Eagles Nest

Eagles Nest. The Historic National Road in Ohio. For nearly fifty years prior to 1914, almost no maintenance had been carried out on “the pike”, the National Road. By the early 20th century, bicyclists, automobile owners, postal service, and the trucking industry were demanding better roads. The large granite rock at this site, known as Eagles Nest, commemorates the experimental paving of a 29-mile section of the National Road from Zanesville to Hebron between 1914 and 1916. Arch W. Smith, of the Ohio State Highway Department called the newly paved highway, “the model concrete road of the world.” Chiseled in the granite rock are renderings of a Conestoga wagon, an early automobile, and the distances to Columbus (32 miles) and to Cumberland, Maryland (220 miles).

The inscription on the monument reads: , Old National Road Built 1825, Rebuilt 1914 Through the efforts of James M. Cox Governor of Ohio

The demand for improved roads led the federal government, under the Taft and Wilson administrations, to devise a plan to help states finance the building of experimental paved roads. The national government put up $120,000, with Licking and Muskingum counties contributing $240,000, and the State of Ohio adding another $80,000. The federal share was conditional that the road be rebuilt with concrete and not brick. Not everyone was happy with this plan. A protest from the brick manufacturers in Zanesville, who employed over 1,000 men led the president of the Zanesville Chamber of Commerce to declare, “If there is an ounce of red blood in our bodies, we will protest against this to the bitter end.” It was actually a simple case of cost. The federal government was willing to support the expense of the road building up to $16,000 a mile. Concrete construction could meet that figure, brick could not.