as they shall judge, under all circumstances, the most proper, a road from thence to the river Ohio, to strike the same at the most convenient place, between a point on its eastern bank, opposite to the northern boundary of Steubenville, in said state of Ohio, and the mouth of Grave creek, which empties into the said river, a little below Wheeling, in Virginia.
Width, &c. of the road.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the aforesaid road shall be laid out four rods in width, and designated on each side by a plain and distinguishable mark on a tree, or by the erection of a stake or monument, sufficiently conspicuous, in every quarter of a mile of the distance, at least, where the road pursues a straight course so far or farther, and on each side, at every point where an angle occurs in its course.
Commissioners to present a plan of the road to the President, &c.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the commissioners shall, as soon as may be, after they have laid out said road, as aforesaid, present to the President an accurate plan of the same, with its several courses and distances, accompanied by a written report of their proceedings, describing the marks and monuments by which the road is designated, and the face of the country over which it passes, and pointing out the particular parts, which they shall judge require the most and immediate attention and amelioration; and the probable expense of making the same passable in the most difficult parts, and through the whole distance: designating the state or states, through which said road has been laid out, and the length of the several parts which are laid out on new ground, as well as the length of those parts laid out on the road now travelled.President authorized to accept or reject it, and to pursue measures for having it executed. Which report the President is hereby authorized to accept or reject, in the whole, or in part. If he accepts, he is hereby further authorized and requested to pursue such measures, as in his opinion shall be proper, to obtain consent for making the road, of the state or states, through ​which the same has been laid out. Which consent being obtained, he is further authorized to take prompt and effectual measures to cause said road to be made through the whole distance, or in any part or parts of the same as he shall judge most conducive to the public good, having reference to the sum appropriated for the purpose.
Mode in which the road is to be made.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That all parts of the road which the President shall direct to be made, in case the trees are standing, shall be cleared the whole width of four rods; and the road shall be raised in the middle of the carriage way with stone, earth, or gravel and sand, or a combination of some or all of them, leaving or making, as the case may be, a ditch or water-course on each side, and contiguous to said carriage way: and in no instance shall there be an elevation in said road, when finished, greater than an angle of five degrees with the horizon. But the manner of making said road, in every other particular, is left to the direction of the President.
Compensation of the commissioners. Commissioners authorized to employ surveyor, chainmen, &c. &c. Their compensation.Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That said commissioners shall each receive four dollars per day, while employed as aforesaid, in full for their compensation, including all expenses. And they are hereby authorized to employ one surveyor, two chainmen, and one marker, for whose faithfulness and accuracy, they, the said commissioners, shall be responsible, to attend them in laying out said road, who shall receive in full satisfaction for their wages, including all expenses, the surveyor three dollars per day, and each chainman and the marker, one dollar per day, while they shall be employed in said business; of which fact, a certificate signed by said commissioners shall be deemed sufficient evidence.
Specific appropriation. President authorized to draw for the whole or a part of the sum appropriated. Out of what fund the money is to be paid. 1802, ch. 40.Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the sum of thirty thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby appropriated, to defray the expense of laying out and making said road. And the President is hereby authorized to draw, from time to time, on the treasury, for such parts, or at any one time, for the whole of said sum, as he shall judge the service requires. Which sum of thirty thousand dollars, shall be paid, first, out of the fund of two per cent. reserved for laying out and making roads to the state of Ohio, by virtue of the seventh section of an act passed on the thirtieth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and two, intituled “An act to enable the people of the eastern division of the territory northwest of the river Ohio, to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the Union, on an equal footing with the original states, and for other purposes.” Three per cent. of the appropriation contained in said seventh section, being directed by a subsequent law, to the laying out, opening, and making roads within the said state of Ohio. And secondly, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, chargeable upon, and reimbursable at the treasury by said fund of two per cent. as the same shall accrue.
President to make a statement to Congress of the proceedings under this act.Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the President be, and he is hereby requested, to cause to be laid before Congress, as soon as convenience will permit, after the commencement of each session, a statement of the proceedings under this act, that Congress may be enabled to adopt such further measures, as may, from time to time, be proper, under existing circumstances.
Approved, March 29, 1806.