National Road Tour, Eastern Ohio
Ohio Historic Bridge Association

http://oldohiobridges.com/ohba
May18, 2008
Ron Jones, Tour Director

Janis Ford, Assistant

Lead-vehicle cell phone 614 579-0936

 

Meet at the St. Clairsville, Mc Donald’s Restaurant, 67891 Mall Rd, St. Clairsville, OH. located at I-70 exit 218 south. The tour will leave here at 10:00 AM. We will first travel east on I-70 to Wheeling then return westward on US 40 or the Old National Road. There will be a lunch break at a McDonalds near Morristown and several rest room stops are included in the afternoon.

 

1)    Leave McDonalds going north and take I-70 ramp east to Wheeling. (look right when crossing the Ohio River to see the suspension bridge). Take exit 1A  south (the first after the river) onto Main St. then turn right onto 10th St. (Virginia St.) and drive across the:


Wheeling Suspension Bridge Spanning the main shipping channel of the Ohio River between the downtown and the residential neighborhood on Wheeling Island. Designed by Charles Ellet and completed in October 1849, its length, in excess of 1009 feet, was the world record at the time. Because the bridge is today, despite its age, daily used by commuters, it still ranks as a noteworthy structure in an international arena. In addition, the bridge led to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case between the states of Virginia and Pennsylvania. The Keystone state claimed that the bridge deck was too low for steamboat smokestacks and was, therefore, a public nuisance. The Supreme Court agreed and ordered the bridge raised or removed. Congress disagreed and passed a law making the bridge lawful and an official federal "post" road. In the midst of the litigation, a major wind storm in the summer of 1854 totally destroyed the deck of the bridge, leaving only the cables and stone towers. A close look at the stone coping around the top of the western tower shows damage that still remains from the 1854 storm. This led to the first of several reconstructions and eventually to its present appearance with Roebling-style radiating cable stays and Howe-type stiffening truss on the deck.

 

1)          Turn right on S. York St. Jog left at US 40. Continue north on N. York St. to Indiana St. (becomes Erie St.). Enter the park and follow the park road to view the:

 

Georgia Street Bridge a large (3 span) Pennsylvania through truss (~1900) open only to pedestrians

 

3) Exit the park at the north end and take a right onto N Huron St. then right onto US 40 at the T. Look right as you cross the river and see the bypassed:

 

Bridgeport Bridge an iron 3-span Parker through truss built in 1893 now closed to all traffic. (~684’ long).  Immediately after crossing the river, look to your right to see the “Spirit of Bridgeport” mural at the intersection with OH-7.  Stay on US-40 through Bridgeport, a city founded by Ebenezer Zane.  Some Bridgeport locations of interest include: National Rd Inn at 743 built pre-1850; Mile Marker 132 South of 870 (now you’re in Brookside); Old Pennzoil Motor Oil Station at 879 c. 1930; Frasier houses at 898 & 920 built 1800-1820; National Rd Tourist Home c. 1925 at 56287

 

History Mile Markers were placed on US-40 starting in the 1830’s.  They are white stones, about 3 feet tall, on the north (right) side of the highway.   Each stone shows the distance to Cumberland, MD on the top, and the distance to the nearest city both eastbound & westbound on the sides.  83 existing milestones have been documented.  Mile Marker 133 is north of 55884 in Wolfhurst.

 

4) Continue on US-40 west to Blaine, OH. Exit right just before the Blaine Viaduct and park under this bridge to see the

 

Blaine S-Bridge Built in 1828 over Wheeling Creek. Measuring 345 feet overall, it is the longest stone National Road bridge still extant. Its three segmental arches span 25, 40, and 50 feet. Restored in 2005

 

Overhead is the Blaine Hill Viaduct, a 754 foot structure built in 1932 to eliminate the steep and dangerous hillside descent into the valley on US40. It has eleven elliptical arches, each wider and higher than the next, as it slowly ascends 500 feet to the top of the hill to the west.

 

4) Exit going east on Grade St., then turn right onto Blaine Road and right (west) on to  US-40.

 

5) Drive west though St. Clairsville. Turn right onto SR-331 then take the next left onto TR-1518 to the

 

Shaeffer/Campbell Covered Bridge (35-07-05) a 67' multiple kingpost built in 1874 by Jacob Balthazar for $12.50/lineal foot over Clear Creek south of Amanda in Fairfield County. It was moved to its present location by R.J. Boccabella, the Belmont County Engineer, in 1973

 

6) Return to SR 331 and turn right, cross over the freeway, and turn right onto US-40 west. Follow US-40 to TH 814, go right to the 

 

Barkcamp Stone Bridge A 12' arch crossing Barkcamp Creek dating to about 1830 whose keystones feature Masonic symbols.

 

7) Continue to US-40 and turn left onto SR 149 (Belmont-Morristown Rd) enter

 

McDonalds for lunch

 

8) After 45 minutes leave southbound and take I-70 westbound to exit 202 to reach the Old National Rd (CR 800). Drive thru Hendrysburg and continue west thru Fairview then take a ride in the country on:

 

·        Waymor Rd (CR 967) as it turns north

·        Turn left onto Whitely Rd (CR 698)

·        Stay left as road joins Logan Rd  (CR 964)

·        Bear left onto Pisgah Rd (CR-94)

·        Turn right at T onto Bridgewater Rd (CR 690)

 

9) Ease right onto Blend Rd (TR-6764) then turn left at Rhinehart Rd and drive over the

 

Salt Fork S Bridge a 46' arch over Salt Fork built in 1828. With fully buttressed walls on the approaches, this is the most elaborate National Road stone bridge still standing in the state. It has been marked by the Ohio Society of Professional Engineers and has been designated as a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service.

 

10) Turn right back onto CR 690 then a quick left onto Frankfort Rd (CR-75) then right just past I-70 to Easton Rd. (CR 670) and follow it a while past the

 

Creighton House at 17065 Easton Rd.  It was a wagon & drove-stand.  One of the few surviving on the nat'l road.  Wagons pulled by 6 horses would put into the yard for the night.  Drovers of cattle, sheep or hogs would herd ther stock into the drove-lots to be fed.  It was not profitable to drive herds of fewer than 100 animals, so most frequently there were 200 or more in each herd.  In good weather, drovers detoured on the Wheeling Rd (Zanes Trace) because the loose stone of the Old National Rd injured the feet of the animals.

 

Turn right at Country Home Road (CR-73) and rejoin the Old National Rd. Go through Old Washington.  Look for a marker on the right side to indicate the northernmost battle of the Civil War

 

History: On July 21, 1863 General John Hunt Morgan and his Confederate Cavalry arrived in Old Washington & fought the only Civil War skirmish on the National Rd in Ohio.  This is the most northern battle of the Civil War.  Look for a marker on the right side to indicate where it took place.  The cemetery is on a hill south of town.  3 Confederates are buried there.  There are many pre-civil war buildings in Old Washington; mostly Federal & Italianate homes.

West of Old Washington, where Brick Rd goes to the left, is the beginning of “Deep Cut”.  Look for the Deep Cut Tavern.  An excavation of this magnitude was quite a feat in 1827.

 

11) Continue west and turn left onto Peacock Road (TH-650) which bypasses a short section of US-40

 

Peacock Road is an intact brick paved section of the original National Road right-of-way. This surfacing was part of a 1918 contract to pave the stretch of National Road between Cambridge and Old Washington. As the last stretch still unpaved in 1918, it was considered urgent that it be improved to facilitate the movement of trucks from the West Coast to where they were needed on the East Coast for the war effort. Since labor was in short supply, the Guernsey County Commissioners were authorized to hire convicts from the Mansfield Reformatory, the first use of prison labor in Ohio history. This stretch of pavement, now known as Peacock Road, includes a brick curb where the roadway curves on the hillside to help keep cars on the road. This is believed to be the only intact stretch anywhere along the existing segments of the National Road.

 

12) Turn right off the National Road onto CR 450 to then left at Cooks Run Rd to stop and see the

 

Cooks Run Stone Bridge a small arch that was bypassed and buried in 1936 then rediscovered and uncovered in 2002

 

13) Rejoin US-40 and follow it to Cambridge. Turn right onto N. 8th St and take it north to Edgeworth Ave. Turn right and then right again into the North Side Park to see the

 

Armstrong/Clio Covered Bridge (35-30-12) A 76' multiple kingpost reported to have been built in 1849 by Abraham Armstrong at the village of Clio. On its original site, it included open wooden approach spans. It was moved in the winter of 1966-67 when threatened by the construction of Salt Fork Reservoir.

 

There are public  Restrooms  south of the bridge

 

14) Leave the park take N 8th St to US-40 and continue westbound. Turn right onto CR-430 (old US 40) and go through Fairdale where at 5988 Fairdale Rd a there is a National Road Tollhouse. Just after where CR-430 rejoins US-40 is the

 

Cassell S Bridge A circa 1828 stone arch of 30' over Peters Creek. Measuring 120 feet overall, it has the classic "S" configuration designed to avoid the difficulty of constructing a skewed arch of stone.

 

15) Continue west on new US 40 into New Concord. Turn left at Liberty St to see the unusual

 

Humpback Bridge, a 1930 wood-bent and steel girder bridge which crosses the CSXT railway. It is designed to give additional clearance for trains.

 

Slowly proceed over the bridge and follow Liberty St. to SR-83. Turn right on 83 then turn left (west) back onto the National Road at the traffic light.

 

16) Continue on the National Road to

 

New Concord S Bridge (Fox Creek) A c 1828 stone arch of 30' over Fox Creek. Measuring a total length of 140 feet it has been restored through the Federal Highway Administration's ISTEA program.

 

17) Continue west and turn a right onto Norwich Dr. In Norwich on the right is a marker for the first traffic fatality in Ohio. We exit Norwich taking Brick Road until it rejoins US-40

 

18) We pass the National Road, Zane Gray Museum on the left. A small Warren Pony truss bridge may be seen on exhibit in front.

 

19) Just past the museum we will take the I-70 west on-ramp to visit a rest area on the freeway, then rejoin US-40 at the next exit and follow it into Zanesville.

 

20) In Zanesville we will pass several impressive examples of Italianate architecture in the down town area:

 

Ohio Power Co., 604 Main St

Black Elliott Block, 525 Main St.

Muskingum Courthouse, 4th & Main St.

 

21) Turn left at Pine St and proceed south to Grandview Ave. Take a sharp left into Putnam Park and follow the road to the overlook to view of the famous  Zanesville Y-Bridge and several large railroad truss bridges.

 

22) Return and continue on US-40 west. Turn right onto the road just past the I-70 underpass and then turn left onto CR 420. Proceed west to the

 

John Carnahen Stone bridge, a hammered-stone bridge arching 12' built in 1830 by John Carnahen

 

23) Continue to new US-40. Soon on the right you will pass

 

Headley Inn on the right at 5345 W. Pike.  One of the most substantial inns along the road.  Capstones used at the entrance to the inn were taken from the stone bridge that crossed the National Road until the 1950's.  Next to it is the Smith House (also known as Cliff Rock House) was a Drover's Inn. Built in 1833-1835. There is also an authentic 1777 cabin reconstructed here.

 

24) Continue west on US-40 and turn right onto Hopewell National Road (CR-415) toward Mt. Sterling and see the:

 

Reciprocity Stone Bridge, this interesting 20' arch is now dammed up and used to enclose a small pond. A panel in the parapet indicates the bridge was rebuilt in 1915.

 

25) Continue through Gratiot on Pike Rd to the

 

Gratiot Stone Bridge. A small closed spandrel stone arch built in 1830.

 

26) Continue on the national road and past Brownsville, look for the large stone Eagle's Nest (Hill) Marker (built 1825) on the right. This indicates the highest elevation of US-40 in Ohio (about 1060 ft)

 

This is the end of the tour. There is an entrance to I-70 just ahead at SR-13 (turn left).