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Road to the American dream began in Belmont County

Two hundred years ago this month, right here in Belmont County, history was made. On July 4, 1825, construction officially began on the National Road in Ohio. The groundbreaking took place in St. Clairsville — near the Courthouse — where people still walk, shop and celebrate our small-town charm today. While the world has changed dramatically over the past two centuries, the legacy of that bold vision still shapes who we are. The National Road wasn’t just a path—it was a promise. Commissioned by Congress in 1806 and often called “The Main Street of America,” it was the ...

The rockets’ red glare over my hometown

I took a break from working on today’s newspaper Friday evening to walk around my yard in the dark. I wasn’t admiring the landscaping — instead I was checking to make sure nothing was on fire. You see, ever since Ohio’s fireworks law changed, the people of Belmont celebrate July 4 in a big way. There is no official community event, but some folks in our neighborhood put on quite a show that many others in the village enjoy. Perhaps if I lived a block or two further from the action, I would enjoy them more myself. As it is, though, they make me worry more than they entertain ...

Perception — is it your reality or the reality

Perception is your reality but not necessarily THE reality! Or, said differently, what we believe to be true isn’t always the truth. On June 19, 1865 (Juneteenth) the last of the slaves in the USA learned they were free two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was made. Slavery officially ended with the ratification of the 13th amendment on Dec. 6, 1865. There was no internet or TV in 1865. Some slaves may not have been aware of this truth, continuing as slaves for months. The truth is they were free. Their reality was they were still slaves. Harvey Mackay, entrepreneur, ...

A preservation project that is all about the future

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 ...

Why U.S. manufacturing? A host of reasons

A few years ago I did a radio interview for the University of Colorado student radio station. They wanted to know more about energy especially gas and oil. In the middle of the interview the host stops me and says, “Did you hear what he just said dear friends.” I’m thinking, Now what! The host continued, “We don’t like wells or petrochemical plants but we like our skis, our climbing ropes, our cars and our cell phones. If we are going to have those things doesn’t it make sense like Mr. Kozera said, that they be made in the USA under U.S. environmental law where they can ...

Accepting reality and making the most of it

My dream of raising supercharged hostas that will independently overpower all the grass and weeds around them has faded away, and reality has set in. Just about a year ago, I shared in this space what I thought was a brilliant landscaping scheme. I planned to use hostas alongside our old Belmont Markethouse building to mitigate a couple of issues there. That strip of grass between the foundation and the sidewalk gets battered by rain water running off the metal roof overhead. The soil is rocky, and because it is on the north side of the structure, it is spongy and partially covered in ...