Miles Historical

Miles Historical (HM1U7J)

Location: Norwich, OH 43767 Muskingum County
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Country: United States of America
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N 39° 58.529', W 81° 49.356'

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Inscription

National Road/Zane Grey Museum

—One of Several Identical Markers —

The Act of Congress in 1806 which authorized the construction of the National Road required that mile markers be placed at regular intervals. These reference points reassured travelers that they were following the correct route. They also indicated the distance traveled and the distance
to a destination.
The use of mile markers began in the Roman Empire with the use of stone obelisks. The first Roman mile markers appeared in the fourth century B.C. on the empire's legendary Appian Way, the road from Rome to Brindisi.
National Road mile markers are set at one mile intervals along the north side of the Road. Each state's mile markers were a different design, but all displayed the same information. Ohio's markers were square with round heads, made of an early form of concrete, sandstone or limestone, while in Pennsylvania they were obelisks made of cast iron.
Ohio's five-foot tall markers were set two feet deep into the ground with three feet exposed. Each marker indicated the distance to Cumberland, Maryland, where the Road begins, and the name and mileage to the nearest cities and villages, for east and westbound travelers.
Whether the letters or numerals were painted or carved, markers followed a standard pattern of showing at the top the number of miles from the beginning of the Road in Cumberland, Maryland. On the next
row, they wrote the name of the next big town and number of miles to it. On the left side of the marker, it would show eastbound travelers the next big town to the east. On the right side, it would show westbound travelers the next big town to the west and the number of miles to go. On the lowest level, there was usually an initial and a small number. This indicated the nearest town. It didn't need to be spelled out, because most people from the vicinity would recognize it from the initial.
By the 1920's, a uniform highway numbering system with standardized road signs replaced the old mile markers, but many remain along the Road. See how many you can identify.
Details
HM NumberHM1U7J
Series This marker is part of the The Historic National Road series
Tags
Year Placed2014
Placed ByThe Ohio National Road Association, Inc
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Thursday, September 8th, 2016 at 9:03am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)17S E 429757 N 4425360
Decimal Degrees39.97548333, -81.82260000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 39° 58.529', W 81° 49.356'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds39° 58' 31.74" N, 81° 49' 21.36" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)740
Closest Postal AddressAt or near Zane Grey Museum, Norwich OH 43767, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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