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This covered bridge, over Middle Run, Elkrun Township, Columbiana County, is the shortest covered bridge in the United States still standing on a once-used public highway, having a clear span of 19 feet and 3 inches. It is an example, rarely found covered, of the simplest, most basic truss design, the two-panel king post truss. It has withstood the rigors of time and traffic since the 1870s and stands in eloquent testimony of the fine craftsmanship of the early Ohio bridge builders.
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This bridge, spanning Brush Creek in Brush Creek Township, Scioto County, was erected in 1874 by the Smith Bridge Company of Toledo, Ohio. Robert W. Smith was granted patents for timber trusses in 1867 and 1869, and the design for this bridge is a Smith patented truss. The supplemental arches were added in 1896. Original length of 200 feet had been shortened to its present 171 feet. This plaque has been erected to give due honor to these early timber covered bridge builders and to the men of the community who so ably assisted them. [This side of the marker contains a bridge illustration in the upper left corner]
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This covered bridge, spanning Salt Creek in Perry Township, Muskingum County was erected in the 1870s. It is a splendid example of an Ohio covered bridge built with Warren type trusses. It is being preserved as an important illustration of the sound, fine craftsmanship of the early bridge builders of Ohio. This plaque has been erected to give these men the honor they greatly deserve.
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Begun in 1833, the Miami Extension Canal linked the Miami Canal in Dayton to the Wabash & Erie Canal at Junction. Engineering difficulties, epidemics, and the Panic of 1837 delayed completion of the Extension until June 1845, when the packet boat Banner first navigated the almost 250 miles distance from Cincinnati to Toledo in three days. New Bremen was the northern terminus for a period while work continued northward on the Extension. Designated the Miami & Erie Canal in 1849, it served as the primary avenue of commerce and military transport, and as a “post road” before the railroad era. The Miami & Erie remained in use until 1913, long after the canal era had passed. Along the course of the canal, New Bremen was the approximate midway point between Cincinnati and Toledo.
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The twelfth lock on the Hocking Canal, the Sheep Pen lock underscores Southeast Ohioans’ efforts to open their region to the world during the mid-nineteenth century. Built as a guard lock, it was intended to permit slackwater navigation of the Hocking River by regulating water depths where river and canal met. Those plans were later abandoned and the mechanism was converted to a lift lock, which raised and lowered boats as required by changes in the canal’s elevation. (Continued on other side)
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At this site on July 4, 1825, Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York, a Master Mason, turned the first shovelful of earth for the Ohio Canal. The ceremony was attended by area citizens and Master Masons. In the early 1840s James A. Garfield, who was to become 20th President of the United States and a Master Mason, led tow horses on the canal.
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In September 1786, Captain Benjamin Logan of Kentucky captured a young Indian boy during a raid across the Ohio River on the Machachac tribe towns of the Shawnee nation. Upon returning to Kentucky, Captain Logan made the 14 year old boy part of his family until he was forced by treaty to return him to his native people. From the period of residence in Kentucky to the time of his death, Johnny Logan, as he was named, was a friend of the United States. Following the declaration of war against England in 1812, he joined the American service. He was employed by the Indian Agent John Johnston at Piqua to help evacuate Ohio women and children living near Fort Wayne. The siege of that fort was later lifted by the combined force of Kentucky and Ohio troops under the command of General William Henry Harrison. [continued on other side]
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The Devola Lock was one of eleven built on the Muskingum River from Marietta to Ellis, north of Zanesville, from 1836 to 1841. The locks are approximately thirty-five feet wide and 160 feet long. The State of Ohio funded the project as part of the Ohio Canal System. The improvements made the shallow river navigable by steamboats. Travelers ascended over 100 feet from Marietta to Dresden on ninety miles of river. Farmers shipped corn, wheat, eggs, and wool, while manufacturers shipped goods, staples such as sugar, the mail, news, and entertainment. After 1880, competition from railroads caused a gradual decline in the river traffic. Today the locks remain in operation for the enjoyment of pleasure boaters.