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The Teegarden-Centennial Covered Bridge, constructed primarily of white oak is of Multiple King Post design spanning 67 feet. It was built nearly 100 years after the birth of the nation. Located on Eagleton Road, just off Teegarden Road, it is still at its original location, spanning the Middle Fork of the Little Beaver Creek in Eagleton’s Glen Park. It remained in use until 1992 when it was bypassed by a new concrete structure. The official contract for the construction of the bridge was awarded to Jeremiah C. Mountz in June of 1875. The stonework for the abutments was awarded to David Reese and painting of the original structure to George W. Akin in 1876. Members of Highland Christian Church came here to be baptized by immersion. There were over 250 covered bridges in Columbiana County, including at least 16 railroad covered bridges. The Teegarden-Centennial Covered Bridge is one of only five still remaining.
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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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In December 1772, Brother David Zeisberger and his followers began the construction of Schoenbrunn schoolhouse. The school was built in the Tuscarawas Valley on land given to Zeisberger in the spring of 1771 by the Delaware Native Americans as a Moravian mission to the Delaware. With the land, Zeisberger laid out the town of Schoenbrunn or “Beautiful Spring.” The school served Delaware Indian children, who were taught from special textbooks prepared in the Delaware and German languages by Zeisberger. John Heckewelder, who taught at the school, is recognized as the first schoolteacher in Tuscarawas County. The present reconstructed schoolhouse was dedicated on July 29, 1928 on the 155th anniversary of the completion of the school’s construction. The village can be seen just a few hundred yards south of this marker.
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Thomas Stinson Cummin, owner of a successful dry goods store, built his home in the early 1870s on the outskirts of the growing village of Marion. The home was purchased in 1889 by Henry M. Barnhart, an inventor and co-founder of the Marion Steam Shovel Company. In 1927, it was sold to the Schaffner- Queen firm of funeral directors and converted into a funeral home. Franklin Schaffner had previously been responsible for the funeral arrangements for President and Mrs. Warren G. Harding. A succession of businesses has maintained the use as a funeral home. As of 2016, the building is occupied by the Denzer-Farison-Hottinger & Snyder Funeral Home. (Continued on other side)
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During the American Civil War 1860-1865, a Confederate cavalry, led by Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan, infiltrated the states of Kentucky, southern Indiana, and southeastern Ohio as a diversionary tactic to draw northern troops from eastern Tennessee. The 2,500 calvarymen passed through Gallia County, Ohio, and reached the village of Vinton on July 17, 1863. The Rebels plundered the town searching for horses, food, and forage. Near this marker, they crossed the covered bridge over Big Raccoon Creek and then burned the 120-foot structure behind them. Area residents were left unharmed and no lives were lost.
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The Ohio River begins at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and flows 981 miles to join the Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois. The Iroquois called the river “Oyo” or “Ohio,” which the French translated as “La Belle Riviere,” the Beautiful River. It was an important transportation route for countless generations of Native Americans and, beginning in the 1780s, for Euro-American settlers. It was the main route to the opening West and the principal outlet for the region’s growing farm output. Congress first acted to improve navigation in 1824 and, later, by canalizing the river with a series of locks and dams beginning in 1878. River commerce has increased with industrialization, moving up to 150 million tons annually.
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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 1810, Dr. Oliver Bigelow from Lansing, New York purchased a 4,000 acre tract of land in Monroe Township for $10,000. Dr. Bigelow planned to build a town. After mapping out streets, the town square, and a cemetery, he named the village Johnstown. Dr. Bigelow was the town’s first medical doctor and the first mayor. He died on November 5, 1817 and was buried in Bigelow Cemetery. Located in the southwest corner of the village, the cemetery became the resting place for more than 275 early residents as well as veterans of three wars. Their grave markers, though weathered by the seasons, serve as a reminder of their great contributions to their community and the nation.
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