Columbus state capital8/15/2023 ![]() Many beautiful and rare pieces from a variety of local companies are displayed in a large exhibit at the center of the museum. ![]() The museum also celebrates the pottery art for which the region is famous. The museum’s exhibit on Grey includes information and mementos about his life in Zanesville and later, including a re-creation of his California study and library where he wrote many of his novels. Zanesville native Zane Grey was once arguably the most famous author in the United States and produced dozens of popular Western novels, many of which were turned into movies in the early days of Hollywood. The museum tells the history of the road that helped build America, with lots of memorabilia and displays about the road, including an extensive collection of dioramas depicting early life along the route. The National Road, authorized by Congress in 1806, stretched from Cumberland, Maryland, to Vandalia, Illinois, passing directly through Zanesville over what is now generally Route 40. Two of the topics can be discerned from the museum’s name, of course. More history, about three diverse local topics, is on display at the National Road and Zane Gray Museum just east of Zanesville. The Mathews House, built in 1805, is one of the oldest in the area and today contains historic room settings, local archaeological finds and an exhibit honoring veterans from Muskingum County. The museum is operated by Muskingum County History, a local history group that also operates the nearby Dr. The Stone Academy also became a hiding place for fugitive slaves fleeing toward Canada. The Stone Academy and nearby churches hosted abolitionist meetings and luminaries such as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Visitors will also learn about the abolitionist history of the building and of Putnam, a hotbed of anti-slavery sentiment before and during the Civil War. ![]() Today, the museum there tells about the early days of the Zanesville area, including the battle for the state capital. The Stone Academy served public functions and as a school until it later became a private home. Above the main entrance to that courthouse, a large oval stone marked “1809,” salvaged from the Zanesville statehouse, can still be seen. But Zanesville would only serve as the capital for two years, and the statehouse built there would eventually be razed to make way for a new Muskingum County Courthouse built in 1874. ![]() The Stone Academy was built in Springfield (later Putnam), which lost its bid to become the Ohio capital in 1810 to Zanesville across the river. Zanesville was once two towns, rivals across the Muskingum River, vying for political power. Today, the Stone Academy Museum is one of many attractions that make Zanesville a lovely destination for Ohio history buffs and day-trippers. But the Stone Academy, constructed in 1809, remains standing, a reminder of a time early in state history when capital cities, much less capitol buildings, were subject to the whims of shifting politics and population centers. The Zanesville building that was picked has since been demolished, as has the state’s first capitol building in Chillicothe and the first statehouse built in Columbus. ZANESVILLE - Fortune smiled, perhaps, on the Stone Academy when it was not chosen to be Ohio’s second statehouse in 1810. ![]() Today, we highlight a visit to Ohio's second capital city and a look at some of the things to see and do there. Last week, The Dispatch took a day-trip to Ohio's first capital, Chillicothe. Columbus hasn't always been Ohio's capital. ![]()
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