Roads are key component of economic development and community growth. The access roads provide enables commerce, education, health services, social opportunities, and more. Although their functionality is universally appreciated, rarely do we consider the historic significance of our roadways.
Below we take a look at a “Then & Now” of the Frederick stretch of the Historic National Road — a prominent highway that has been building and connecting our community for more than 200 years.
Then
As the country’s first federally funded highway, the Historic National Road provided a gateway to the west for thousands of settlers and travelers alike. Beginning in Baltimore, the National Turn-Pike reached Frederick and the Appalachians Mountains, before extending through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and ending in Vandalia, Illinois. The 33-mile Maryland portion of the original road was linked with privately constructed turnpikes to extend it to 170 miles in the state.
This 200-year-old road is often referred to as “The Main Street of America.” In its early days, the National Road thrived as it helped to open the American West to settlement and commerce. The new "smooth" road was responsible for opening Frederick to trade both east and west — quickly turning a small town into a city.
With the rise of railroad transportation in the 1850s, the turnpike became almost obsolete and deteriorated significantly. The road was rescued in the early 1900s as the increasing popularity of automobile travel led to its revival.
Learn more at: Drive the Historic National Road | How to Travel Around Frederick (visitfrederick.org)
Now
Today, you can trace the historic road along East Patrick Street, through downtown and out across Frederick’s Golden Mile.
Coming up alongside modern East Patrick Street are many of Frederick’s newest & coming soon residential & commercial development projects -- including Gateway East Plaza, Overlook East, 411 East Patrick Street, Union Knitting Mills, and the Downtown Hotel & Conference Center.
In Downtown Frederick, the East-West historic road (now Patrick Street) intersects with the North-South Market Street to form Frederick’s “Square Corner.” This iconic intersection is the hub of Downtown Frederick - which now hosts over 250 businesses, roughly 5,000 residents, and more a million visitors annually.
Continuing west leads to Frederick’s “Golden Mile” on Route 40. The land adajacent to the road underwent original major development in the 1970s. After decades serving as the commercial seat of the county, the area was hit hard by changing trends in the retail industry and faced major vacancies in the early 2000s. Recently, the area has experienced a surge of new investment and revitalization — including the Warehouse Cinemas project at District 40 (the former Frederick Town Mall), and the repositioning of Frederick County Square (the former home of K-Mart) to host Lidl, Ollies, Goodwill and Harbor Freight. Today, the Route 40 corridor alone delivers over 1.5 million SF of retail space, hosts 50,000 vehicle trips daily and is home to 117,000 people living within a 5 mile radius.
Interested in learning more about the current development projects and opportunities in Frederick? Contact the Department of Economic Development at business@cityoffrederickmd.gov.