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“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
New Concord in Muskingum County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
 

Zane's Trace

 
 
Zane's Trace Marker (side A) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., October 26, 2008
1. Zane's Trace Marker (side A)
Inscription.
Side A
Fulfilling President George Washington's desire to “open wide the gates of the West,” in 1796 Congress authorized the Zane brothers of Fort Henry (at present day Wheeling) to clear a path through the dense woods of Appalachian Ohio. Zane's Trace cut through the forests of eleven counties, reaching the Ohio River at Aberdeen, across from Limestone (now Maysville), Kentucky. The trail roughly follows the routes of U.S. 22 and 40 to Lancaster, S. R. 159 to Chillicothe, U.S. 50 to Bainbridge, and S. R. 41 to Aberdeen.

Side B:
Although “it was a tight fit for a fat horse,” thousands of settlers journeyed down Zane's Trace to build settlements at St. Clairsville, Cambridge, Zanesville, Somerset, Lancaster, and Chillicothe. With the construction of the “New State Road" (authorized in 1804 to improve Zane's Trace) and the National Road (completed through New Concord in 1828), Ohio's overland commerce and communication steadily improved. From this point one can see the five major routes into Ohio: Zane's Trace, the National Road, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, U.S. Route 40, and Interstate 70.
 
Erected 2003 by Ohio Bicentennial Commission, The Marietta Chapter NSDAR, The Village of New Concord and R.E. New, and The Ohio Historical Society.
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(Marker Number 12-60.)
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Government & PoliticsRoads & Vehicles. In addition, it is included in the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Ohio Historical Society / The Ohio History Connection, and the The Historic National Road series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1796.
 
Location. 39° 59.575′ N, 81° 44.742′ W. Marker is in New Concord, Ohio, in Muskingum County. Marker is at the intersection of U.S. 40 and Shadyside Drive, on the right when traveling west on U.S. 40. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: New Concord OH 43762, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Fox Creek "S" Bridge Park (within shouting distance of this marker); Fox Creek Bridge (within shouting distance of this marker); S-Bridge (within shouting distance of this marker); Findley Settlement (approx. 0.4 miles away); John Glenn (approx. half a mile away); Boyhood Home of John H. Glenn, Jr. (approx. half a mile away); The New Concord Underground Railroad (approx. half a mile away); Muskingum College (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in New Concord.
 
Zane's Trace Marker (side B) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., October 26, 2008
2. Zane's Trace Marker (side B)
Open Wide the Doors to the West - <i>George Washington</i> image. Click for full size.
Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., October 26, 2008
3. Open Wide the Doors to the West - George Washington
From this spot one can see the five great avenues which brought settlers into Ohio.
The Zane's Trace
Completed in 1796
Interstate 70
Completed in 1966
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
Completed here in 1854
U.S. Route 40
Designated in 1926
The National Road
Completed here in 1828
From the moment the National Road was thrown open to the Public in the year 1818 until the coming of the railroad west of the Allegheny Mountains in 1852, the National Road was the one great highway over which passed the bulk of trade and travel and the mails between the East and the West.
In a generation of use, the population of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois mushroomed from 783,635 to 3,620,314. "Travellers once spoke of 'going into' and 'coming out of' the West as though it was a mammoth cave. But with the building of the National Road, the heartland was opened. The men who built this road, the Irish who poured the energy of their muscles into it, the engineers who surveyed it, the politicians who insisted upon it, were truly opening the West and pulling a nation behind them."
The Zane's Trace was commissioned by Congress to be completed by January 1797. Ebenezer Zane of Wheeling West Virginia and his brothers roughed out the trace as a bridle path. Cutting through 11 Ohio counties to reach Limestone, Maysville, Kentucky, the Trace was a tight fit for a fat horse, but it opened Appalachian Ohio to settlement.
Zane's Trace Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., October 26, 2008
4. Zane's Trace Marker
Looking west, with S-Bridge seen behind marker, across Shadyside Drive. Autos on U.S. 40 in upper left rear.
National Road Mileage Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., October 26, 2008
5. National Road Mileage Marker
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on November 6, 2008, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 3,109 times since then and 22 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on November 6, 2008, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024