Tuesday was a great day for Belmont County!

I had the privilege of attending the ceremonial lantern lighting to kick off the renovation of the Black Horse Inn.

That structure, first partially erected about 1807, will soon be the new home of the Underground Railroad Museum now in Flushing.

I was in good company Tuesday morning. In addition to local leaders such as Tourism Director Jackee Pugh, museum Director Kristina Estle, museum board members John Mattox Junior and his sister Suzanne Evans, county Commissioners J.P. Dutton, Jerry Echemann and Vince Gianangeli, port authority Director Larry Merry, Morristown Historic Preservation Society President John Ratiaiczak, inn representative Pamela McCort and many others, Gov. Mike DeWine attended along with first lady Fran DeWine.

There was also a strong turnout by the public, with dozens of area residents — many of whom I knew — seated beneath a tent that was set up on Main Street just across from the inn.

It was a hot, sunny day, but Pugh knew just what to do. She created hand-held fans that featured key details about the event and its program of activities. So, attendees were able to cool themselves up and follow along at the same time.

“Today, we gather to celebrate the beginning of a transformational restoration project made possible through the Appalachian Community Grant Program, and it’s about more than bricks and mortar– it’s about honoring the stories of resilience, freedom, and community that define our shared past,” Rataiczak said as he welcomed the crowd. “This project is a restored symbol of our past–and a beacon for future generations by combining two cornerstones of Belmont County history: the Black Horse Inn and the Underground Railroad Museum.”

Pugh added, “The restoration of the Black Horse Inn and the relocation of the Underground Railroad Museum is more than just a construction project–it’s an investment in storytelling, in community, and in truth.

“As we gather in celebration today, it is especially meaningful that this event takes place just after Juneteenth, a day that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. While the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863, it wasn’t until June 19, 1865, that freedom reached all enslaved people in Galveston, Texas. Juneteenth reminds us that freedom was–and still is–a fight that requires courage, awareness, and persistence.

“Today, just steps away from where freedom seekers once passed in silence, we take a bold step forward–with light, with truth, and with purpose. This project will help ensure those struggles are not forgotten, but honored and shared–right here, in the heart of Appalachian Ohio.”

McCort shared some of the inn’s history.

“Beginning in 1807, this iconic structure has stood alongside a rugged passage west and then by ‘The Road that Built a Nation.’

“Providing not just warm food and dry shelter, but something more enduring — a sense of welcome, place to rest, a place to belong.

“Picture men in leather breeches and women in long skirts disembarking from stagecoaches here for rest and something to eat — warm bread and hearty stew, hot black coffee, a mug of stout or glass of Irish whiskey.

“… The Black Horse Inn has never been just a building — it is a symbol, a history of people with courage who traveled narrow, forested paths to stake a claim here and become farmers, merchants, blacksmiths, tavernkeepers and undertakers. … When this place was shuttered decades ago, its future was bleak. Those of us here did what we could, always clinging to the belief that it could be restored.

“We carried that belief and the vision of a restored Black Horse for more than 30 years.

“We held on because all we needed was one more believer — one more person with vision. And that person — Governor DeWine — was you.”

She is right. DeWine’s grant program is making this massive, $3.9 million project possible. After the construction phase is complete, the museum has about 8,000 items in its collection to sort through and select for displays, as well as creating interpretive signs and setting things up in a layout that will guide visitors through the past and make them ponder a brighter future.