Zanesville

Zanesville, the county seat of Muskingum County, was named for Colonel Ebenezer Zane. In 1796 Congress commissioned Colonel Zane to build a road from Wheeling, Virginia (later West Virginia) to Limestone, Kentucky (present Maysville, Kentucky). He received three tracts of land as payment for his services. Zanesville was established on one of his tracts, at the junction of the Licking and Muskingum rivers. Zanesville served as Ohio’s capital from 1810 to 1812., The National Road reached Zanesville in 1830, primarily following the route laid out by Colonel Zane which became known as Zane’s Trace. With the combination of the National Road, and the navigable Muskingum River, Zanesville soon became an important commercial center. By the 1840’s, flourishing industries included iron foundries, and cotton, flour, paper and lumber mills. Production of art pottery was the most important industry in Zanesville during the second half of the nineteenth century. By the 1910’s, the Zanesville region was the largest manufacturer of pottery in the world.