The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1930-11-13
Northwestern Pike A Finished Route
(By Fred Graham, in The Baltimore
Sunday SUM

(By Fred Graham, in The Baltimore
Sunday SUM
Within the past few weeks the last
unpaved gap in the Northwestern
turnpike, one of the oldest and most
famous roads across the Allegheny
Mountains, was hard-surfaced and
the road that George Washington first
planned as a connection link between
the Eastern seaboard and the West
now stretches uninterruptedly from
the south branch of the Potomac, in
the East, to the Ohio river, in the
West, winding, twisting ribbon of
ashfalt.
This last stretch of dirt road on the
Northwestern turnpike, passing along
the outskirts of the city of Grafton,
W. Va, is slightly less than two miles
in length and when contractors
! finished their work the last detour on
the old road was removed. The
reason this short stretch has been
allowed to remain unimproved so long
is that Grafton wanted to have the
original line of the road changed so
as to bring the pike through the bust
ness section of the town rather than
along the outskirts. The State of
West Virginia, however, held to the
old line of the road and so it will be.
The Northwestern turnpike was
born of the demands of the early colo
nists for new road connecting Vir-
GINA with the West. The colonies
were growing rapidly and spreading.
Always it was toward the West that
they looked when they thought of ex-
pansion, and they realized that the
West could be opened up only when
there was some adequate means of
quick and safe transport. Pioneers
who had pushed westward returned to
their homes with glowing tales of the
virgin territory, and as often as they
spoke of the opportunities the West
offered they spoke of the lack of roads
connecting seaboard and hinterland.
The mountainous nature of the coun-
try made water transportation out OF
the question. There was only one way:
an overland route. Washington was
one of the first men of influence to
realize the value of road over the
Alleghenies, and he was vigorous in
his efforts to convince others that
such road was needed.
Some years before, as surveyor
and scout, Washington had pushed his
way to the Ohio river along old Indian
trails, and no man of his day was bet
ter acquainted with the country, its
value and possibilities. Nor was there
man who knew more positively how
difficult was passage from the Allan
tic to the Ohio.
The first white man who moved
westward across the Allegheny Noun
tains followed the same Indian trails
along the ridges of the mountains
Washington had trod. When travel
to the West grew heavier a more or
less regular road, known as the Nc
Cullough trail, was cut across the
mountains. At best the Mccullough
trail was little more than path and
suitable only for travel on foot. Start
ing at the south branch of the Po-
tomac river, the Mccullough trail
bent in a general northwesterly di-
rection and continued to the head
waters of the Youghiogheny river.
There it swung nearly due west and
held that course to Cheat river and
the Tygarts Valley river. At the
Tygarts Valley river it was known as
the Eastern trail and was more or
less indefinite from there to the Ohio
river. Rough and tortuous was the
Mccullough trail and hostile Indians
made travel over it extremely haz-
ardous, but for many years it en-
joyed the reputation of being the SAT-
est and best way to the Ohio river.
Nothing more was done about this
route across the Alleghenies until
after the Revolution, and in 1927 the
need of through road from East to
West was so patent, and public clam
or so insistent that the Virginia Legis-
lature passed bill providing for a
turnpike of minimum width of twen-
ty feet, by the most practical route,
from Winchester, Virginia, to some
point on the Ohio river, to be situated
by the principle engineer. Money to
build this improved trunk line" was
to be raised by subscription in Win
chester, Romney, Moorefield, Beverly
Kingwood, Pruntytown, Clarksburg
and Parkershurp The right to erect