US 11 is the descendant of a trail blazed from Pennsylvania following the establishment of Evan Watkins's ferry across the Potomac River at the mouth of Conococheague Creek in 1744. This trail became part of the Great Wagon Road from Philadelphia south through the Great Appalachian Valley to Virginia and North Carolina. In the center of the Hagerstown Valley along the trail, German immigrant Jonathan Hager laid out his namesake town in 1762.
US 11 originated as a route developed from Pennsylvania after Evan Watkins's ferry was established across the Potomac River at Conococheague Creek in 1744. This path merged with the Great Wagon Road, which spanned from Philadelphia to Virginia and North Carolina through the Appalachian Valley. In the Hagerstown Valley, German settler Jonathan Hager founded his town in 1762.