When land speculator Ebenezer Zane established a community 70 miles east of Columbus back in 1800, little did he know that the town would blossom to a bustling small city of 40,000.

Zane ran a ferry service that helped people traveling along the frontier road known as Zane’s Trace. Because the town was in a prime location, it grew quickly, and by the War of 1812, the town had grown to approximately 1,400 people and became the Muskingum County seat in 1804.Today, Zanesville, Ohio — in addition to being home to EagleSticks – is famous for its production of both utilitarian and art pottery, and has been referred to as “Clay City” or the “Pottery Capital of the World.”

The production of pottery is something that continues to this day, making Zanesville, a favorite stop for golfers and their families who visit the area. An annual pottery festival is one of the major summer events held in the area.

The town is also famous for its unique Y-shaped bridge, which spans the confluence of the Muskingum and Licking rivers. The current structure is the area’s fifth Y bridge built since 1814.

Amelia Earhart, the great American woman aviator, called Zanesville “The most recognizable city in the country” because of how the bridge served as a perfect navigational aid.

Zanesville is also the birthplace of Zane Grey, the prolific American writer who pioneered the western novel as a new literary genre. Grey wrote more than 60 books, where he presented the Old West as a moral battleground in which his characters are destroyed because of their inability to change or confront their past.