Sources and further reading

Where this entry comes from

Oren F. Morton, A History of Preston County, vol. I (1914), ch. XXIII, pp. 203–204; National Park Service, National Road

Research notes

What the evidence establishes

The 1818 date marks completion of the Cumberland–Wheeling connection, not the beginning of construction or the road’s later western extensions. Morton’s 1914 history supplies the local market connection; the National Park Service corroborates the broader chronology. Morton’s characterization of prosperity is retrospective, not a quantified measure of economic growth.

The Hagans Homestead nomination documents Harrison Hagans’s later promotion of feeder roads. These connections should not all be dated to 1818. During construction beginning in 1811, the future Preston area was still in Monongalia County, Virginia. Preston was created January 19, 1818. The Maryland portion now in Garrett County was then in Allegany County; Maryland’s 1816 completion date concerns its section of the road.

The linked e-WV image is a map titled “Map of the National Road between Cumberland and Wheeling,” credited there to the Library of Congress and to Description of the United States & Travellers Directory. It is a map, not a photograph of the 1818 opening. A matching original Library of Congress catalog record and item-specific reuse statement have not been verified. The image is linked at e-WV and is not reproduced here.