2021  Mid-Eastern Road Trip Part 9A

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 9 – 7/20/2021

This morning I headed south out of North Lima 9 miles on US-62 to visit the War Vet Museum located in Canfield, OH.  The museum is housed in the restored original home of Comfort S. Mygatt, built in 1809, and is the American Legion Post 177.  It displays historical military artifacts and memorabilia dating from the Civil War period.

Now I headed south 10 miles on SR-46 to visit the Log House Museum located in Columbiana, OH.  This museum is housed in a log cabin that sits on the site of the first U.S. Post Office in Columbiana, which was established in 1809.  The log cabin was built by Jacob Nessly in 1820 and moved to this location in 1975.  This small museum features 1800s quilts as well as pioneer, Civil War, WWI, and WWII artifacts.

It was another 25 miles south on SR-11 to where I tried to visit the Museum of Ceramics located in East Liverpool, OH but they were closed.  So, I found SR-7 and continued 20 miles south, along the Ohio River, to the Historic Fort Steuben located in Steubenville, OH.  This reconstruction of the 1787 Fort Steuben (built to protect early land surveyors from hostile Indians attacks) is situated on the original site of Fort Steuben, was built in 1987. Visitors can tour the eight buildings that make up the original fort, and get an idea of how the men lived and worked in the wilds of the new Ohio Country (Northwest Territory) during the 18^th century.

I got a big surprise when I happened to see a historical marker that said Steubenville was the birthplace of the American singer, actor, and entertainer Dean Martin.  I grew up listening to his songs on the radio, watching him in movies, and laughed at him and Jerry Lewis on his TV show over the years.

I was really looking forward to visiting the Wheels Gone By automobile collection and the Welsh Classic Car Museum, there in Steubenville, but (Greta my Garmin) couldn’t find either one of them.  That turned out to be a real Bummer!  So, I just headed another 20 miles south on SR-7, skirting the Ohio River, to visit the Sedgwick House Museum located in Martins Ferry, OH.  This museum is housed in what was the Sedgwick family home (built in 1870) and displays rare antiques and artifacts related to the history of Martins Ferry and the surrounding area from the early 1800s.

It was only about 5 miles south on SR-7 to where I crossed the Ohio River, and drove into Wheeling, WV to visit the Kruger Street Toy and Model Train Museum.  The museum is housed in the original 1906 Elm Street Elementary School building, and has an amazing collection of dolls, toys, games, and model train layouts that will amaze young and old alike.

As I was leaving Wheeling, I stopped at the WV Independence Hall and discovered that Wheeling is considered the Birthplace of West Virginia and also served as the Civil War Capital of Virginia.   The museum is housed in the original building that was built in 1859 as a Customs House and served many other functions during and after the Civil War. 

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now I headed south about 10 miles on SR-7 to visit the West Virginia Penitentiary located in Moundsville, WV.  This prison structure was constructed in 1866 and served as a men’s and women’s prison until 1995.  In the later years of its operation the prison was listed as one of the Top Ten Most Violent Correctional Facilities by the United States Department of Justice.

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 64 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

Tags: #amblogging, #Roadtrip, Christian bloggers, Museum Road Trip, Travel