The Cumberland Road Project

Federal: General Information

   Home      Site Map/Main Index      Federal Index      Early Landmarks [1] [2]  



 

An Explanation of the Route Landmarks
Cited in the 1806 Cumberland Road Commissioner's Report [2]

Continued from Page 1...
Mouse Over Maps to Enlarge

...thence near Gwynn's and Jesse Tomlinson's

The Inn built by Jesse Tomlinson in 1818, still stands and is listed on the National Historic Register.

Tomlinson's Tumblestone Tavern

The MD Historic Trust's website has both a picture and a description. From the section of Significance:

"The Tomlinson Inn was one of the earliest hostelries on the National Road, America's first Federally financed highway. The road began in Cumberland and reached the Little Meadows by 1815. Three years later, Jesse Tomlinson built an inn, the Stone House, along the newly opened road. Tomlinson had previously operated a tavern, The Red House, on Braddock's Road located to the north. The tavern on the National Road, operated by tenants, not the Tomlinson family, flourished for several decades." Since the Tomlinson Inn dates from 1812, the Tomlinson's noted on the 1795 map and in the Commissioner's Report (1806) is, most likely, the Red House.



"...to cross the big Youghiogheny near the mouth of Roger's run, between the crossing of Braddock's road and the confluence of the streams which form the Turkey foot;"

Pennsylvania, 1792 by Reading Howell

I was unsuccessful in finding Roger's Run on any map but I did find it mentioned in this description of the town of Addison:
"Addison t-ship, (Township) Somerset co. bounded N. by Turkeyfoot t-ship, E. by Elklick t-ship, S. by the state of Maryland, and W. by Fayette co. Negro mountain lies on the E. and Youghiogheny r. (River) on the W. boundary. The latter receives from the town-ship, Castleman's (River). which runs along the N. boundary augmented by Negro Glade run, Jones run and Rogers run, which rise in the t-ship. The Cumberland or great national road enters the state in this t-ship, and upon it lies the posttown of Petersburg. Winding Ridge and Horse Hill are noted eminences." (Gazetteer-State of PA, 1832)

Gist's old place is, most likely, Gist's Plantation located near Uniontown:

"Gist's Plantation was the name given to a settlement Gist spearheaded for the Ohio Company between the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Rivers (near Uniontown, Pennsylvania) in 1752-1754. Part private homestead and part company town, it featured a fortified storehouse for the Indian trade and about a dozen settler families. Gist used his home there as a base for his business on behalf of the Ohio Company. During Washington's ill-fated campaign of 1754, it also served as a military headquarters. After the French took Fort Necessity in July 1754, they marched unchallenged to Gist's Plantation and burned the storehouse and Gist's home." (Explore PA History)

...thence through Brownsville and Bridgeport, to cross the Monongahela river below Josias Crawfords’ ferry;

Uniontown to Brownsville

Pennsylvania, 1792 by Reading Howell

Crawford's is slightly southwest of Brownsville and is marked by a dot. A Topographical Description of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and North Carolina (1778), notes Thomas Hutchins, a civil geographer, was:

"During the months January to May, 1785, ...engaged in preparing for his second surveying expedition. On January 28, however, he read before the American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia his Description of a remarkable rock and Cascade, near the western side of the Youghwgeny liner, a quarter of a mile from Crawford's ferry, and about twelve miles from UnionTown, in Fayette county, in the state of Pennsylvania."

"..and thence on as straight a course as the country will admit to the Ohio, at a point between the mouth of Wheeling creek and the lower point of Wheeling island."

Uniontown to Brownsville

New Jersey & Pennsylvania, 1839 by Burr

The Cumberland Road / National Road then travel through Washington, PA and on to Wheeling, WV.

It's interesting to note, The Cumberland Road and Gen. Braddock's part approximate company near the location of Braddock's Grave (east of Uniontown). From this point on, the Commissioner's route recommendations become rather ambiguous. (Commissioner's Report of 1806)

Map of Braddock's Military Road

Full Map Links:
- 1839 Pennsylvania (w/ National Road) by Burr - Rumsey Collection
- 1792 Pennsylvania by Howell - Rumsey Collection



   Home      Site Map/Main Index      Federal      Early Landmarks [1] [2]  

I invite you to share your family, business and town histories, information, photographs, references and observations. Your contributions will enhance our collective knowledge of a most important part of America's past.
Email me at: ~Steve Colby, Cumberland Road Project, Cumberland, MD


  Last Update: April 11, 2010