Mac-O-Chee Towns

Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Trail

Photographed By Tami Wenger, circa Unknown

1. Mac-O-Chee Towns Marker

The marker went missing but the picture is from my late father, Lee Birt Jr's collection. The marker was replaced in 2001 by the Logan County Historical Society.

Inscription. Here was fought the first of the major engagements of Logan’s 1786 campaign, in which eight Shawnee towns were destroyed and Chief Moluntha killed. Kenton here ran the gantlet in 1778.

Erected 1930 by Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Commission. (Marker Number C.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Native Americans • Settlements & Settlers • Wars, US Indian. In addition, it is included in the Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Commission series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1786.

Location. Marker is missing. It was located near 40° 15.058′ N, 83° 43.786′ W. Marker was near West Liberty, Ohio, in Logan County. Marker was at the intersection of Route 245 and Township Road 47, on the right when traveling east on Route 245. The marker is on the southeast corner of a rural road intersection, a moderately short drive from the downtown West Liberty area. Touch for map. Marker was at or near this postal address: 10245 Township Rd 47, West Liberty OH 43357, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location. Squaw Rock (within shouting distance of this marker); Industry on the Macacheek (about 800 feet away, measured in a direct line); From Generation to Generation

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(about 800 feet away); Over a Century of Tours (approx. 0.2 miles away); A Castle as a Farmhouse (approx. 0.2 miles away); Let's Play (approx. 0.2 miles away); Who's in the Dog House? (approx. 0.2 miles away); Storing the Crops, Livestock and Machinery (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in West Liberty.

More about this marker. This historical marker is part of the Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Trail series (type C) which was put in place in 1930 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Ohio's Revolutionary War era Battle of Piqua, by the Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Commission.

In order to accomplish this, in 1929 the state of Ohio created the Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Commission, and then in 1930 this commission created 22 military trails, throughout western Ohio, between Cincinnati, Ohio on the state's southern border and Toledo, Ohio on the state's northern border. Each of these military trails represented the routes, or trails, used by military leaders during either the Revolutionary War, the Indian Wars of 1790 to 1795, or the War of 1812. Each of these military routes

Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Trail Map image. Click for full size.

Image courtesy of the MidPointe Library System (www.MidPointeLibrary.org)

2. Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Trail Map

A view of an original Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Trail Map, from 1930. For a better view double click on this picture.

connected various related historical sites, that were marked with Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Commission (type C) markers, along each of the military trails.

The routes of these military trails were in turn marked by type A and type B Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Commission markers that served as directional (type B) and distance (type A) markers.

Originally, back in 1930, there were erected 70 some of these Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Commission, type C, markers. To date, there are only 20 some of them that have been located and posted on the Historical Marker database. A number of them are presently missing, including this particular marker, which is listed on page 72 of the ORMC 1931 Planning Report.

Thanks to the input of Reverend Ronald Irick, who is a long time native of Logan County Ohio, I have relocated the probable site of this missing historical marker, from along a primary street in downtown West Liberty, to a nearby rural county road intersection, a short distance east of West Liberty.

It was primarily because of the nearby placement of a Logan County historical marker entitled "Moluntha" (that discusses many of the same historical facts as the missing marker), in the town of West Liberty, along what I believe was the 1930 era Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Trail route, that I guessed that this Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Commission

Photographed By Dale K. Benington, July 22, 2019

3. Mac-O-Chee Towns Marker

View, looking north along Township Road 47, of the probable site of the missing marker, on the right hand corner of this intersection.

marker was once situated along the primary downtown street in West Liberty.

It is primarily because of the Reverend Irick's childhood memories of this marker, that I have repositioned the probable location of this now missing marker to what I believe is a better, and more accurate location, just east of West Liberty, beside the Logan County historical marker entitled "Mackachack Town" (which also shares many of the same historical facts as the missing marker). I originally did not consider this site because I believed that it was not along any of the Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Trail routes, and believed that the secondary Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Trail route split from the route that followed present day US 68, and then followed County Road 5 out of West Liberty. However, a closer look at the 1930 era Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Trail map has caused me to reassess my understanding of these routes in Logan County, Ohio. I now believe that this secondary route split from the primary route, and went more due east, splitting and following what is now State Route 245, rather than County Road 5.

It is this reassessing of the Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Trails (along with the Reverend Irick's childhood recollections) that makes this reconsidered location work for me, since the vast majority of these markers were nearly all located along these, 1930 era, Ohio Revolutionary

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Memorial Trail routes.

Also see . . . Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Trail System. A description of the Revolutionary Memorial Trail System developed by the state of Ohio in 1929 - 1930. (Submitted on July 14, 2019, by Dale K. Benington of Toledo, Ohio.)

Additional commentary.
1.
It has long been my fuzzy memory that the original marker stood at the corner of St Rt 245/287 and County Road 47. It was destroyed by an automobile wreck, and replaced by the Logan County marker in circa 2001. I have tried in vain to locate a photo of the original marker in place.

— Submitted July 17, 2019, by Rev. Ronald Irick of West Liberty, Ohio.

Credits. This page was last revised on August 13, 2021. It was originally submitted on July 14, 2019, by Dale K. Benington of Toledo, Ohio. This page has been viewed 439 times since then and 27 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on August 13, 2021, by Tami Wenger of West Liberty, Ohio. 2. submitted on July 14, 2019, by Dale K. Benington of Toledo, Ohio. 3. submitted on July 31, 2019, by Dale K. Benington of Toledo, Ohio.