Cyndie Gerken published her first book last month, a 300-plus page, full-color description of the numerous stone mile markers that lined the National Road’s 225-mile stretch through Ohio. An avid researcher and historian of all things relating to Ohio’s portion of the National Road, Gerken said it was difficult to determine the structure of sorting so much information, noting that to include all of the facts into just one book would have required “a crane to get it down off of your bookshelf,” she said, explaining that her goal is to pen an entire series of books on the National Road’s history in Ohio, broken down according to subject.
Although Gerken was raised along the National Road just west of Donnelsville, her fascination with the subject wasn’t sparked until much later in life, when she began learning more about it through her volunteering at the Pennsylvania House, which was once an inn along the National Road when funding for the project stalled in the 1800s.
Gerken said she was completing applications for her and her mother to join the Daughters of the American Revolution through Springfield’s Lagonda chapter, which is based out of the Pennsylvania House, located on West Main Street at Dayton Avenue. She then began volunteering as a docent there, learning more and more about the history of the road.
The United States government signed legislation for the National Road to begin in Cumberland, Maryland in 1806 as a way to open up the country and provide access to the west, but construction did not begin until 1811. By 1818, the road reached Wheeling, West Virginia, but was stalled there for seven years while Congress debated their authority in funding construction on the project. In 1825, construction resumed, but was halted again several years later as the road approached what is now downtown Springfield. The Pennsylvania House was then referred to as “The Inn at the End of the Pike,” as the great road came to an abrupt end in the middle of town.
Gerken said that a group of angry businessmen from Dayton, enraged that the National Road would not be routed through their city, attempted to devise a coup to overthrow the road’s designed route. She said these businessmen got together and built two turnpikes while funding stalled the National Road in Springfield. One of these turnpikes, which they called the Dayton Cutoff, is now known as Dayton Road, and runs from Eagle City Road in Springfield all the way through Enon and Fairborn, and ends in Dayton. Gerken said the businessmen erected signs directing drivers to take the Dayton Cutoff, which they also lined with stone markers just like the ones found along the National Road, confusing drivers to make them think they’d taken the real National Road instead of the new turnpike.
During her work at the Pennsylvania House, Gerken was tapped to join the Ohio National Road Association, and eventually became Vice-President and then President of the organization. She said that she announced the publication of her book at last month’s annual meeting of the board, noting how excited she was to have sold out of copies at the meeting. She said that depending on her health, her goal is to release one book in the series each year, ideally being able to announce publication at the Association’s annual board meeting, adding that she plans to cover the various taverns, tollhouses, and bridges that once lined Ohio’s National Road.
Gerken said that as a child, she often rode her bike along the National Road, but of course, did not comprehend its historical significance until much later in life, saying that she just considered it to be “Route 40 back then.” She now lives in Miami County, and considered writing books about the road’s history in each county, but noted that there are only 6.3 miles of National Road in Miami County, and almost 28 miles in Clark County.
Gerken’s research led her on many excursions throughout the state as she visited remaining historic landmarks for perspective and photographs, but she praised the simplicity of Amazon’s Create Space self-publishing platform that she used to create her book, emphasizing how great the process had been. She also thanked the Clark County Historical Society and the Heritage Center for assistance on research, calling the Heritage Center “the best-kept secret in the county” because of its National Road Gallery, complete with original stone markers.
“Marking the Miles along the National Road through Ohio: A Survey of Old Stone Markers on Ohio’s National Road” by Cyndie L. Gerken is now available on Amazon.com.
