This is a real piece of transportation history! It is an authentic piece of the original Cumberland or National Road bed retrieved by the National Road Heritage Corridor organization during the construction of Pennsylvania Toll Road 43 in 2008. This new toll highway cut through a portion of the old National Road / U.S. Route 40 just east of Brownsville. A block of the old road section (which also included layers of later road improvements, including U.S. Route 40) was removed and saved to be put on display. Loose rocks from the National Road bed were also collected from the same area and saved. The included 3” rock was one of them. (When the original segment of the National Road, also known as the Cumberland Road, was built between 1811 and 1818, from Cumberland to Wheeling, road specifications required that the road bed be comprised of rock that had to pass through a 3” and 7” metal ring before being placed in the road bed. This 3” rock was one of those rocks that were handled, broken and put in manually put in place, probably by Irish immigrants some 200 years ago!) Included with the rock is a certificate of authenticity, picture of the National Road bed section from which the rock was retrieved, unique presentation box with artwork showing construction of the Cumberland Road and a map of the road upon completion in 1818, a time line of the road’s construction, and a clear acrylic display case. (NOTE: 100% OF THE PROFITS FROM THE SALE OF THIS ITEM WILL GO DIRECTLY TO THE NATIONAL ROAD HERITAGE CORRIDOR IN PENNSYLVANIA TO HELP IN FUTURE NATIONAL ROAD PRESERVATION EFFORTS. *** The packaging, graphics, logos and maps were created and put together by Mark Yarris, R.L.A. for Art In Time (www.artintimegallery.com). *** Packaging, graphics, logos, layouts, formats and construction methods are copyrighted, 2010 by Mark Yarris, R.L.A.
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