Tag: Ohio
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Whatever happened to Tadmor?
I said in my last post that west of Columbus, the National Road and US 40 were, with a couple exceptions, a straight shot all the way to Indiana. Here are the couple exceptions. In March of 1913 more than eight inches of rain fell on frozen ground in the Great Miami River watershed. The…
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Seeing the National Road sights in Springfield, Ohio
By the time I reached Springfield, I was clearly on the tail end of my three-day journey across Ohio’s National Road. After all, Springfield is about three-quarters of the way across the state from east to west. While speed is never my goal on any road trip, I was making very good time simply because…
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Serving the National Road traveler in Ohio
As long as there have been roads, there have been businesses that served the traveler. During the National Road’s early days, horses carried travelers or pulled them along in wagons or coaches. Inns dotted the road, providing a place for the traveler to eat and drink, care for his horses, and sleep. They appeared every…
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The Main Street Bridge, on the National Road in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio, has long been known for its beautiful bridges across the Scioto and Olentangy Rivers. Built in the early 20th century, these multi-span concrete arch bridges frequently had open spandrels and lovely decorative touches that helped create a vibrant and beautiful downtown. And then, one by one, city officials started knocking them down and…
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Landmarks and historic architecture on US 40 and the National Road Columbus
The National Road and US 40 enter Columbus from the east along Main Street and soon reach the town of Bexley, which Columbus surrounds. What many don’t know is that the National Road and US 40 take different paths when they reach Bexley. US 40 turns north on Drexel Avenue and then left on Broad…
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Stepping back in time for an overnight stay, on US 40 in Columbus, Ohio
By the time I reached greater Columbus, I could see that I had left the rugged terrain of eastern Ohio behind. The road tracked straight, and except for a US 40 bypass of tiny Etna, the old and abandoned alignments had all dried up. But what central Ohio lacks in old alignments, it makes up…
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Improving the rutted National Road in Ohio
Imagining what a road was like in years gone by draws me out to find the old alignments and the old pavement. This is why I’ve recently shared photos of left-behind brick and concrete segments of Ohio’s National Road with you – photos, I’m sure, that were interesting only to readers with a healthy inner roadgeek.…
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Concrete evidence of the National Road in Ohio
We take for granted that we can drive anywhere in the nation today, but such was not always the case. I have a book here that is a transcribed diary of a family driving from California to Indiana in 1913. Most roads were dirt; some were gravel. Out west, the family found many places were…
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A quick tour of Zanesville on the National Road in Ohio
In 1797, Ebenezer Zane cut a trace from the Ohio state line across from Wheeling in what was then Virginia, west across the densely forested countryside 230 miles to what is now Maysville, Kentucky, an Ohio River town about 60 miles upriver of Cincinnati. It was a post road, just wide enough for a horseback…
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When someone tells me to hit the bricks, I take it literally (on the National Road in Ohio)
As the automobile age dawned at the turn of the 20th century, the nation’s network of mostly dirt roads was passable only in good weather. The clamor for “good roads” paved in hard surfaces for all-weather travel led to the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916, which created state highway departments and provided money to…
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Old buildings in Old Washington, on Ohio’s National Road
After 18 miles of laying waste to Ohio’s National Road, I-70 finally relents at Old Washington. US 40 even rejoins the National Road here. The blue line is the National Road’s original path. You might think Old Washington is so named because it’s old. Well, it is old. It was laid out in 1805, before…
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They say this Ohio National Road S bridge is crumbling, but it held up my car just fine
I got to drive on the last driveable National Road S bridge in Ohio before it was closed to traffic.