One of Ohio's first glass plants was started in Zanesville in 1815, and for many years the town was the center for this industry in the State. Local sands were used exclusively. Zanesville goblets and water pitchers of the early nineteenth century are highly prized by collectors today.

The Ohio Legislature designated Zanesville the State capital on February 19, 1810. The day following this action, however, the legislature adopted a resolution providing for the location of a permanent capital “not more than forty miles from what shall be deemed to be the common center of the state.” Unfortunately Zanesville was outside this area, and the day of its political importance passed almost before it had dawned. Several citizens the year before had raised sufficient funds by popular subscription for the erection of a building, later known as Old 1809. An earthquake during the first session of the legislature caused much confusion, and senators and representatives scrambled from Old 1809 with little semblance of dignity or order. The building served as the capitol from December 1810 until May 1812, after which it became the Muskingum County Courthouse. In the latter year Zanesville had a population of 1,200 and ranked third in size among the settlements in Ohio.

The arrival of the steamboat Rufus Putnam from Marietta in 1824 marked the beginning of a new era in transportation. Shipbuilding became a prominent industry, over 100 boats being launched from the Zanesville docks in the next quarter-century. The dredging and damming of the Muskingum River in 1841 was but another step in water transportation, which had been given great impetus with the completion of the Ohio and Erie Canal to the head of navigation on the Muskingum at Dresden in the late 1820's. At about the same time the National Road was improved from Wheeling to Zanesville.

These new agencies were not wholly beneficial, however. The local markets became glutted with manufactured articles and farm produce. A veritable panic existed in 1840. Corn was selling at 25¢ a bushel, oats at 12¢ a bushel, flour at $3 a barrel, eggs at 4¢ a dozen, chickens at from 50¢ to 75¢ a dozen. In the same year, however, a Government report indicated that approximately one fourth of the potteries in Ohio were located in or near Zanesville. And in that year potters and clay workers from Staffordshire, England, settled in the vicinity and began the production of Rockingham ware.

Residents were thrown into panic on July 23, 1863, with news that Morgan's raiders were approaching the city from the southwest. Militia companies were hastily organized, and little-used weapons were assembled. After hours of anxious waiting the alarmed citizens learned that Morgan had crossed the Muskingum River a score of miles to the south, and that the threat had passed.

The closing decades of the nineteenth century witnessed many changes in the city's industrial life. Floor tile bearing the Zanesville imprint was placed on the market. By the 1890's the demand for such products had become sufficiently large to make feasible the construction of the immense plant of the American Encaustic Tiling Company (1892), which was dedicated by Governor William McKinley. Before its financial collapse in recent years, 'the A.E.,' as it was familiarly known, was the largest manufacturer of floor and wall tile in the United States. These years also witnessed the founding of several other clay products industries, including the S.A. Weller Pottery in 1888, the Roseville Pottery in 1892, and the Mosaic Tile Company in 1894. Several years earlier the now defunct Burton-Townsend Brick Company, founded in 1887, had begun to utilize local clays. For a number of years around 1900, Zanesville was one of the leading producers of farm wagons in the United States.

The 1913 flood, general throughout Ohio, inundated many parts of the city, inflicting property damage of approximately $3,000,000. The prosperous World War years hastened recovery from this severe blow. Large numbers of foreign immigrants settled during this period in the Putnam section where they were employed at the Mark Manufacturing Plant, producing tubing and pipe, when the plant was razed in the early 1920's, many of these residents moved away, and those who remained were almost completely assimilated. Today Zanesville's population is almost wholly native-born or naturalized.

Serious floods in 1935 and 1937 caused considerable property damage. With the completion of the conservancy dams in the valley, however, the threat of high waters is probably permanently removed.

Points of Interest

The Zanesville Art Museum (open 10-5 weekdays, 7-9:30 p.m. Fri.; 1-5 Sun.), SW. corner of Maple and Adair Aves., occupies a three-story stone building with ornamented gables, built as a private residence in 1889. It contains art exhibits, relics of local historic interest, and displays of Zanesville and Muskingum County products. Classrooms, an auditorium, and the headquarters and library of the Pioneer and Historical Society occupy the rest of the building.

The Zane Grey Birthplace, 705 Convers Ave., is a square seven-room frame house. Born here on January 31, 1875, Zane Grey received his early education in the Zanesville public schools. In a cave at the rear of the home he wrote his first story, a tale of youthful love and adventure, climaxed by the premature death of the principal characters. Ebenezer Zane, in whose honor the city was named, was the great-greatgrandfather of the novelist.

The Y-Bridge, Main St., center of the city at the confluence of the Muskingum and Licking Rivers, is one of the few bridges of its kind in the world. In 1812 the Ohio Legislature granted permission to Moses Dillon, a resident of Zanesville, and other citizens to build a bridge here. Owing to the peculiar position of the three settlements huddled near the confluence, it was decided to construct a bridge with three approaches. Within two years a covered wooden structure resting on massive stone piers was completed. In 1832 it was replaced by a similar but stronger structure, and in 1900 the present concrete bridge was built at a cost of $188,000.

The S.S. Cox Birthplace, 3rd and Main Sts., is a two-story brick house built in 1820, where Samuel Sullivan Cox was born in 1824. Cox was deputy clerk of the Muskingum County court of common pleas at 14, Secretary of Legation in Peru in 1855, Minister to Turkey in 1885, member of Congress for 20 years, and regent of the Smithsonian Institution.

The Cass Gilbert Birthplace, E. side of N. 4th St. between Fountain Square and Market St., is a small, two-story brick building now occupied by a shoe-repair shop. In this house the designer of the Woolworth Building and the United States Supreme Court Building was born November 24, 1859.

The Site of the First Lucifer Match Factory in America, near the SE. corner of Main and 4th Sts., is occupied by the east part of the Clarendon Hotel. Here in 1834, Dr. William G. Thompson operated a drug and chemical warehouse, where he learned to reproduce London-made lucifer matches. The 20 boxes in the first consignment each contained 100 matches and enough sandpaper for striking, and sold for 37-1/2¢ a box.

The Weller Pottery, Ceramic Ave., generally considered to be the largest art pottery in the world, with 400,000 square feet of floor space, manufactures all kinds of decorative art ware and vases. Weller pieces are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and at other museums.

Putnam Hill Park, bounded by Muskingum Ave., Pine St.. and Grandview Ave., an 11-1/4-acre area overlooking the city, gives a fine view of the Y Bridge. The park was laid out in 1801.

Zanesville's Oldest House, SE. corner of Woodlawn Ave. and Washington St., was originally the one-story sandstone residence of Dr. Increase Mathews, first physician in Muskingum County, who built it for his bride in 1804. In 1846 the property passed to his heirs, who added a second story and attic to the three-foot stone walls. Late in 1936, when the old home was purchased by William H. Adams, it was modernized and redecorated, but the six fireplaces were retained.

The Nye-Potts House, 228 Adams St., is a two-story brick, wood, and stone structure built in 1813 by Major Horace Nye. In front of the building in 1830, Nye's son-in-law, Thomas Potts, constructed a two-story four-room Early American brick house, with inside shutters, semi-elliptical fanlights above the main entranceway, and a double stone stoop with iron handrails.

The Buckingham House, SW. corner of Moxahala Ave. and Adams St., built in 1819 by Alva Buckingham, one of the leading citizens, and still in the possession of his descendants, was a station on the Underground Railroad. It is a two-story brick and sandstone structure of nine rooms. The semicircular doorway is recessed under a brick arch, and over the white wood-paneled door is a fan-shaped lintel of curved leaded glass, while at each side are narrow curved windows.

The Robbins House, 113 Jefferson St., a two-story stone building, was erected in 1809 in the hope that it would house the State capitol, but was used instead as an academy for a number of years. After serving as headquarters for the first convention of the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society in May 1839, it became an important station on the Underground Railroad. Later it served as the home of Elizabeth Robbins, authoress.

The Mosaic Tile Company Plant, Lexington Ave. and Pershing Rd., covering 12 acres, is one of the largest floor- and wall-tile factories in the world. Among its other products are bathroom accessories and store fronts.

Points of Interest in the Environs

Five Mile House, 5.4 miles (see Tour 10). Headley Inn, 4-9 miles; Blue Lion Inn, 5.6 miles; Muskingum College, 15.6 miles (see Tour 13). Ohio Power Company Plant, 11.5 miles; The Barracks, 12 miles. (see Tour 10).

Railroad Station: Market and 2nd Sts. for Baltimore & Ohio R.R. and Pennsylvania R.R.

Bus Station: Union Terminal, N. 5th St. near Market St,

Airport: Zanesville Airport, 5 miles. N. on State 77.

Taxis: Fare 25¢ within city, 10¢ for each extra passenger.

Motor Coaches: Fare 10¢, 4 tickets for 25¢, free transfers.

Street Numbering: E. and W. from Muskingum River, N. and S. from Main St.

Information Service: Muskingum Motor Club, Zane Hotel, N.4U1 and California Sts.

Accommodations: 6 hotels.

Radio Station: WALR (1210 kc).

Theaters: 4 motion picture houses.

Golf: Zanesville Golf Club, 3 miles N. of business section near State 77, 18 holes, greens fee $1-1.50.

Annual Events: Muskingum County Fair, 3d week in Aug.; Putnam Pumpkin Show, 4th week in Aug.; Outboard Regatta, late Sept. or early Oct.