The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1900-01-25
TO REPAIR THE OLD ROAD.
Effort VIII be Made to Improve the
National Pike.
BRIDGES ARE GOING DOWN
and Maryland Both Inter
ested in the Project-Historic Inns
ON the Line-OId Spook House
Destroyed by Fire.

i
state authorities of both Maryland
and Pennsylvania in the preservation
Of the National road as monument
70 the efficacy of early engineering,
and at the same time provide a good
ia consonance with the lAtt'r
@, y. EisovenIenv -srn0ovrry :
highways. In Garrett county, es-
pscialy, the fine stone bridges on the
old National road are being permit
tedp go gradually into state OF
deca. Some have been dismantled
of Going stone, while in the case of
othei the parapet walls have been
thros into ravines which the bridg-
es spa. 1t is claimed by engineers
that he bridges could be restored to
the femer state at very little cost,
and tat as the road bed is still intact
macaam could be put on and the
road Fought up TO the high standard
it onctpOssessed.
The bridges on the old National
road Ge built mostly in rubble work,
very little cut stone being used in
theirsonstruction The finest speci-
men If this rubble work spans Cas-
selma river in Garrett county.
Youg river, Somertield,) The |
bridgehas a clear span of eighty feet.
The magnificent semi-circle arch
rises marty fifty feet above the water
level With its span and approaches
] ihe bridge measures 307 feet long by
|. a feetwid The bridge was design
ia and built in 1918 by David Shriver
sJr,
L Hisgrandnephew, Robert Shriver,
president of the First National Bank
/ ,of Cumberland and president of the
Cumberland City.council, now has the
Original plat of the road from the
ftwenty-first mile to Uniontowu, Pa,
lin his possession. David Shriver, Jr.,
!. was instructed to proceed with the
S7ffe aisv9s<,
tion - from the twenty first mil'
. (Cumberland) to Uniontown by Al
bert Gallatin, the secretary of th
treasury under President Jefferson
1 A letter from fSecretary Gallatin t.
/ Mr.. Shriver dated March 9, 1918, says
II approve of having a stone bridg
across the Little Youghiogheny." |
is said that this excellent piece c
engineering could be placed in as tirr
Y a condition as ever at cost OF no
J over $1,000 while not over seve
hundred dollars each would haYe t
Il be spent on the smaller stone struc
ures.
L The Maryland legislature, at tt
i term about to convene, will likely (
asked to create a commission to loo
| after the restoration of the road wit
/. it's bridges. There seems to be
4 growing spirit, which civil enginee
n are fostering, to maintain this hlg
+ way as a monument to the skill of tt
i early surveyors who gave the
Il brightest thoughts and considerable
| UUe COHo uCUlOI vi UAiS b ~
(s national highway, which is nc
IT, treated as an ordinary county roa
lis 1t is at present worked by superv
D. ors appointed by the county comm
ct sioners just as any ordinary dirt ro
p is looked after. Generally instead
he crushed stone dirt dug from the sid
ou of the road is thrown on the be
as This during rainy weather makes t
uusso thoroughfare almost impossible.
b. The primitive grandeur of mot
liz tain and valley along this highw
/ ~ II large measure SUN remains.
the automobile is coming into fash
S. it is claimed that the restoration
lis this road would bring great fame
i this section of Maryland and wo
cause the spirit of reverence for
l q forefathers to be increased.
builders of this road were cotemp(
I is neous with the signers of the De
ration of Independence. 1t is &C
1t IDENTIFY believed that Pennsylva
L aN Will IOllOW blle IJdCC WhlCIl uul 1
SIN, will set, and there are many in
@. a section who nurture the opinion
a5h- the great and historic thorough
fhe will be restored to it's former stat
utility. 1t is claimed that this
is rare case where sentiment and p
I ip tical utility can go hand in hand.
ul. On Saturday night last one of
( 4 famous inns of the old National r
known as the "Spook House." W
3 stood on the crest of Red Ridge,
"a half mile west of Shade Mills in
'e Y rett county, was totally destroye
10 "a fire. 1t is believed that the bull
was unintentionally fired by tr
who had sought shelter within
RI. walls. There is a theory that the