The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-02-12
[From the Uniontown Genius.l
THE NATIONAL ROAD.
Its Origin and Results.
BY A. LIrrELL, Esl


county was thE grandest and most
fortunate eventsof it's history. 1t
wat built in 1878, the second year OF
Mr.. Monroe's administration, with
funds from the Nationa! treasury !;
commencing at Cumberland, Md,
and passing through the sovereign
States of Maryland, Pennsylvania
Virginia, Ohio and Indiana. AZ
act. Of CONGRESS, signed hystlla Pres
ident. required stiisSs isszsus s'aaIa'e ci8sis
pletion of this great work and it
was located Dy a corps of United
States Engineers, and carried through
under their direction, in violation of
States Rights, AS held and taught by
the Democratic party but in Obedi-
ence to great and overwhelming
necessity for binding the East and
West together as one Nation by a
physical and indispensable bond of
union and interest. A number of
States and several millions of people,
whose numbers and wealth were
daily and RAPIDLY increasing. were
severed by the mountains from access
to the. eastern seaboard and their own
National capital, except by the CIR
cuitous, expensive and dangerous
route by New Orleans and the Gulf.
This state of things and the Union
could not longer continue, and the
danger of a new Western capital of
new Union, having an easy and di
rect outlet down the Mississippi to
the seabeard was daily growing
greater. This, such far seeing men
as Henry Clay, Andrew Stewart,
Thomas Ewing, Gen. Lewis Cass
and Thomas H. Benton discovered
and averted the danger by passing
the Act to construct the National
Road clear across the great valley to
the Mississippi.
The National Road was very wide,
rock paved and carried through at
the low maximum grade of five de-
grees of elevation. 1t was splendidly
finished up; good enough for all, and
the better still, it Was free to all 1t
maintained its National character for
twelve years, until 1880, and was
then transferred, in excellent repair,
AS macadamized road to the States
through which it passed, in defer
ence to General Jackson's STATE Soy
ereignty ideas. But it had already
served its political purpose and
bridged the chaSm of disunion.
But my purpose is not to talk pol
itics, hut to tell you some things
about this road which you do not
knew, ut which / do, having been
there to see it located, and the stakes
stuck down the mountain, across the
old commons south of Woodstock,
and so on West, before there was a
shovelful of earth displaced and also
to see that great contractor Mordecai
Cochran, its builder, with his immor
tai Irish brigade, thousand strong,
with their carts, wheel barrOws,
picks. shovels and blasting tools,
grading those commons and climbing
the long mountain side up to Point
Lookout, like we'll trained army,
and leaving behind them as they
went, roadway good enough for an
emperor to travel over.
When the road was completed and
opened to the river at Brownsville
and still further west, it aggregated
to itself an amount of travel and
traffic which ne man of this genera
tion could credit. This demanded and
secured the immediate erection of
taverns aud immense sup
plies of provisions and forage at short
intervals all along the line, and
through the sixty miles Of
mountain where very little was
grown. Moses HOpwood laid out a
town at the foot of Laurel Hill, which
he called Monroe, and four or fiie
taverns with an immense business
soon made it a lively place. At the
tavern kept by Andrew McMasters.
and more recently by German D.
Hair, l have frequently seen from
forty to fifty great Conestoga six
horse teams, carrying from five to
six tons each, picketed around over
night in the yards and on the cem.
mons, and all other taverns about
equally full at the same time. There
were often two men with team, who
carried their own bedding, but all
these men and horses had to be fed
and cared for. And there were on
the road four or FIVE daily lines of
four horse maitland passenger coaches
each way, and private carriages in
nume.'able, all loaded with passen-
gers clliming food, drink and shell
ter. But the passengers on foot out
numbered and out eat them all. The