Program

Historic Transportation

Subject

Industry & Commerce, Transportation

Location

2 Guernsey St, Bellaire, OH 43906, USA

Lat/Long

40.013378, -80.746102

Grant Recipient

Great Stone Viaduct Historical Education Society, Inc.

The Central Ohio Railroad was completed and officially opened in November 1854. Running for 137 miles, the railroad connected Columbus, the capital city of Ohio, to the Ohio River. Its eastern terminus was the village of Bellaire in Belmont County, Ohio. Nearly directly across the river from Bellaire was Benwood Station on the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad. The significance of the Central Ohio Railroad was reported shortly after its completion in the May 8, 1855 Washington, DC Evening Star:

It runs through several very rich and populous counties of Ohio constituting the heart of the State. It has highly important railroad connections at Zanesville and Newark; and at Columbus, its western terminus blends itself with the leading lines of the great West. It is thus an invaluable adjunct of the Baltimore & Ohio Road.

In 1866, the B&O acquired the Central Ohio Railroad, eventually operating the line as its Central Ohio Division. Shortly after this, the B&O completed several projects along the line to strengthen and improve the road, including the completion of a railroad bridge over the Ohio River in 1871. The bridge included a 43-span stone viaduct which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. As of 2024, a 22-span portion of the viaduct is owned by the Great Stone Viaduct Historical Education Society, and the site consists of a public plaza under the viaduct along with an elevated walking trail that passes over 20 arches of the viaduct to an observation platform 35 feet above the plaza below.

Links

• Great Stone Viaduct Historical Education Society