Gribblenation

  About halfway between St. Louis, Missouri and Indianapolis, Indiana along I-70 is the small town of Casey, Illinois, or rather, a small town with a lot of big things, such as the World's Largest Windchime and the World's Largest Rocking Chair. But while Casey is a nice place fit for a giant, the town had more humble beginnings, stemming back to the days of the historic National Road. Casey's beginnings can be found in a settlement named Cumberland, situated along the historic National Road in eastern Illinois. A post office named after Zadok Casey (who once represented Illinois in the United States Congress) was established at Cumberland in 1838, but was discontinued nine years later. As a result, Cumberland is now part of the city of Casey. The original town of Casey was first platted in 1851 and surveyed in 1853. Casey grew up as a farming community in the 19th Century, with 2 railroads serving the area, the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Doty Railroad. Casey was one of...

  Some 620 miles away from the historic National Road's eastern end in Cumberland, Maryland is the western end of the historic road in Vandalia, Illinois. The National Road (or Cumberland Road) was planned to go through and later built to Vandalia for a few reasons. Vandalia holds the distinction of being founded to serve as the state capital of the great State of Illinois. In 1819, the United States Congress donated land to the state of Illinois for a capital and five commissioners were assigned the task of picking the location for the future state capital that wasn't prone to flooding like the original state capital in Kaskaskia. A trip up the Kaskaskia River in May 1819 brought the group to an area known as Reeve's Bluff, located on the river's west bank, and this area was chosen to be the state capital and became Vandalia. The route of the National Road through Illinois was chosen because Vandalia was capital. Abraham Lincoln was in Vandalia early in his political c...

During a trip to Maryland a few years ago, I decided I wanted to visit the Washington Monument. No, not the famed Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., nor the Washington Monument that is located in Baltimore. Rather I wanted to visit the first Washington Monument to be constructed, which is located at Washington Monument State Park in Boonsboro, Maryland . The monument is easily accessed from the old National Road , signed as Alternate US 40 in this part of Maryland. Located atop South Mountain in Boonsboro, the Washington Monument is the first monument dedicated to the memory of George Washington, predating the more famous Washington Monument that is located in the nation's capital. According to the Maryland Historical Trust, the monument supposed to be modeled after a Revolutionary War cannon, but is often referred to as a jug or milk bottle. It looks like a milk jug to me. According a period newspaper account, on July 4, 1827 at 7 a.m., most of Boonsboro's 500 inhabit...