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United States, ca. 1840.
catalog
record
The first national road project was built to provide access
to the outlying "Northwest territories" located at
some distance from federal control in Philadelphia and, later,
Washington, D.C. The National Road eventually ran from Cumberland,
Maryland, to St. Louis, Missouri, providing an overland route
competitive with the Erie Canal, and important to the commercial
interest of the more developed, older port of Baltimore.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal ran from Georgetown, Washington,
D.C., to Cumberland, Maryland. Although it was originally planned
to extend to Pittsburgh, costs limited the canal to Cumberland
where it linked with the National Road, which led west to the
Mississippi and St. Louis, gateway to the West. |
Very early on, lines of communication developed
among the colonies. At first, coastal communication was the rule.
Indian paths and flatter routes of least resistance turned into
well-used stage coach roads, and then turnpikes and highways. Communication
by post followed the road network, as did the telegraph and railroad
networks as they moved across the continent.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal ran from Georgetown,
Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Maryland. Originally planned to
extend to Pittsburgh, Pa., costs limited the canal to Cumberland
where it linked with the National Road, which led west to the Mississippi
and St. Louis, gateway to the West.
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Morris Canal, ca. 1827.
catalog
record
The 100 mile long Morris Canal in New Jersey connected the Delaware
River to New York harbor, bringing Pennsylvania coal to its
New York City market. |
To read more about early means of travel
in the United States up to the completion of the trans-continental
railroad, please see Seymour Dunbar's History of Travel in America,
1915 catalog
record
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