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Fulfilling President George Washington’s desire to “open wide the gates of the West,” in 1796 Congress authorized the Zane brothers of Fort Henry (at present day Wheeling) to clear a path through the dense woods of Appalachian Ohio. Zane’s Trace cut through the forests of eleven counties, reaching the Ohio River at Aberdeen, across from Limestone (now Maysville), Kentucky. The trail roughly follows the routes of U.S. 22 and 40 to Lancaster, S. R. 159 to Chillicothe, U.S. 50 to Bainbridge, and S. R. 41 to Aberdeen.
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Born Pearl Zane Grey in 1872 at this site and raised in Zanesville, author Zane Grey established the western novel as a twentieth century American literary genre. Trained as a dentist and practicing in New York City, Grey began writing full time following his marriage in 1905 to Lina Elise “Dolly” Roth, who served as his editor and agent. Grey’s novels featured rich western imagery and highly romanticized plots with often pointed moral overtones, inspiring scores of imitators. Of his more than 60 books, Riders of the Purple Sage (1912) is his best know work. Many of Grey’s novels were made into movies in 1920s and ’30s. In addition, Grey was the holder of ten world records for large game fishing, an avocation he pursued when not writing. He died in 1939 at his home in Altadena, California.
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One of America’s leading architects of the early 20th century, Cass Gilbert (1859-1934), was born in a home that stood at this site. After studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Gilbert apprenticed with prominent architectural firm McKim, Mead, and White. The critical success of his first major public building, the design of the 1895 Minnesota State Capitol, established his national reputation. His influential 1912 Woolworth building, at 792 feet, was then the world’s tallest building, earning Gilbert’s nickname of “Father of the Modern Skyscraper.” Combining classical designs with modern technology, Gilbert also created the United State Supreme Court building (1932) in Washington, D.C., an enduring icon of American justice and democracy. His other achievements include the Arkansas and West Virginia capitols, the U.S. Custom House in New York, and several buildings at Oberlin College. Gilbert served as the president of the American Institute of Architects and the National Academy of Design.
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As he traveled the National Road on August 20, 1835, the last diary entry by Christopher C. Baldwin, librarian for the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts, was, “Start by stage on the Cumberland Road for Zanesville.” Baldwin never reached Zanesville or his ultimate destination, which was to investigate prehistoric mounds in southern Ohio on behalf of the Antiquarian Society. On that day, near this site, he was killed in what is considered to be the first traffic fatality recorded in Ohio. While passing a drove of hogs on the road, the horses pulling the stage became unmanageable and when the driver tried to check their speed on a decline, the stage turned over. Baldwin was riding with the driver and was killed when the stage rolled over on him. Due to the lateness of the season and the distance from his home, his remains were interred in Norwich.
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Founded in 1890 in Roseville, Ohio, Roseville Pottery Company was incorporated in 1892 with George Young as general manager. At the time, Roseville produced commercial pottery such as stoneware, flowerpots, and cuspidors. The company moved to this Linden Avenue location in 1898, and began creating art pottery. By 1917, all production of pottery was moved to the Linden Avenue Plant. The Roseville Pottery Company was among the most commercially successful producers of art pottery in America until closing in 1954. During its span of sixty-four years, Roseville opened four plants and produced an enormous quantity and variety of pottery made primarily from native Ohio clay. The hallmark of Roseville Pottery is its unmistakable dynamic and artistic quality, designed for the average consumer in a modern age. Roseville’s great success can be attributed to its ability to blend commercial enterprise with the highest standards of ceramic artware production.
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Near this location stood the settlement of African American families known as “The Lett Settlement.” The Lett Settlement was a self-sustaining community of mixed race families, including the Caliman, Guy, and Lett families. The families had formed ties through marriage and common background during the mid-1700s in Virginia and Maryland. These early African American pioneer families came to Ohio as “free people of color,” and began acquiring land in Meigs Township, Muskingum County, and surrounding townships in adjacent counties during the 1820s. They were soon joined by the Brown, Clifford, Earley, Simpson, Tate, and Pointer families. The families of the Lett Settlement were land owners and tax payers in Ohio before the Civil War and challenged the State of Ohio for the right to vote and for access to education during the 1840s, 1850s, and 1860s. (Continued on other side)
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In the early 1800s, opposing attitudes existed in the separate communities of Putnam and Zanesville. Anti-slavery New Englanders settled Putnam while pro-slavery Virginians and Kentuckians settled Zanesville. The Emancipation Society of Putnam formed in June 1831. The Muskingum County Emancipation Society formed in Zanesville the following month, but only had a few members. In March 1835, noted abolitionist speaker Theodore D. Weld came to Zanesville to lecture but was turned away by pro-slavery sympathizers. When the Stone Academy in Putnam provided a room, the lecture was disrupted by a mob and Weld took refuge in the home of church Elder A.A. Guthrie. After seeking the Sheriff’s and County Prosecutor’s protection, the Muskingum County Emancipation Society invited the Abolitionist Society of Ohio to hold its convention in Putnam in April 1835. Again, a pro-slavery mob disrupted the proceedings. Eventually, hundreds signed petitions in favor of immediate emancipation. [continued on other side]
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In 1910, Nelson McCoy Sr. established the Neleson McCoy Sanitary Stoneware Company on Gordon Street in Roseville. The company made utilitarian stoneware using regional and local clay. In 1933, the company name became the Nelson McCoy Pottery Company and production was shifted to decorative wares. Nelson McCoy Sr. was President until 1945, Nelson Melick from 1945-1954, and Nelson McCoy Jr. from 1954-1981. The constantly changing product lines were expanded in the 1950s as the annual output grew to ten million pieces. WIth five hundred employees, the company became the nation’s leading artware pottery. The pottery had a tremendous influence on the local economy as well as on the lives of its employees. The plant closed in 1990 after eighty years operating under the Nelson McCoy name. The products of this successful company remain highly collectible.
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