Central National Road

During the early days of the Republic of Texas, settlers and pioneers coming from the United States entered Texas by crossing the Red River in northwest Red River County. On the north side of that crossing was the terminum of a U.S. Military Highway. In 1844, the Congress of the Republic of Texas appointed a commission to lay out a road connecting the crossing on the Red River to the Trinity River in central Dallas County. Surveyed by George W. Stell (1793-1870), the 130-mile road was to be thirty feet wide, with bridges at least fifteen feet wide, and all tree stumps cut within twelve inches of the ground. Congress named the new route the Central National Road. Passing through Lamar, Fannin, Hunt, Collin, and Rockwall counties, the road's terminus in Dallas intersected with the Preston Road (1,000 NNW), which had been opened in 1840 by a group of Texas soldiers under Col. William G. Cooke (1808-1847) to connect the Red River and Austin. The Central National Road, via its intersection in Dallas with the Preston-Austin Road, connected north and south Texas, creating greater access for pioneers to settle in all areas of the Republic. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986 Incise on base: Sponsored by Thomas J. Rusk Chapter of the Sons of the Republic of Texas

Central National Road is a historical marker in Dallas, Dallas County, dedicated in 1968. It is one of 352 historical markers documented in Dallas County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 574 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.7829, -96.8071 near Dallas. The nearest cataloged historic site is Higginbotham - Pearlstone Building (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Waples-Platter Buildings, Waples-Platter Buildings, and Dallas Holocaust Memorial Center.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5113006649. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.