NATIONAL ROAD. A law of the Texas Congress of December 14, 1839, provided for a "National Road" to run through the settled area of the republic from Washington-on-the-Brazos to Logan's Fort on the Sabine River. A proposal to pay $500 from the empty national treasury was eliminated by an amendment to the bill that provided that the costs would be paid by the counties through which the road passed. The road was to be thirty feet wide and to follow the La Bahía Road, a well-marked route, but Jasper County worked for some time to get the route set farther to the south so that it would pass through that county. The original course was ultimately followed. See also CENTRAL NATIONAL ROAD, OLD SAN ANTONIO ROAD.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Robert B. Bristow, Internal Improvements in Texas, 1836-1845 (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1936).