Road Work
In 1811, congressional leaders saw the need for a way to travel between growing cities across the then-fledgling United States, so they authorized construction of the National Road, the first federal highway designed to provide safe and fast transportation to the West. The road began in western Maryland and stretched 620 miles west into southern Illinois.
Now, in the Maryland town of Boonsboro, local history lovers are opening the National Road Museum to honor the highway system and to tell its story to visitors who have come to drive along the remnants of that byway. Expected to open later this year, the museum will feature exhibits such as “Road Origins,” “National Road Engineering,” “Vehicles Through Time” and “Civil War Logistics.” Exhibits will make use of photographic murals, maps, artwork, historic images, video, artifacts and outdoor models.
Boonsboro sits in Maryland’s Civil War Heritage Area, not far from Antietam National Battlefield and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.
History in the Suburbs
Silver Spring is best known as a ritzy suburb of Washington, D.C., sitting just six miles from the nation’s capital. But in addition to lobbyists, political operatives and other power players, the town is home to Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park, which is dedicated to telling the stories of life in Maryland during the 1800s.
The park has a number of elements, including a historic manor house. The newest development is the Woodlawn Museum. Built in a 19th-century stone barn behind the main manor house, the museum tells the story of the farm that once thrived at the site as well as that of the surrounding community, and the role that both played in the Underground Railroad.
Groups that visit the new museum will learn about the area’s strong Quaker heritage and the sizable communities of free blacks in the area. Guided tours of the house and museum are available, and group leaders can also arrange guided Underground Railroad hiking experiences on nearby trails.
Museum Makeover
For years, the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum was an official institution of the U.S. Navy. But after recent federal budget changes cut the museum’s funding, locals stepped in, along with the St. Mary’s County government, to preserve the museum as a private, nonprofit entity. Along the way, they started a capital campaign that raised millions of dollars and allowed for the construction of new museum facilities.
Today, visitors to the museum in southern Maryland can learn all about the aviation research, development, testing and evaluation done by the Navy on the Patuxent River. Unlike many aviation museums that highlight popular aircraft, this one focuses on the developmental process and features displays of some prototypes and other aircraft that were never produced.
The museum has an outdoor aircraft park with 21 naval aircraft. Interior exhibits include drones, ejection seats, test instruments and other technology, as well as flight simulators that guests can use to experience flight.
