Traveling the National Road: Across the Centuries on America's First Highway

By Merritt Ierley

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879513942
• ISBN13: 9780879513948
• Release Date: August 1990
• Publisher: Overlook Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 4.4" x 7.2"

Customer Reviews

Fascinating 19th Century Travel Accounts

A history of how the road began plus wonderful firsthand accounts from the writings of people who traveled the road in it's heyday. Find out what is was like to ride in a carriage or wagon, and partake of the hospitality of taverns in the early to mid 19th century. Find out also what it was like to take a nostalgia trip on the road when it had fallen out of favor due to competition with railroads and traffic was scarce. Eerily reminiscent of today's Route 66 nostalgia buffs who gaze upon the ruins of old cafes and gas stations and think about days gone by. On the National Road in the 1870s, travelers could meditate on the ruins of taverns, smithies and toll gates. Some of the selected writers have a real gift for language and will touch your heart. There are maps and illustrations throughout the book. The maps are not detailed enough to use for attempting to drive the road today, to the extent that it's possible. There is a chapter toward the end about a modern-day trip down the road. It is not detailed enough to use as a guide but may very well pique your interest enough to seek out such a guide. I know I'm intrigued enough to see if one exists.