Mile Marker 14

Mile Marker 14. . , You are standing at Mile Marker 14, a historic stone marker located at the intersection of US Route 40 and MD 144, formerly known as the Pine Orchard hamlet. Although it has worn away over time, hand-chiseled letters read 14 M To B, meaning 14 miles to Baltimore. Mile Marker 14 (Historic Site Inventory #595) is one of 34 remaining markers out of the original 45 that denotes the mileage from Frederick to Baltimore and on the Baltimore and Frederick-Town Turnpike (MD 144), also known as the old National Pike. This tradition of stone markers dates back over 2,000 years to the road builders of the Roman Empire, and it continued in 19th century America., Mile stones were a welcome sign for travelers in horse-drawn carriages or wagons. Overloaded wagons often covered only a few miles a day. Although built to last, the permanency of some mile stones has been usurped by road improvements that accommodated modern travelers. Only a few remain in their original location, primarily installed on the north side of the road., The National Road was the first federally-funded highway in the United States. In the early 1800s, Congress approved funds to connect the Port of Baltimore with the expanding lands, creating the primary gateway to the Midwest. Cumberland, Maryland was to be the eastern starting point on the National Road. The Baltimore and Frederick Turnpike Company began in 1805, and in 1807 the ten miles that parallel Route 40 (now Frederick Road) were completed. The opening of the National Road saw thousands of travelers in covered wagons heading west over the Allegheny Mountain seeking new settlements. The road also became a corridor of moving goods and supplies. Small towns and hamlets along the National Road's path began to grow and prosper as did the development of roadside taverns, wagon stands, blacksmith shops, and livery stables. Taverns were probably the most important and numerous businesses found on the National Road. It is estimated that there was about one tavern situated on every mile of the road., The Pine Orchard hamlet had several businesses built in the mid-nineteenth century, including a blacksmith shop, store and the "Pine Orchard Hotel," a stone building originally constructed c. 1840. The 1878 Atlas also shows an African Methodist Episcopal church in the hamlet and census data reveals large numbers of African American farmers lived in proximity to the Pine Orchard Hotel. By the 1960s, the stone building was sold and converted into a liquor store which is what stands there today. (See more on the Pine Orchard Hotel in the sidebar.), With the expansion of railroads and the canal system, the National Road experienced a decline in the mid to late 1800s, putting taverns out of business. The Federal Highway Act of 1921 established a program of federal aid to encourage the states to build "an adequate and connected system of highways, interstate in character." In 1926, the grid system of numbering highways was in place, thus creating US Route 40 out of the remnants of the National Road. Route 40 served as a major east-west artery until the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 created the interstate system, and much of the traffic was diverted away from the old National Road., This portion of the old National Road is still in use today by a variety of road users including bicyclists. Over the years, taverns have been replaced by modern roadside businesses. The two-lane roadway today is dotted with old inns, tollhouses, diners, and motels that trace 200 years of American history., [Sidebar:] , Pine Orchard Hotel , Located on the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties, the Pine Orchard Hotel was constructed c. 1840. The building, a "stone's throw away" from Mile Marker 14, is located on a small remnant of a larger property known during the early nineteenth century as "The Plantation." Anna M. Hopkins (1789-1864) acquired acquired the property through a court judgment in 1844. She owned the property until her death, when it reverted to the Tyson family, its previous owner, in 1866. The property is attributed to "Mrs. A. Hopkins" in Simon Martenet's 1860 map of Howard County. Her parents were Richard Hopkins and Ann Snowden and she was a cousin of Baltimore merchant Johns Hopkins. In 1869 the Tysons sold the property, then comprising forty-three acres, to Henry Rhines and he is shown as its owner in the 1878 Howard County Atlas. The Rhines primarily were farmers. Henry Rhine's household in 1870 included his wife, son (Joseph), and two African American servants: a cook named Anna McCoy and a farmhand named Richard Chase. The stone building appears to have been known as the "Pine Orchard Hotel" since at least 1860 when the name appeared in Martenet's county map, drawn entirely from actual surveys. The hotel was one of several mid-nineteenth century businesses in the Pine Orchard hamlet. The Rhines owned the property until after the turn of the twentieth century. After several owners purchased the property, the site was sold to Edward F. Brosenne. On December 11, 1919, Brosenne paid $3,000 for the "lot embracing the stone house and outbuildings long known as the Pine Orchard Hotel." The Maryland State Roads Commission in 1939 surveyed the Brosenne property as part of its "Edmondson Avenue Extended" project that realigned US Route 40. The small parcel (c. 0.83 acre) became isolated from its greater agricultural context in the early twentieth century. It is not known when the Pine Orchard Hotel closed., For much of the twentieth century, the Brosenne's owned the stone house and operated a portion of the property as a store. In 1968 the Brosenne's sold the store, which became a liquor store by the late 1960s. Since its sale by the family, several partnerships and companies have owned the property operating the Pine Orchard Liquors business on the premises., [Captions:] , Installed around 1806 along the Baltimore to Frederick-Town Turnpike Road (Route 144) as the road was constructed, Hand-chiseled local gneiss incised by hand with the inscription "14 M To B", One of 13 extant mile markers within Howard County out of 18 original markers, National Road , 170 miles from Baltimore to the Pennsylvania line, Mile marker site - Route 40 and Frederick Road, Site is within State Highway Administration right-of-way, Measures 2' H × 1' W × 8" D, with a round top, Entire stone measures 6' H, two-thirds below grade