Zane's Trace - Construction and Later Improvements

Construction and Later Improvements

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.