Highest Point on the Maryland State Roads System
Garrett County, Garrett County, Maryland
Marker Inscription
Elevation 3095 feet. Maryland State Roads Commission. J. N. Mackall, Chairman & Chief Engineer;L.T. Downey, District Engineer. Contractor: T. D. Claiborne Co. Inc., August Mencken.
The Story
In Maryland's mountainous far west, where the Allegheny highlands roll toward West Virginia, this plaque marks the loftiest spot the state's road network reaches — 3,095 feet above sea level in Garrett County. It dates from the era when the Maryland State Roads Commission was knitting the state together with modern paved highways, a decades-long push that turned rutted wagon roads into an engineered system. The named officials and contractor belonged to that generation of road-builders who carried the nationwide 'Good Roads' movement over some of the state's most rugged terrain.
Why it matters
It captures the ambition of early-20th-century American highway building, when states surveyed, graded, and paved their way across mountains to bind rural regions to the rest of the country.
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Related people
- · J. N. Mackall
- · L. T. Downey
- · August Mencken
Themes & tags
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