Day 5: August 13, 2024
The Ends Are Near

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Similar to the I noted in Dayton, OH, the NOTR passes right by the Baltimore National Cemetery.

I said that yesterday I reached (more or less) one of the NOTR's eastern termini. Neither the NOTR, which I'm driving eastbound, nor the PPOO, that I will take west, has any where near the modern documentation as other historic routes I've followed. I have in my possession 1925 and 1932 NOTR guides from the Automobile Club of Southern California, and a 1924 book titled The National Old Trails Road by Judge J. M. Lowe, then President of the NOTRA. The front cover describes the road as running "From Washington and Baltimore to Los Angeles". A clip from that book's fold out map is here. It shows the road going east from Frederick to Baltimore with a spur going to Washington. Both ACSC guides show the road ending at New York City after passing through Baltimore with no Washington connection. A clip from the 1925 map is here. The Wikipedia NOTR entry contains an undated map, attributed to the NOTRA with J. M. Lowe as president (Harry Truman replaced Lowe in 1926), that ends at NYC after passing through Washington but bypassing towns between Frederick and Baltimore. A clip from that is here.

So, despite what the ACSC indicates, I'm sure that the NOTR went to Washington (There's a Madonna in Bethesda!) and at one time probably ended near this bank building in Baltimore.


I long ago reached that age where I sometimes find myself entering a room and wondering "What am I here for?" Today it happened with a whole building. The bridge is on US-40 crossing the Susquehanna River between Havre de Grace and Perryville. Once I was over the river, I headed for a point I had recorded in my GPS a "PWBBridgePiers". Maybe I was supposed to see some historic bridge piers in the river or maybe I was just supposed to take a look at a place where George used to hang out. I will update this if I figure that out.

The NOTR did pass through Delaware's Twelve Mile Circle but I took no photos. These pictures are from Philadelphia, PA, and the congestion would pretty much continue in varying degrees from here on in.

I crossed the Delaware River on the East Bridge and ended the day in Trenton, NJ.

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