Ohio’s first traffic fatality was near Zanesville
Christopher Columbus Baldwin died in 1835 on the National Road at Norwich
Lewis LeMaster
Columnist
The National Road, which began in Cumberland, Maryland, was the first federally-funded highway to run through multiple states. The surface, made of crushed limestone, was state-of-the-art for the time. By 1830, the road had reached Zanesville.
Christopher Columbus Baldwin, a resident of Worcester, Massachusetts, made his last trip on that highway. His tragic death in 1835 is the first recorded traffic fatality in Ohio.
Baldwin had been a lawyer, but preferred the study and collection of historical artifacts. In 1827, he joined the American Antiquarian Society and in 1832 he was elected librarian of that organization.