Fun Fact: Did You Know the First Part of America’s First Interstate Highway was Built in Howard County?

Question: Did You Know the First Part of America’s First Interstate Highway was Built in Howard County?

HoCo history

It’s true! The first part of America’s first “interstate highway” known as the Historic National Road was built in Howard County by the Ellicott Brothers. Dubbed the “road that built the nation,” it opened new land to exploration during the country’s time of Westward Expansion and also facilitated the movement of people, goods and livestock both east and westbound.

howard seal and mapThe Ellicotts made significant contributions to the area and the era. They helped create Ellicott’s Mills, one of the greatest milling and manufacturing towns in the east at that time. They built roads, bridges and a wharf in Baltimore, introduced the wagon brake and plaster as a fertilizer, erected iron works, a furnace, rolling mills, schools, a meeting house, shops and beautiful granite houses.

Source: Visit Howard County’s website

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