Dale Ferbrache is a 1972 graduate of Ohio University obtaining dual degrees in History and English. He earned his Master’s Degree in Administration from the University of Dayton and was employed for more than forty years by the Fairfield Union Local Schools. After retiring, Mr. Ferbrache, in 2016, organized the Fairfield County Zane’s Trace Corridor Project to accurately map the Zane’s trace through Fairfield County. The Corridor Project subsequently partnered with the Fairfield County Auditor’s Office to produce a series of high quality maps defining the location of the Zane’s Trace from the Perry County Line to the Pickaway County Line. Mr. Ferbrache will talk about the Corridor Project’s work and the Zane’s Trace through Fairfield County.                                                                                     

The year 2022 is the 225th anniversary of the Zane’s Trace. Muskingum County History in conjunction with the John McIntire Public Library and the generous sponsorship of Park National Bank shall present programs throughout 2022 on the Zane’s Trace and Ohio history. All programs will be the second and fourth Wednesdays of January through May as well as the month of September at 5:30pm at the John McIntire Public Library.

Come learn and appreciate the history of the Zane’s Trace from its beginning in Wheeling, West Virginia (at the time Virginia) to its conclusion in Maysville (at the time Limestone), Kentucky. A county by county history will be presented telling of the significance of the Trace to each county through which it passed as well as its importance to Ohio. We also will discover the history of Ohio when the Delaware, Shawnee, Wyandot, Miami, Ottawa, Mingo and other tribes occupied and roamed the Ohio Country. From the military campaigns that took place in Ohio, and, in particular, Muskingum and Coshocton Counties, between 1760 to 1815, to the removal of the Indian tribes from the State concluding in 1843, the history of the Northwest Territory and the Ohio Country will be explored. The conflicts seen in westerns on TV pale in comparison to the conflicts that took place in Ohio and the Northwest Territory.