Comments on: National Pike blogged

By: Steve Colby

Steve Colby — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:24:19 +0000

Just a note about a new project to document the history of the Cumberland Road / National Road and the people and towns that flourished alongside. (http://www.CumberlandRoadProject.com) The year 2011 is the 200th anniversary of the start of construction on the Road in Cumberland, MD.
Contributions are encouraged!

Regards,
Steve Colby

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 18:00:39 +0000

Thanks again Christopher, I envy your place of work!

Hi Mannie, sounds like you and I have similar feelings about it. History indeed.

By: Mannie Gentile

Mannie Gentile — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 01:29:22 +0000

Brian,

One of the really cool things that caught my eye upon moving from Michigan to Boonsboro were the milestones placed every mile between Boonsboro and Funkstown. Driving along, I turned to my wife and said “There’s history happening here”.

Mannie

By: Christopher Busta-Peck

Christopher Busta-Peck — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 20:43:35 +0000

Thank you for your kind words.

The next phase of my project is going to involve photographs in the Maryland Department at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, primarily from the Maryland highway administration and the Historic American Buildings Survey. The highway administration’s photographs illustrate the way the National Road was straightened, realigned, and changed to make for a safer, if more boring, drive – and they illustrate it better than any other source I’ve found, even the annual reports of the highway administration.

The photograph collection is quite extensive – somewhere around 25,000+ images – your readers might find a wealth of useful information there, too. With the weather as it is right now, it’s the perfect time to be inside doing research. The librarians in the Maryland Department would welcome your call.