History of the National Road in Frederick County, MD 

If you’re traveling east or west through Frederick County, Maryland, you’re never far from one of the most important roads in American history.

The Historic National Road - designated an All-American Road by the Federal Highway Administration - is the first federally funded public road in the United States. Begun in 1806, it traces the story of early American transportation, economic growth, and westward expansion. Stretching more than 170 miles across Maryland and continuing west through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and into Illinois, it is the longest corridor in the National Scenic Byways system.

In Frederick County, the National Road is a living roadway - now largely U.S. 40 and U.S. 40 Alternate - that has connected communities, carried commerce, and shaped daily life for more than 200 years.

Why the National Road Matters

Roads are essential to economic and community growth. They enable commerce, education, health services, and social connection. Yet their deeper history often goes unnoticed as modern traffic passes by.

The Historic National Road reminds us that transportation corridors build places.

Historic Main Street Middletown was a pike town on the National Road

Frederick County has long been a crossroads. Before the National Road, early trails and wagon roads converged here because of geography, proximity to Baltimore’s growing port, and access through the Appalachian Mountains. When the federal government committed to building a “smooth” stone road west, Frederick became a critical link between the Atlantic world and the American frontier.

Then: The Road That Opened the West

As the country’s first federally funded highway, the National Road provided a gateway to the west for thousands of settlers, tradesmen, and travelers.

Beginning at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, the National Turnpike reached Frederick and crossed the Appalachian Mountains before extending through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and terminating in Vandalia, Illinois. The original Maryland portion measured roughly 33 miles, but when linked with privately constructed turnpikes, the road extended to more than 170 miles across the state.

Often called “The Main Street of America,” the National Road transformed Frederick from a small town on Carroll Creek into a thriving center of trade. Massive freight wagons - some with rear wheels nearly ten feet high - rolled through Frederick, Middletown, and New Market, drawn by teams of six horses. They carried western produce east to Baltimore and returned with dry goods, tools, and supplies.

Historic Downtown Frederick and its famed Clustered Spires

Taverns lined the road. Horses were changed. Drivers rested. Frederick became a natural stopping place, a hub of movement and exchange.

Famous figures traveled this route, including Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, Davy Crockett, James Polk, and Zachary Taylor. During the Civil War, the same road was used by armies on their way to the Battle of Antietam and the Battle of Monocacy and used by ambulances carrying wounded soldiers - serving as a literal lifeline in moments of crisis.

Decline and Revival

By the 1850s, railroads began to eclipse wagon travel. As iron rails replaced stone roads, the National Road fell into decline. Maintenance lagged and portions of the road deteriorated. What had once been America’s primary highway faded into the background.

That changed in the early 20th century.

With the rise of automobile travel, the old turnpike found new purpose. The National Road was revived, resurfaced, and reimagined as a modern highway. What had once carried wagons now carried cars - still following the same historic path through Frederick County’s valleys, towns, and mountain foothills.

By the early 20th century, the National Road also became a pathway for tourism. As automobile travel opened the countryside to middle-class Americans, Frederick County emerged as a popular destination for early road trippers drawn by history as much as scenery.

The Barbara Fritchie House once commemorated one of Frederick's most famous residents

Many came because of Barbara Fritchie. Immortalized in John Greenleaf Whittier’s widely read 1863 poem, her defiant stand during the Civil War turned Frederick into a national destination. Travelers followed the old National Road to see the town Whittier made famous, stopping at sites associated with Fritchie’s story and exploring a community already deeply shaped by the war. 

Nearby, visitors also made pilgrimages to the final resting place of Francis Scott Key at Mount Olivet Cemetery, tying Frederick to the origins of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and reinforcing the county’s place in the American story.

Francis Scott Key Memorial at Mount Olivet Cemetery

As heritage tourism grew, so did the diversity of travelers using the Historic National Road. During the mid-20th century, Frederick appeared in The Negro Motorist Green Book, signaling safe lodging and services for African American travelers navigating segregation-era America.

Together, these layers of tourism and travel - literary, patriotic, Civil War–focused, and community-based - helped cement the Historic National Road’s role as one of Maryland’s earliest and most enduring heritage tourism routes. You can learn more about this remarkable story at the National Road Museum just over the Frederick County line in nearby Boonsboro. 

Now: A Living Historic Highway

Today, the Historic National Road continues through Frederick County as U.S. 40 and U.S. 40A, passing through New Market, Downtown Frederick, and Middletown before climbing toward the Blue Ridge Mountains at South Mountain. 

Look closely and you can still find original stone mile markers, silent reminders of the road’s early engineering. Some remain in New Market and others along U.S. 40A in Middletown.

This is the same road that once carried pioneers west, evacuated Civil War wounded, and helped build Frederick’s economy. It is still doing what it has always done - connecting people to places.

A Road Worth Slowing Down For

Every mile on Historic National Road tells a story of movement, ambition, and adaptation. From early settlement to industrial change to modern travel, this road has shaped the community around it for more than two centuries.

Take the scenic route. Follow America’s first highway. And remember- before it was U.S. 40, before it was a scenic byway, this was the road that helped build a nation.

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