The National Road West is the government’s first project

Boonsboro
May 8, 1811

Maryland builds the first interstate road. After Maryland completes a toll road from Baltimore to Cumberland with private funding, the Federal Government funds its first big project in 1811, a free National Road west from Cumberland to link the Potomac to the Ohio River at Wheeling.

Many Irish immigrants join the workforce on the road for subsistence pay. Their job is to break large rocks into small pieces to form a flat surface for the road. By 1837, the road stretches 620 miles and opens a new gateway to the west. A flood of settlers push into Indian lands.

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National Road Museum

MOSAIC PIECES

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Billie Holiday, iconic jazz vocalist

Billie Holliday (born Eleanora Fagan and raised in Baltimore) revolutionizes the style and approach to jazz singing. She releases her first hit at 17, “Riffin’ the Scotch”, recorded with Benny Goodman in 1933.

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Rembrandt Peale builds the first museum

Rembrandt Peale opens the first purpose-built museum in the US in August, 1814. As a fine arts gallery, it is short-lived, becoming city hall, a school for “colored” children, city water offices and now Baltimore’s Community Museum.

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Land Recognition

We acknowledge the enduring presence of many American Indian tribes who once lived in Maryland and who now, having lost their lands, live in a diaspora. Read more.

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