Breezewood is an unincorporated town in East Providence Township, Bedford County in south-central Pennsylvania. Along a traditional pathway for Native Americans, European settlers, and British troops during colonial times, in the early 20th century, the small valley that became known as Breezewood was a popular stopping place for automobile travelers on the Lincoln Highway, beginning in 1913. Greyhound Lines opened a Post House facility in the town in 1935; it closed in 2004. In 1940, Breezewood was designated exit 6 on the just-opened Pennsylvania Turnpike. In the 1960s, Breezewood became the junction of the Turnpike and the new Interstate 70. Later renumbered exit 12, it is now exit 161 on the Turnpike following a change to mileage-based exit numbering. Breezewood has been labeled a "tourist trap" and choke point because traffic between I-70 and the Turnpike is routed along surface streets lined with gas stations, hotels, restaurants, and traffic lights, rather than directly via a freeway-to-freeway junction. This segment of I-70 is one of the few parts of the Interstate Highway System which is not a controlled-access highway. History The community which became known as Breezewood has a long history of serving cross-country travelers. Early history Before the Europeans arrived, an old trail of the Native Americans crossed through there. Later, in colonial times before the American Revolutionary War (1776–1781) and the Conestoga wagons of the westbound settlers, a wagon road passed through. A British military trail was built in 1758 by General John Forbes from Chambersburg to Pittsburgh during the French and Indian War. It was later known as the Pittsburgh Road and the Conestoga Road. Through the tiny valley was built the Chambersburg-Bedford Turnpike, a private toll road which came later. South Pennsylvania Railroad Late in the 19th century, leaders of the New York Central Railroad (NYC) dreamed of building an east–west railroad across southern Pennsylvania through the Breezewood area to compete with the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). Over $10 million was spent and 26 lives lost when work on William H. Vanderbilt's planned South Pennsylvania Railroad project was halted in 1886. Control shifted to financier J.P. Morgan and PRR interests. The potentially competing South Pennsylvania Railroad was promptly abandoned and never completed, although much grading and tunneling work had been done. Developing the community A community called Rays Hill (or Nycumtown) was located just east of present-day Breezewood where a man named John Nycum had a small store.