A visit to the National Road in Illinois

I spent a recent overcast morning driving the National Road from its end in Vandalia, Illinois, to Marshall, near the Indiana border. My plan had been different that day, however. Even though National Road construction stopped in Vandalia in about 1839 due to funds running out, the road was surveyed all the way to the Mississippi River. The National Road Association of Illinois long ago placed its “Historic National Road” signs along a route that ends in East St. Louis. I don’t know whether this was the official surveyed route or not, but this appears to be what became the National Old Trails Road in the 1910s, and thus what Illinois built as State Route 11, and in 1926 signed as US 40. In researching this I learned something new: that in 1825 the western end of the National Road was authorized to be moved to Jefferson City, Missouri, very roughly 125 miles west of St. Louis! (Source 1, source 2.) I’m writing this down here so I don’t lose track of it. Let me interject here that I’ve…