Zane's Trace

Zane's Trace is a frontier road constructed under the direction of Col. Ebenezer Zane through the Northwest Territory of the United States, in what is now the state of Ohio. Many portions were based on traditional Native American trails. Constructed during 1796 and 1797, the road ran from Wheeling, Virginia (now Wheeling, West Virginia) to Maysville, Kentucky, through the portion of the Northwest Territory that eventually became the southeastern quarter of the state of Ohio. It was more than 230 miles (370 km) long and was interrupted by several rivers.

After serving in the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War, Col. Zane traveled to Washington, D.C., in early 1796. He petitioned Congress for money to finance the construction of a road to encourage settlement in the Northwest Territory and speed up travel times to Kentucky. Zane would profit by construction of the road, both because he owned most of the land at its starting point of Wheeling, and also because he intended to buy tracts of land along the route (see below). Nonetheless, it was in the national interest for such a road to be built. Congress approved a contract financing the project in May 1796.

Col. Zane was assisted in overseeing the construction by his brother Jonathan Zane and his son-in-law John McIntire, as well as by a Native American guide Tomepomehala. Col. Zane took advantage of existing Native American trails for some of the route. These included the Mingo Trail in the area between present day Fairview, Ohio, and Zanesville, Ohio, and the Moxahala Trail in the area between present day Zanesville, Ohio, and Chillicothe, Ohio. Chillicothe was the only settlement already existent along the route before the Trace was constructed. The Trace was constructed through heavily forested, hilly terrain and was not easily traveled by wagon.

After Ohio became a state in 1803, the legislature levied a state transportation tax used in 1804 to improve the entirety of the Trace. Laborers cleared out stumps and widened the thoroughfare. Between 1825 and 1830, the segment of Zane's Trace between Wheeling and Zanesville was rebuilt as part of the new National Road.

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