Brady J. Crytzer

The core idea behind the American public works endeavor that came to be known as “The National Road” was to facilitate transportation from the eastern seaboard to the American West—initially to the Ohio River region, later to the Mississippi and beyond. Yet as Brady Crytzer shows in The National Road: George Washington and America’s First Highway West, that idea was basically the only thing about the national road that stayed the same in the course of its long life.

Some birthdays are worth celebrating. On Friday, April 10, the Trump administration announced plans to construct a new archway celebrating the 250th anniversary of America’s founding. Designed to stand 250-feet tall, it would tower over most of the Washington skyline. Situated between the Lincoln Memorial and the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery, the proposed “Triumphal Arch” would forever alter the face of the nation’s capital. The blowback was immediate and fierce.

The National Road: George Washington and America's First Highway West by Brady J. Crytzer Timed for America’s 250th anniversary, The National Road is the story of a new republic forging unity through ambition and action, driven by George Washington’s youthful dream to build the nation’s first highway west.