Day 2: August 10, 2024 A Golden Start and Finish Comment via blog

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I did not get any exterior shots of the Golden Inn last night so I grabbed a few this morning. I even snapped some of the small detached units and some look-ready-for-picking apples. I didn't bother with anything inside since I was in the same room as last October.

My first stop was at the east side of that railroad track that I shot from the other side yesterday. Now called Roby Lane, is soon joins another part of the NOTR now called Eaton Pike and then another part now called US-35. The joining with Eaton Pike is about a quarter mile west of the Indiana-Ohio line.

There is a good chance that NOTR travelers drove a short distance south of the route to visit the site of Fort St. Clair when they reached Eaton, OH. Six soldiers who died in a 1792 skirmish with natives are buried there. They would definitely have passed the new Preble County courthouse constructed during the route's heyday. They would not have drive a short distance north of the route, as I did, for a fine breakfast with some very friendly locals.

Dayton and the Western Turnpike Company was one of the two enterprises comprising the Dayton Cutoff which was later incorporated in the National Old Trails Road. This sign in New Lebanon marks where one of its mile markers once stood. It would have looked like this one which I photographed at the Preble County Historical Society.

Apparently the National Old Trails Road ran along the north edge of the Dayton National Cemetery. The cemetery was created in 1867 so would have been well established when the NOTR came along.

During the NOTR's lifetime, the Wright brothers' childhood friend, Paul Lawrence Dunbar lived just a few blocks north of it. Orville Wright's last workshop was about a block north of the road and the brothers' bicycle shop about a block off the route too the south. Not around during the time of the NOTR is the "Wright Flyer III" sculpture at the corner of Edwin C. Moses Boulevard and West Third Street (a.k.a., National Old Trails Road).

Here's something you don't see every day, Chauncey. A low rider show beside the National Old Trails Road at the north edge of Dayton. The skill and technical expertise that go into these things is absolutely phenomenal.

This sign is in Brandt, Ohio, where the NOTR joined (or left) the National Road. Although the original Dayton Cutoff directly joined Dayton and Springfield, by the time the NOTR was established Brandt had become the more popular cutting off point.

Built around the time that Federal funding for construction of the National Road ended Pennsylvania House became known as "Inn at the end of the pike". A 2006 restoration, which must have included a new sign, has made the building a solid and attractive piece of history. Although little of it is original to the building, it is furnished with mostly period appropriate items many of which have their own interesting story. I snapped the picture of the third story floor because it is the oldest flooring in the place.

In her current downtown setting, Ohio's Madonna of the Trail monument is normally reached quite easily. Sure, eastbound travels have to backtrack a bit because the original National Road (NOTR) is now one was westbound, but that is true of lots of historic items. But today it was more complicated than that. The street directly in front of the Madonna (She's in a park next to those trucks.) was blocked off and a I had to park on a side street. A jazz festival was the reason and, although the street was empty when I was there, it will probably be filled before the festival ends at 9:00 PM. When I snapped my pictures, I found myself wondering if the monument is now too accessible.

Here are some miscellaneous NOTR side attractions captured mostly in drive-bys. First up is the Red Brick Tavern in Lafayette, OH, then the Forty Motel on the west side of Columbus and Tommy's Diner with downtown Columbus in the background. I even snagged a piece of the Ohio state capitol as I cruised past. I actually stopped at Eagle's Nest so I could photograph the sign.

Here's that famous bridge in Zanesville where you go to the middle and turn right to stay on US-40.

I have stayed at Baker's Motel before but it has been a long time and I don't know that I ever knew the owner's name. While checking in I noticed the name Golden on a business card and joked that I had spent the previous night with Goldens too. I expected him to ask where but instead he asked, "Golden Inn?" When I answered yes, he responded with, "That's my brother." I wonder how many other siblings are operating cool independent motels on opposite sides of a state. Anyway, here's my room at a Golden owned motel for the second night in a row.

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