Wagon train travels National Road in bicentennial celebration
National Road Heritage Corridor executive director Donna Holdorf (far left) accepts a citation from state Rep. Matthew Dowling, R-Uniontown, that commemorates the bicentennial of the National Road’s completion, while National Pike Wagon Train Association wagon master Doc Sherry and assistant wagon master Don Myers (far right) hold a commemorative banner.
Young participants in the National Pike Wagon Train (from left) Nora Bryte of Bruceton Mills, W.Va., Eli Friend and Colton Mathias, both of Farmington, take a break with their horses at A.J. McMullen School before finishing Friday's final five-mile ride to Farmington.
Greg Hearn of Smithfield steers his horse-drawn wagon along the National Road as the National Pike Wagon Train approaches A.J. McMullen School on Friday afternoon.
Members of the National Pike Wagon Train Association turn into A.J. McMullen School from the National Road on Friday afternoon as the wagon train stops for a midday rest on the second day of its three-day journey from Grantsville, Maryland, to Uniontown.
Just past the midway point of their near 40-mile journey, members of the National Pike Wagon Train Association stopped Friday afternoon to rest, refuel and greet the A.J. McMullen School community during the group’s annual ride along the National Road.
The wagon train, consisting of a dozen wagons and about the same number of individual riders, made a recent three-day trek as part of the 45th annual National Road Festival to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the National Road Eastern Legacy.
Led by wagon master Doc Sherry, the wagon camp gathered Thursday in Grantsville, Maryland, spending a night in Addison before entering Fayette County on Friday at the Youghiogheny River Lake and pulling into the Uniontown Area School District middle school that afternoon.
The travelers, many dressed in period garb, replicate the journey of early pioneers as they make an annual westbound expedition by covered wagon over hill and dale.
“We hit a little bit of rain coming in but not enough to amount to anything,” Sherry said of the westward trek Friday from Addison. “It’s been excellent.
“When the weather’s bad, it can be trying,” he said, “but you’ve got to go on.”
A night’s stay at the Farmington Volunteer Fire Department prepared the caravan to continue on the third and final leg of its journey Saturday to Hopwood and Uniontown, ending at Mount St. Macrina in North Union Township for dinner before breaking up.
The 200th anniversary of the National Road Eastern Legacy was commemorated over a four-day span May 17-20 in Somerset, Fayette and Washington counties.
The Eastern Legacy portion of the road connects Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling, West Virginia. Much of it is located along present-day Route 40.
State Rep. Matthew Dowling, R-Uniontown, was on hand Friday for the arrival of the wagon train to A.J. McMullen School to present a citation to the National Road Heritage Corridor on behalf of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for celebrating the momentous bicentennial of the National Road’s completion.
“We have a lot of resources in our area,” said Dowling, “and one of these (resources) is one that we can travel.”
National Road Heritage Corridor executive director Donna Holdorf, who accepted the citation delivered by Dowling, presented the National Pike Wagon Train Association with commemorative bicentennial banners.
The National Road was the nation’s first federally funded highway and would eventually span six states as construction took it all the way to Vandalia, Illinois. Ninety miles of the road lie in Pennsylvania’s Somerset, Fayette and Washington counties.
Sherry of Farmington has been participating in the wagon train’s annual journey for about 25 years.
“I do it just to be with friends and reenact history of what it was like traveling west,” Sherry said. “Some of the people I don’t get to see from year to year.”
Sherry thanked the accompaniment of the Maryland State Police on Thursday and the Pennsylvania State Police on Saturday for extra safety along the roadway.
Dowling handed out “Color Me Pennsylvania” adult coloring books to A.J. McMullen students, offering a contest for the best coloring of the Pennsylvania State Capitol building and a pizza party for the homeroom of the winning submission.