Spruce Forest Artisan Village History Walk

In 1806 Congress authorized and funded the construction of a National Road from Cumberland, MD to the Ohio River at Wheeling, WV. This National Road, also known as the National Pike or Cumberland Road, was our nation's first highway and truly the "gateway to the west."

During the Golden Age of "The Pike", 1842-1852, traffic on the road was immense. Up to fourteen stagecoaches per day, each way, used the road to carry passengers as far as the western frontier. Three daily mail coaches, each way, ran between Cumberland, MD and Uniontown, PA, with regular stops to change horses at Frostburg, Keyser's Ridge and Addison. Traffic on the road included not only stagecoaches, freighters and Conestogas, but also droves of cattle, sheep, pigs and turkeys.

Public inns, legally known as Ordinaries, flanked the highway, about one per mile. Three of the finest inns are local and have been preserved to this day. Little Crossings Inn, now Penn Alps Restaurant, is a prime log structure thought to be the only remaining one of its kind on the road. The Casselman Hotel in Grantsville is a fine hand-burned brick building. Tomlinson's stately Stone House Inn is located several miles east on The Pike. Little Crossings Inn and Tomlinson's served largely as stagecoach stops, while the Casselman was well equipped for drovers, with a large corral nearby.

Congressional appropriations for the National Road continued until 1835, when the states assumed control and erected toll gates and mileage posts. From 1852 to 1912, railroads gained dominance and The Pike declined. Stagecoaches and mail coaches stopped running about 1907. However, the advent of the automobile brought new life. Today, The Pike, along with the two parallel roads and bridges at Little Crossing, tells the story of westward expansion and regional development.

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Show me all markers in:  Grantsville, MD  |  Garrett County  |  21536  |  Maryland  |  United States of America

Mountain Maryland Gateway to the West Historical
Casselman River Bridge State Park
Miller House
Compton School
Castleman's River Bridge
Winterburg House
Glotfelty House
Site of the National Pike Blacksmith Shop
Markley House
Schrock Cabin

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