Take a trip down the Ohio River just as Lewis and his crew did in September 1803. Instead of stopping a ‘riffles’ to drag the barge with horses and oxen, you can stop the car and enjoy some great historic sites along the river. This trip starts with an iconic view of Pittsburgh, pays homage to the oldest surviving member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and ends at ancient mounds built by the Adena culture. From modern to ancient, this trip shows it all.
Iconic views of Pittsburgh can be had along Grandview Drive atop Mt. Washington. Point of View can be reached by car or by the historic Duquesne Incline. Did Meriwether Lewis climb these hills while he waited for the barge to be built—July 15 to August 30, 1803? If he did, he could only worry about the low water levels he saw.
Be sure to see the larger-than-life bronze statue of General George Washington and Seneca Chief Guyasuta depicting their meeting in October 1770—aptly titled "Points of View". An interpretive marker there tells the story.
Point of View, Grandview Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
1435 Grandview Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15211, USA
Duquesne Incline Parking West Carson Street Pittsburgh, West Carson Street, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Point State Park, Commonwealth Place, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Duquesne Incline Parking West Carson Street Pittsburgh, West Carson Street, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
View Listing"Old Economy Village features 17 historic buildings surrounded by gardens in the Borough of Ambridge. This National Historic Landmark tells the story of the Harmony Society, one of the oldest and most successful religious communal groups of the 19th century.
Today, you can explore the buildings, grounds, library, archives, and original artifacts and discover the history, culture, and stories of this community's spiritual discipline and economic industry.
The Visitor Center is open to the public seasonally Friday through Sunday 10:00 am – 4:00 pm and includes two exhibit galleries and an orientation video.
Groups of 10 or more people are asked to make a reservation at least 2 weeks in advance by calling the site."
(https://www.oldeconomyvillage.org/)
Located on the Ohio River's steep bank near the mouth of the Beaver, Fort McIntosh overlooked the Ohio's northernmost reach.
The fort played a significant role after the Revolutionary War. Established in 1778, it hosted an Indian treaty signing in January 1785 and housed the First American Regiment, the oldest active unit in the U.S. Army. Named for Gen. Lachlan McIntosh, the fort was abandoned in 1791.
On September 3, 1804, Lewis stopped here to discharge one of his crew:
"we set out at 9 this morning and passed a riffle just below us called Atkins’s got over with tolerable ease passed the mouth of big bever creek and came to ancor off Mackintosh being 2½ miles— discharge one of my hands.—"
—Meriwether Lewis
The site now features stone footings, a replica cannon, and historical markers. Nearby modern attractions include the Beaver Station Cultural Events Center and the Beaver Area Heritage Museum, accessible via PA 68.
Fort McIntosh, Beaver, PA, USA
740 River Rd, Beaver, PA 15009, USA
Beaver Area Heritage Museum, River Road, Beaver, PA, USA
Bridgewater Historic District, Unnamed Road, Beaver, PA, USA
Beaver Area Heritage Museum, River Road, Beaver, PA, USA
View ListingBridgewater Historic District, Unnamed Road, Beaver, PA, USA
View ListingThe "Point of Beginning" in East Liverpool, Ohio, is a National Historic Engineering Landmark. It marks the start of the American Rectangular Land Survey System, initiated by the Federal Government in 1785. This monument on the Ohio River indicates where surveyors began dividing the Northwest Territory into "Ranges," forming the one-mile-square grid system extending across much of the Central U.S. Interpretive signs and markers tell the story.
Beginning Point, Ohio 39, East Liverpool, OH, USA
East Liverpool, Ohio, USA
Museum of Ceramics, East 5th Street, East Liverpool, OH, USA
Cadence Vault Gastropub, East 5th Street, East Liverpool, OH, USA
Cadence Vault Gastropub, East 5th Street, East Liverpool, OH, USA
View ListingPatrick Gass, aged ninety-eight at his death on April 2, 1870, is buried in Brooke Cemetery, Wellsburg, West Virginia, with his wife Maria Hamilton. He was the last surviving member of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Born in Pennsylvania, Gass grew up in Pennsylvania and Maryland. He joined the Army as a young man, serving in the Northwest Territory to clear Indigenous people for White settlers. A skilled carpenter, he built Fort Kaskaskia and contributed significantly to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, constructing winter quarters and repairing boats.
Gass became a sergeant after Sergeant Charles Floyd's death and kept a journal despite his lack of formal education. His journal, published in 1807 by David McKeehan, was the first account of the expedition, preceding the official journals of Lewis and Clark by seven years.
The way to the gravesite is well-signed within the cemetery.
Brooke Cemetery Co, 22nd Street, Wellsburg, WV, USA
Brooke Cemetery Co, 22nd Street, Wellsburg, WV, USA
153R 23rd St, Wellsburg, WV 26070, USA
Wellsburg, WV, USA
Historic Fort Steuben in Steubenville, Ohio, is a reconstructed fort from 1786-7, originally built by the First American Regiment to protect surveyors mapping the Northwest Territory.
Named after Prussian officer Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, it served as a strategic military defense site along the Ohio River. No other individual shaped the military aspects of the Lewis and Clark Expedition more than Friedrich Wilhelm Baron von Steuben. (For more, see https://lewis-clark.org/people/baron-von-steuben/)
The non-profit Old Fort Steuben Project, Inc. rebuilt the fort and now offers historical and educational programs. Visitors can explore blockhouses, officers' quarters, shops, a guardhouse, hospital, commissary, frontiersman’s camp, and a surveying display.
Adjacent to the fort is the First Federal Land Office west of the Alleghenies, housing antiques and documents important to Ohio's early history. Tours include both the fort and the Land Office. Begin your visit at the Visitor Center.
Historic Fort Steuben, South 3rd Street, Steubenville, OH, USA
Historic Fort Steuben, South 3rd Street, Steubenville, OH, USA
Steubenville Nutcracker Village, North 4th Street, Steubenville, OH, USA
Bayberry House Bed and Breakfast, North 4th Street, Steubenville, OH, USA
Historic Fort Steuben, South 3rd Street, Steubenville, OH, USA
View ListingSteubenville Nutcracker Village, North 4th Street, Steubenville, OH, USA
View ListingBayberry House Bed and Breakfast, North 4th Street, Steubenville, OH, USA
View ListingIn 1803, Meriwether Lewis described an impressive artificial mound, almost a perfect cone, 310 yards around its base, 65 feet high, with a concave point of 30 feet in diameter.
This site features the largest Adena Burial mound, constructed around 250-150 B.C. with over 60,000 tons of earth. Originally, it had a 40-foot-wide moat. In 1838, it measured 69 feet tall and 295 feet in diameter.
An 1838 excavation uncovered two burial vaults, Adena ornaments, remains, and a controversial sandstone tablet, now replicated in the Delf Norona Museum.
Grave Creek Mound Historical Site, Jefferson Avenue, Moundsville, WV, USA
Grave Creek Mound Historical Site, Jefferson Avenue, Moundsville, WV, USA
Moundsville, West Virginia, USA
1 Fokker Fld, Glen Dale, WV 26038, USA
Grave Creek Mound Historical Site, Jefferson Avenue, Moundsville, WV, USA
View ListingOur bi-weekly newsletter provides news, history, and information for those interested in traveling along along the Lewis & Clark Trail.