SpringfieldNewsSun.com

Ohio National Road enthusiasts can take a trip down memory lane with an exhibit at the Heritage Center of Clark County.

A 10-panel display of the road's history will be in the center's lobby until Sept. 1 through a partnership between the Ohio National Road Association and the Clark County Historical Society.

Early travelers came and stayed in this area because of the road, said Denna Johnson, president of the ONRA and owner of Johnson's Lamp Shop on the Old National Road near South Vienna.

"Everything about us is connected to the road," she said.

It entered Ohio in 1825 and came to Springfield during the next decade.

The display features several photos from Clark County, including ones of the Heritage Center, Pennsylvania House and the South Vienna Corn Festival.

The display will be moved to different locations along the road, said Thea Walsh, ONRA byway coordinator and director of the Clark County-Springfield Transportation Coordinating Committee.

The road runs more than 700 miles through six states and bisects Clark County.

It follows much of U.S. 40, which runs through Springfield, South Vienna and Donnelsville.

"The panels do a really good job of interpreting the entire road in Ohio," Walsh said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0355 or derwin@coxohio.com.