Ronald L. Andrews
Ali Ghan Road (US 40), Cumberland, Allegany County
Colonial Manor stands on the south side of present U.S. 40, north of old Route 40 in the Naves Crossroad area at the intersection of U.S. Route 220. It is a mid-19th century classically influenced brick structure, 2 1/2 stories, with an asphalt shingled gable roof with large flush chimneys and parapets along the gable ends. The original front is the south side, which has a one-story porch and a symmetrical facade of five bays and a brick cornice. The principal windows have narrow frames and double-hung wooden sashes with 6/6 lights on the first floor and 9/6 on the second. The north side was renovated as the front c. 1940 when Route 40 was relocated. It has a two story high porch with a roof balustrade and an oval window centered on the second floor. The interior has a center hall, four-over-four arrangement of rooms.
Colonial Manor, a mid-19th century house, built as a tavern on the National Road, was altered in the 1940s when Route 40 was relocated to the north of the house. The building, sometimes called Turkey Flight Manor after the tract of land on which it stands, served as a hospital after the Civil War battle at nearby Falch's Mill in 1864. There were once dozens of inns and taverns along the National Road and the Baltimore Pike. Today, with the greatly lessened travel along these roads, few of these remain. Colonial Manor is one of eleven Maryland Inns on the National Road that have been listed on the National Register. These eleven buildings in Allegany and Garrett Counties, many of them still serving their original function, stand as the physical remains of the almost legendary hospitality offered on this well-traveled route to the west.