The federal government financed the road.
The National Road (today's US Route 40) extended as far west as Vandalia, Illinois, by 1852, where construction stopped.
The national road or Cumberland Road was the first major improved road built by the US federal government. It was started in 1811. It began at Cumberland, MD. and ran to Vandalia, ILL, stopping short of its original destination of St.Louis,MO. It was approximately 620 miles long. US 40 now follows mostly the same route.
national road
Cumberland (National) Road
the national road
The federal government financed the road.
The National Road
It helped in communication
a national road
The transcontinental railroads was financed by the Railway Act of 1863, which financed the construction of the railroad through loans and land grants.
DeWitt Clinton
The National Road (today's US Route 40) extended as far west as Vandalia, Illinois, by 1852, where construction stopped.
The National road was important because it was the first highway to be built by the government. The road's construction began in 1811 and reached West Virginia in 1818. The road follows much of what is now US-40.
The first contracts were given in 1811, and the construction was delayed until 1815 due to the War of 1812.
The National Road was the first major highway in the United States. The initial stage of the project began in 1811; but it took a long period of time to build the road, and the project finally came to an end in 1839. In the midst of the building of the National Road, work began on the Erie Canal, starting in 1817. The canal was opened for traffic in October 1825. Thus, there were six years between when the National Road's construction began and the construction of the Erie Canal was started.
It was built provide a portage route between the Potomac River and the Ohio River.