Zane's Trace

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.

The Trace was constructed through heavily forested, hilly terrain and was not easily traveled by wagon.

Between 1825 and 1830, the segment of Zane's Trace between Wheeling and Zanesville was rebuilt as part of the new National Road.

Ferries across Wills Creek in present-day Cambridge, Ohio, were run by Ezra Graham, George and Henry Beymer, and John Beatty.

As part of his petition to Congress (see above), Col. Zane requested that he be given the right to buy select tracts of land at three sites where the Trace crossed a major river.

Col. Zane sold his tract of land on the eastern bank of the Scioto River to Humphrey Fullerton in 1804.