Kennon Road is a roadway in Benguet province in the Philippines connecting the mountain city of Baguio to the lowland town of Rosario in La Union province. The project was begun in 1903 and opened for travel on January 29, 1905. It was originally called the Benguet Road and later renamed in honor of its builder, Col. Lyman Walter Vere Kennon of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. For travelers coming from Manila or the provinces in the central plains of Luzon, it is the shortest route to Baguio.^[1]

Profile[link]

Coming from the lowlands, Kennon is one of the three major access road that lead to the City of Baguio, located at about 5,000 feet (1,500 m) in elevation. The other roads are Marcos Highway (also known as Ben Palispis Highway) from Pugo town, and Naguilian Road from Bauang both in La Union province. The upward climb reveals a picturesque view of the mountains, lush vegetation, and pine trees as you get closer to Baguio.

There are small settlements along the road, known as Camps 1 to 8 that were originally established for the original builders of the road, but have been occupied since by local residents. The Bued River flows along a rocky canyon from the lofty heights, and following this course the road was cut above the river bed.

Kennon is a toll road with the lower tollgate located about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) from the junction at Rosario, La Union near Camp 1. The upper toll gate is about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Baguio City near Camp 6, Tuba, Benguet.

The steepest portion of the road between Camp 6 and Camp 7 in Baguio City is commonly known as "Zigzag Road" because of the numerous switchbacks (see Hairpin turn) required. The design of the road switchbacks along that section of the road are similar in construction to the agricultural rice terraces found locally in Benguet and the other mountain provinces of the Cordillera Administrative Region.

History[link]

The construction of the road commenced in 1903 by cutting across the mountains of Benguet with the combined efforts of Filipinos, Americans, Filipino-Chinese and Japanese nationals. It was considered one of the most difficult and expensive civil engineering projects of its day, with expenditures by the newly established colonial government in excess of $2.7 million.^[2]

More than 2,300 foreign and local workers worked on the road. Aside from Filipino engineers and construction workers and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers headed by Col. Lyman Kennon, foreigners from 36 countries were recruited to work on the road; the majority, about 1,500, were Japanese. Hundreds of workers died from malaria while more plunged to their deaths while building the road. After the road was completed, some of the foreign road workers decided to remain in Baguio to live permanently.^[1]

The original road was a Macadam Telford-type road which was later improved into an all-weather asphalt roadway. More recently, some portions of Kennon Road have been replaced with concrete pavement.^[3]

Road hazards[link]

Kennon Road is one of the most hazardous roads in the country especially during the rainy seasons when most of the road accidents occur. The road is prone to closure due to landslides, particularly during heavy rains or during typhoon conditions. ^[4]

Although Kennon is the shortest of the three major access roads, travel time is frequently as long as the other two because of poor road conditions. It usually takes an experienced commuter from 50 minutes to an hour to negotiate the 41.2-kilometre (25.6 mi) steep and winding climb by car.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kennon Road Wikimap
• City of Pines.com - Kennon Road
• GoBaguio.com - Kennon Road and Baguio
• Official Website of Baguio City

Matt Kennon
Matt Kennon at BamaJam Music & Art Festival, in June 2010
Background information
Born	Matthew Carl Ferguson[1]
Origin	Conyers, Georgia, U.S.[2]
Genres	Country
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2001-present
Labels	BamaJam/Stroudavarious
Associated acts	James Stroud, Randy Travis
Website	http://mattkennon.com/

Matthew Carl Ferguson (born in Conyers, Georgia) is an American country music singer and songwriter known professionally as Matt Kennon. He has co-written a song for Randy Travis and has released one album for BamaJam Records. This album includes the top 40 hit "The Call".

Biography[link]

Matthew Carl Ferguson was born in Conyers, Georgia.^[2] He was adopted at birth by two parents, who had previously lost three of their four biological children to a house fire. Kennon's birth mother, who already had another son, made a decision to have an abortion, but she arrived at her doctor's office two weeks too late and was told she had to carry the child to full term.^[3]

He began playing the drums at age seven, and went on to play drums in high school jazz bands.^[4] Later on, he began performing at clubs in the Atlanta, Georgia area, playing cover versions of country and southern rock songs.^[4]

In the late 2000s, Kennon self-released an album of his music, which he began selling at his concerts. He then moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he met Travis Tritt's former manager Gary Falcon, who recommended him to Kyle Lehning, a record producer known for his work with Randy Travis.^[4] After Travis recorded Kennon's "Turn It Around" and released it as a single,^[5] Kennon was signed to a publishing contract. He also began working with another producer, James Stroud.^[2]

Later in 2009, Kennon signed to BamaJam Records in association with Stroudavarious Records (which Stroud owns) and released his debut single "The Call,"^[6] which he wrote with Jeremy Campbell and Noah Gordon. The song debuted at number 55 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts dated for the week of October 17, 2009.^[7] Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave the song a mostly-favorable review, saying that he did not enjoy the song upon first listen because of Kennon's voice, but said that the lyrics are "where it shines."^[8]

Kennon's self-titled debut album was released on May 11, 2010. In advance of the album's release, he released a three-song extended play featuring "The Call" and two other songs from the album.^[9][10]

In April 2011, Kennon self-released a second album titled 77.^[11]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Extended plays[link]

Singles[link]

Music videos[link]

References[link]