The National Road was the first major federally funded US highway. It was initially authorized in 1806 by Thomas Jefferson. It spanned over 600 miles through the states of MD, VA, PA, OH, IN, and IL. Its construction took place from 1811 to the 1830s, and it was the largest financial expenditure by the federal government prior to the Civil War. The National Road fostered westward expansion into the states of the old Northwest Territory, and it enabled the movement of pioneers, stagecoaches, wagons and later automobiles.

Pat Chase, historian and author was raised in Knightstown, Indiana, which is located on the historic National Road. The town was named for Jonathan Knight in 1827, who was instrumental in the early civil engineering of the National Road and was the first Chief Civil Engineer for the B&O Railroad. He has spent the last six years researching the life of Jonathan Knight and has rediscovered Knight’s substantial contribution to the development of the earliest days of the National Road and B&O Railroad.