Day Odyssey Series/Historic Maryland: National Pike to Keysers Ridge

My first crossover video! Maryland history combined with an odyssey!

We'll explore the Maryland's portion of the historic National Pike; a road often taken for granted due to the more famous Route 66. The latter was a great 1960s TV series, but the Pike is more historic-and older.

The significance? The Pike is the only road in history having been planned and built by the feds. Except for short road stretches in national parks the Pike is the only road paid for entirely by the government.

Technically beginning in Cumberland and going west from there, it's the Pike that started the east-west population migration. But-business folks in Baltimore didn't wanna be left out, so Baltimore banks got together and pitched in for a connecting route to the start of the Pike in Cumberland, and the resulting "bank road (as it was known)" became the Pike's eastern extension. Of course, realignments occurred throughout the ages and the road eventually became US 40. The rest is...history.

In this presentation we try to keep on the original route as much as possible, but between reroutes and the coming of interstates 70 and 68, that can be a challenge. But-I give it my best shot! There's even an old section I myself haven't seen before included here!

We'll see historic pike bridges, the first asphalt road in America, an entrance to a cave I used to explore, the C&O Canal, a mountain with an interesting name, an oddity, and loads of great scenery! This trip ends in Garrett County-Maryland's Great Northwest (in and of itself worth an odyssey). Hard to believe this road comes out of downtown Baltimore!!

Much of this route was in the July 2014 vid, but this one shows stuff not in that vid. Come along-I'll let you ride shotgun!

Done on May 8 2016. WRONG year at end of vid! OOPS!

Related videos:

Intro to a Pike documentary I tried making in 1996. The doc didn't turn out as I hoped-the intro is actually better:
   • National Pike Documentary Intro  

The 2014 odyssey with the Cumberland WMRY station interior:
   • Day Odyssey Series: National Pike and...  

Classic Western Maryland Scenic RY from 1997:
   • Classic Western Maryland Scenic Railw...  

Video showing train stuff in Cumberland (and WV locations) in the 1980s:
   • Train Stuff in Grafton WV/Frostburg M...  

1980s view from Lovers' Leap:
   • Lovers' Leap-Cumberland MD Narrows