ADDISON, PA, July 30, 2026 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Angela Svonavec, Managing Member of Fearless Leasing, is helping ensure that one of America's most overlooked and endangered pieces of early infrastructure survives for future generations. As a proud member of the Great Crossings Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR), Svonavec is part of the dedicated group preserving the Old Petersburg Toll House in Addison, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, one of only two to three surviving toll houses remaining on the entire National Pike.

Built in 1835 from locally quarried stone and designed by Captain Richard Delafield of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Petersburg Toll House served as "Gate Number One," the very first toll collection point for westward travelers crossing from Maryland into Pennsylvania on the National Road. Constructed at a cost of $1,530 by contractor William Hopwood, it stood at the edge of the American frontier. The National Road itself was America's first federally funded highway, opened to the public in 1818 and stretching from Cumberland, Maryland to Vandalia, Illinois, opening the continent to settlement, trade, and commerce. Travelers once paid rates ranging from two cents for wide-wheeled wagons to twelve cents for livestock herds and multi-horse carriages at this very gateway.

Today, the Old Petersburg Toll House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but it is also currently designated as "in danger," making the preservation work of Svonavec and her fellow DAR members all the more urgent. The Great Crossings Chapter owns and operates the landmark, providing careful stewardship and offering docent-led museum tours by appointment.

"It's the best-kept secret in Somerset County," said a spokesperson for the Great Crossings Chapter. "A lot of people don't realize the historic value of the tollhouse."

That historic value was on vivid display recently when the Flag Across USA relay, a patriotic flag traveling non-stop from California to Washington, D.C., passed through Addison and made a symbolic stop at the historic Toll House. Svonavec and her fellow Great Crossings Chapter members welcomed relay participants with American flags, water, and popsicles, offering a moment of community warmth and shared national pride along the way.

For Svonavec, whose interest in American ancestry runs deep, the preservation work is personal.

"There's something humbling about standing in a place where the nation literally began its westward march," said Svonavec. "These stones have a story, and it's our responsibility to make sure that story doesn't disappear. DAR membership is my way of honoring the people who built this country, and making sure future generations can still touch that history."

The Old Petersburg Toll House is located off U.S. Route 40 in Addison, PA 15501. Tours are available by appointment through the Great Crossings Chapter. For more information about the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, visit www.dar.org.

About Angela Svonavec

Angela Svonavec is the Managing Member of Fearless Leasing, a Pennsylvania-based company. A resident of Naples, Florida, Svonavec is an active member of the Great Crossings Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, and a dedicated supporter of heritage preservation, patriotic causes, and community investment throughout Somerset County and beyond.

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