OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Routes from PA > West VA > Ohio > west 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by
Frank Roy
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September 7, 1998
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Routes from PA > West VA > Ohio > west 

Zane's Trace: Connected to the Zanesville-Nashville Pike Built in 1796 it
began on the Ohio River across from present day Wheeling WVA, straigt west
to Zanesville, Ohio.  There you could pick up the Pike to Nashville, going
to Chillicothe, to the ferry across the Ohio river, and then thru Limestone
Ky and on to Nashville.  From Nashville you could pick up the Natchez
Trace. This was a very rough road until you got to Zanesville, Ohio where
the road was very well traveled.

Gist's Trace: Early 1790s, by 1796 a wagon route from Uniontown, PA to
Wheeling WVA. Braddock's Road went from Hagerstown MD thru Uniontown to
Pittsburg.  So people from MD could get to Wheeling this way.

In the 1790s a flatboat could be taken from Pittsburg PA all the way to New
Orleans.  The only problem area was from Pittsburg to Wheeling when part of
the year the water level was too low.  Since several trails from the east
lead to Pittsburg, this opened up the entire Ohio Valley area.  Braddock's
Road came from Alexandria, VA thru Hagerstown MD, Uniontown PA to
Pittsburg. Forbes' Road could be taken all the way from Philadelphia PA to
Pittsburg.

There was a connection between the two routes to Pittsburg - From Lancaster
PA, thru York and Gettysburg to Hagerstown MD.  I was in this area this
summer and it is beautiful country.  I can see why these routes developed,
there are some nice hills between Hagerstown MD and Pittsburg PA - looked
pretty difficult to walk over.  So the routes were the easier way to go.