Along the National Road

August 13, 2010: For two centuries, the National Road has been the land route from Washington, DC to Indianapolis. As president, George Washington had championed a federal road to tie the Northwest Territories across the Appalachians to the new country of the seaboard states to prevent the formation of one or more separate nations. Thomas Jefferson signed a law creating the first federal road from Cumberland, MD to Wheeling, VA and on west through the heart of what would become Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. In the 19th Century, the National Road was central to the westward migration and the development of national life. In the 20th century, US Highway 40 in the east followed the route of the National Road and today both roads are paralleled by interstate highways, particularly Interstate 70.

National Road/Zane Grey Museum. Just east of Zanesville, OH, the Ohio Historical Society has a boutique museum celebrating the National Road, the writer Zane Gray and Ohio Art Pottery:

The National Road: The exhibit features a 136-foot diorama tracing the genesis of the National Road, it's initial construction, it's changes over the years and its effect on the areas it traversed:















A Conestoga wagon and a coach sleigh (c. 1847):









A surrey and a buggy:
A mile marker and a Model T Ford:











1914 Chevrolet A and a 1930 Peerless touring sedan:









A 1937 Buick:

Zane Grey. Zanesville's favorite son is author Pearl Zane Grey, who wrote popular adventure stories and created the Old West as as a literary genre in fiction, movies and television. He was named for his maternal ancestor Ebenezer Zane, the founder of Zanesville. He was an avid outdoors man and a womanizer; his wife was more his agent than his companion. His popularity far exceeded his literary standing. He is best known for his novel Riders of the Purple Sage and other works were the basis for The Lone Ranger, Sgt. Preston of the Yukon and Dick Powell's Zane Gray Theater. Grey is credited as the writer of 112 movies and numerous TV episodes.

On the left is a water color by Jim Gary memorializing the death of Zane Grey:

His Altadena (CA) writing room is recreated in the museum:














Ohio Art Pottery. The center of the museum houses an extensive display of Ohio art pottery. In the late 19th and early 20th century, local clay deposits enabled Zanesville to become a center for the manufacture of art pottery. Famous local potteries include Weller, Roseville, and the American Encaustic Tiling Company.