Jerry Thompson is a long time member of the Guernsey County Historical Society. He has been a docent at the National Road/Zane Grey Museum for more than a decade. What impact did the Trace have on the area that became Guernsey County? Mr. Thompson’s program will address “Guernsey County and the Zane’s Trace.”

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.