May 4, 2016 3 min read

The new republic that came together in the Revolutionary War could not be contained in its original 13 colonies. Its expansion westward across the continent was inevitable, and the construction of the National Road, authorized by President Thomas Jefferson, was the symbol of the nation’s destiny.

The turnpike’s history is celebrated annually with the National Road Festival. Once known as the Pike Festival, it’s had its ups and downs over the years. It’s been a big deal in some towns from Cumberland, Md., to Vandalia, Ill., and ignored in many others. The festival has been jokingly described as “the world’s longest flea market,” but efforts are being made in Washington County to use the festival to showcase our history.

After nearly 30 years of absence, the National Road Festival will return to the city of Washington May 21 and 22, and in no small way. The David Bradford House is planning guided house tours, demonstrations of 18th-century cooking and crafts and children’s activities. Food and modern craft vendors will take over the new Main Street Pavilion. The National Road Antiques Market will be at Julius LeMoyne House, right across Maiden Street – the National Road – from Francis LeMoyne House, which will be open for self-guided tours, and Madeleine’s Garden, which will host period artisans and vendors. There will also be activities at Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Arden and Frontier History Center at Washington Park, along with guided tours of Washington County Courthouse and historic buildings along the old pike through the city.

Work began on the National Road in Cumberland on May 11, 1811. Work slowed for lack of labor and money during the War of 1812, but by 1817 had reached the Monongahela at Brownsville.

The route from there to Wheeling along the Ohio River in what was then Virginia was bitterly contested. Surveyors suggested a rather direct route that would have passed several miles south of Washington, but the borough’s population then of about 1,300 was so vociferous as to persuade President James Madison to choose a longer route that passed through the borough and through Alexandria, now West Alexander.

Although the turnpike would not be officially completed until 1820, the first stagecoach, carrying the U.S. mail, made it across completed and uncompleted stretches of the road to Wheeling on Aug. 8, 1818.

Had the surveyors been more persuasive, Washington would have lost its lucrative traffic to such places as Lone Pine, Prosperity and Pleasant Grove.

The pike did, however, bring prosperity to Washington; it became known as a “village of taverns.” But the people passed through and did not stay. In 1840, the borough’s population was still little more than 2,000. It would take the oil and gas boom of the 1880s to transform the sleepy agricultural village into a booming industrial town.

Washington is a most logical place for the history of the National Road to be celebrated, and bringing festivities here is an effort that deserves public support.

It is a shame, however, the Tourism Promotion Agency, now at Southpointe, is no longer located in the old B&O train station on South Main Street, where it might have been an integral part of the festivities. Bringing the National Road Festival back to town is a smart move; bringing the TPA back to town would be good, too.