Episode 1 of 1
Congressional Authorization of the Cumberland Road
- When
- March 29, 1806
- Where
- Seat of Government
- Part of
- Cumberland Road authorized
Congress authorized the construction of the first federal highway, the Cumberland Road, on March 29, 1806, with President Jefferson signing the act.
The act regulated the laying out and making of a road from Cumberland, Maryland, to Ohio. This legislation represented an unprecedented federal commitment to transportation infrastructure, initiating a long-term project that would eventually span hundreds of miles and influence national debates on internal improvements.
Sources
- National Road Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-12
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.