Skip to main content

The National Road - Maryland - US 40A: Middletown and Boonsboro

Just west of Frederick, Route 40 splits in two, the old road and the new road.  If you bear left and take US 40A, you will be on the old road.  Alternate Route 40 through Frederick and Washington Counties bridges centuries of American History.  Taverns and towns over 250 years old along with mountain passes that were of strategic importance during the Civil War are found along the 25 plus miles of this "old" road.

Middletown is a small village of nearly 4,000 residents sitting near the base of the South Mountains west of Frederick.  Middletown was in the center of activity during the days before the battle of Antietam.  In 1862, Union and Confederate forces in the early September days leading to Antietam would march along the National Road through the town.  The old National Road crosses South Mountain at Turner's Gap.  It was here that the Battle of South Mountain was waged on September 14, 1862.  The battle, a Union victory, is called the "Prelude to Antietam," which would occur three days later near Sharpsburg.  At Turner's Gap, six cast-iron tablets describe the battle. The tablets were placed along the National Road in 1897.  The tablets were moved to a safer distance from the road in 1987. (1)

The Old South Mountain Inn (Adam Prince)

In addition to being a battle site in the Civil War, there is more history at Turner's Gap.  First, the Appalachian Trail crosses the old National Road here.  Standing nearby is the Old South Mountain Inn. A long-standing structure that first opened in 1732.  Many early-American dignitaries stayed here. One lodger includes Henry Clay, who many consider as the father of the National Road.  The tavern was commandeered by John Brown's militia before their raid on Harpers Ferry.  During the Battle of South Mountain, it served as headquarters for Confederate General D. H. Hill.  Today, the tavern is well known throughout the area for its fine dining and American cuisine. (2)
 
Dahlgren Chapel (Adam Prince)

Across from the tavern and bordered by the Appalachian Trail is Dahlgren Chapel.  The chapel is named for and built by Sarah Madeleine Vinton Dahlgren in 1881.  Mrs. Dahlgren, who was a noted author, purchased what is now the Old South Mountain Inn in 1876.  She would transform it into a private residence.  She built the chapel as a Catholic Church.  Gothic in design, the chapel today can be used for weddings and other occasions. (3) 

The National Road through Boonsboro (Doug Kerr).
Sitting west of Turner's Gap is the town of Boonsboro.  The National Road through Boonsboro has historical significance as a 10-mile section of the road was the first to be built with a macadam surface in 1823.  The process, named for John Loudon McAdam, significantly improved the quality of the National Road. By 1830, 73 miles of the highway had been converted to a macadamized surface. (4)  Boonsboro has the distinct honor of being the first town or city in America to dedicate a monument to George Washington.  It took residents all of one day - July 4, 1827 - to build the tower.  The monument is located off the National Road and is part of Washington Monument State Park.

The Boonsboro Historic District is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and consists of much of Main Street.  Many of the buildings along Main Street (US 40A) date back to the National Road's peak period of 1820-1850.  The historic district has been on the register since 2005.  Additional photos of several of the historic buildings within Boonsboro are below. 


(Doug Kerr - October 2011)
(Doug Kerr - October 2011)
(Doug Kerr - October 2011)

Site Navigation:

Sources & Links:

  • (1) Central Maryland Heritage League Land Trust. "Turner's Gap." May 20, 2006.
  • (2) "A History of the Old South Mountain Inn" http://www.oldsouthmountaininn.com/history.shtml. May 18, 2006.
  • (3) Central Maryland Heritage League Land Trust "The Dahlgren Chapel." May 20, 2006.
  • (4) Federal Highway Administration. "1823 - The First American Macadam Road." May 20, 2006.
  • Brian Polidoro
  • US 40 @ MDRoads.net ---Mike Pruett
  • Town of Boonsboro
  • Town of Middletown
  • Central Maryland Heritage League Land Trust
  • Washington Monument State Park
  • Comments

    Popular posts from this blog

    Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

    In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l

    Mines Road

    Mines Road is an approximately twenty-eight-mile highway located in the rural parts of the Diablo Range east of the San Francisco Bay Area.  Mines Road begins in San Antonio Valley in Santa Clara County and terminates at Tesla Road near Livermore of Alameda County.  The highway essentially is a modern overlay of the 1840s Mexican haul trail up Arroyo Mocho known as La Vereda del Monte.  The modern corridor of Mines Road took shape in the early twentieth century following development of San Antonio Valley amid a magnesite mining boom.  Part 1; the history of Mines Road Modern Mines Road partially overlays the historic corridor used by La Vereda del Monte (Mountain Trail).  La Vereda del Monte was part of a remote overland route through the Diablo Range primarily used to drive cattle from Alta California to Sonora.  The trail was most heavily used during the latter days of Alta California during the 1840s. La Vereda del Monte originated at Point of Timber between modern day Byron and Bre

    Route 75 Tunnel - Ironton, Ohio

    In the Ohio River community of Ironton, Ohio, there is a former road tunnel that has a haunted legend to it. This tunnel was formerly numbered OH 75 (hence the name Route 75 Tunnel), which was renumbered as OH 93 due to I-75 being built in the state. Built in 1866, it is 165 feet long and once served as the northern entrance into Ironton, originally for horses and buggies and later for cars. As the tunnel predated the motor vehicle era, it was too narrow for cars to be traveling in both directions. But once US 52 was built in the area, OH 93 was realigned to go around the tunnel instead of through the tunnel, so the tunnel was closed to traffic in 1960. The legend of the haunted tunnel states that since there were so many accidents that took place inside the tunnel's narrow walls, the tunnel was cursed. The haunted legend states that there was an accident between a tanker truck and a school bus coming home after a high school football game on a cold, foggy Halloween night in 1