ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The history of a longtime local business was celebrated along with the installation of a new milepost along the historic National Road.

Mile Marker 138 on the historic National Road was the site for the dedication of the Ebbert Family Farm interpretive sign. The dedication comes after the Ohio National Road Association decided to celebrate Ebbert Family Farm being in business for over 100 years.

The original mile marker at that location was removed in 1980 and placed in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

According to touringohio.com, 220 miles of the National Road run through Ohio. A stone marker on the north side of every mile told travelers how many miles they were from Cumberland, Maryland, the origin point of the highway. In Ohio, the markers were a square column with a rounded head, each marked at the head with the distance to the eastern terminus of the road at Cumberland, Maryland. Below, the square base is set at an angle to the road, with exposed sides showing the distance to the nearest city or village.

The earliest Ohio markers were a type of reinforced concrete material made in the 1830s. Since they did not weather well, most of these early markers were replaced in the 1850s by sandstone markers.

“Our son Johnathan’s eighth grade school trip was to Washington, D.C., and among one of the several places we went to visit was the Smithsonian Institute,” Jerry Ebbert, owner of Ebbert Family Farm, said. “So we’re walking around the American History Museum and I come upon the area that has a mile marker in it and I said, ‘Come here boys, I want you to see this.’ And I said, ‘There was one of these mile markers that they removed from this position many years ago that was right across from our market.’ So I got to looking at it and it had Wheeling 8, Bridgeport 7, St. Clairsville 3, and I said, ‘Oh my goodness, this is the marker I used to sit on as a kid.'”

Ebbert jokingly said that he had always heard that the mile marker was in the Smithsonian National Museum of American HIstory but didn’t really believe it actually was. The reason the piece is known as Mile Marker 138 is because it stood 138 miles from Cumberland, Maryland, where the National Road began. The National Road first reached Ohio in 1825 and is considered the first federally funded highway. The mile markers were mandated by Congress.

“In the 1930s they upgraded the road coming through here,” said Belmont County representative of the Ohio National Road Association John S. Marshall. “… The original sandstone Mile Marker 138 is currently in Washington, D.C., so today we are replacing that as well as the interpretative sign about the history of Mile Marker 138 and the historic Ebbert Family Farm.”

With the new addition of the mile marker and interpretative sign, Mike Osovich of Save More Motors Inc. has volunteered to maintain the site.

“He’s doing something very special, which I think will be the first along the National Road in Ohio and perhaps the whole country. He is erecting a dusk ’til dawn LED light on a pole which will shine down on the mile marker and interpretative sign,” Marshall said.

Marshall proceeded to thank the Ohio Department of Transportation for preparing the site of the mile marker and the Ohio State Highway Patrol for orchestrating traffic control during the dedication ceremony on Tuesday.

The mile marker and interpretative sign were made possible through funding provided by the Ebbert family, Belmont County Tourism Council and Ohio National Road Association.

“It’s just kind of a humbling thing to be recognized for being in business for as long as we are,” Ebbert said. “Time gets away from you, you don’t even think about it sometimes.”

Ebbert Family Farm is open 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday until the end of October.

“We’re a seasonal market with summer produce, fruits and vegetables, and then in the fall with fall decorating items,” Ebbert said.