![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130306131231im_/http://www.free.ed.gov/images/arro5.gif) |
tells the story of the first road built with federal funds. Construction of the 632-mile road from Cumberland, Maryland, to Vandalia, Illinois, began in 1811. The aim was to improve trade between the east and the emerging western frontier and to avoid losing western trade to England in Canada or Spain in the Louisiana Territory. The website tells how the road was built, how people traveled on it, accommodations they found along the way, and more. (National Park Service)
![Go to this website](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130306131231im_/http://www.free.ed.gov/images/but_gotoweb.gif) |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130306131231im_/http://www.free.ed.gov/images/transp.gif) |