Editing National Road (section)

==Route description==
{{See also|U.S. Route 40 Alternate (Keyser's Ridge – Cumberland, Maryland)}}
[[File:S Bridge by Old Washington.jpg|thumb|right|The S Bridge on the National Road east of Old Washington, Ohio]]
[[File:Madonna of the Trail Richmond, IN.jpg|thumb|right|225px|Madonna of the Trail in [[Richmond, Indiana]], with the National Road in the background]]
In general, the road climbed westwards along the [[Amerindian]] trail known as Chief [[Nemacolin's Path]], once followed and improved by a young George Washington, then also followed by the Braddock Expedition. Using the [[Cumberland Narrows]], its first phase of construction crossed the [[Allegheny Mountains]] entered southwestern Pennsylvania, reaching the Allegheny Plateau in [[Somerset County, Pennsylvania]]. There, travelers could turn off to Pittsburgh or continue west through [[Uniontown, Pennsylvania|Uniontown]] and reach navigable water, the [[Monongahela River]], at [[Brownsville, Pennsylvania]], which was by then a major outfitting center and [[riverboat]]-building emporium. Many settlers boarded boats there to travel down the Ohio and up the Missouri, or elsewhere on the [[Mississippi watershed]].

By 1818, travelers could press on, still following Chief Nemacolin's trail across the ford, or taking a ferry to West Brownsville, moving through [[Washington County, Pennsylvania]], and passing into Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia), {{convert|45|mi|km|0}} away on the Ohio River. Subsequent efforts pushed the road across the states of Ohio and Indiana and into the [[Illinois Territory]]. The western terminus of the National Road at its greatest extent was at the [[Kaskaskia River]] in [[Vandalia, Illinois]], near the intersection of modern [[U.S. Route 51 in Illinois|US&nbsp;51]] and US&nbsp;40.

Today, travelers driving east from Vandalia travel along modern US&nbsp;40 through south-central Illinois. The National Road continued into Indiana along modern US&nbsp;40, passing through the cities of Terre Haute and Indianapolis. Within Indianapolis, the National Road used the original alignment of US&nbsp;40 along West and East [[Washington Street (Indianapolis)|Washington Street]] (modern US&nbsp;40 is now routed along [[Interstate 465|I-465]]). East of Indianapolis, the road went through the city of Richmond before entering Ohio, where the road continued along modern US&nbsp;40 and passed through the northern suburbs of Dayton, Springfield, and Columbus. 

West of [[Zanesville, Ohio]], despite US&nbsp;40's predominantly following the original route, many segments of the original road can still be found. Between Old Washington and Morristown, the original roadbed has been overlaid by [[Interstate 70|I-70]]. The road then continued east across the Ohio River into Wheeling in West Virginia, the original western end of the National Road when it was first paved. After running {{convert|15|mi|km}} in West Virginia, the National Road then entered Pennsylvania. 

The road cut across southwestern Pennsylvania, heading southeast for about {{convert|90|mi|km}} before entering Maryland. East of Keyser's Ridge, the road used modern Alt US&nbsp;40 to the city of Cumberland (modern US&nbsp;40 is now routed along [[Interstate 68|I-68]]). Cumberland was the original eastern terminus of the road. 

In the mid-19th century{{Citation needed|reason=20th century?|date=February 2025}}, a turnpike extension to Baltimore was approved—along what is now Maryland Route 144 from Cumberland to Hancock, US&nbsp;40 from Hancock to Hagerstown, Alternate US&nbsp;40 from Hagerstown to Frederick, and Maryland Route 144 from Frederick to Baltimore. The approval process was a hotly debated subject because of the removal of the original macadam construction that made this road famous.

The road's route between Baltimore and Cumberland continues to use the name National Pike or Baltimore National Pike and as Main Street in Ohio today, with various portions now signed as US&nbsp;40, [[U.S. Route 40 Alternate (Keysers Ridge–Cumberland, Maryland)|Alt. US&nbsp;40]], or [[Maryland Route 144]]. A spur between [[Frederick, Maryland]], and [[Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)]], now [[Maryland Route 355]], bears various local names, but is sometimes referred to as the Washington National Pike;{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}} it is now paralleled by [[Interstate 270 (Maryland)|I-270]] between the [[Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway)|Capital Beltway (I-495)]] and Frederick.