Springfield,
Ohio
Madonna home page
The monument is located on U.S. Route
40, at the south end of Snyder's Park Golf Course on
the west side of Springfield. The monument originally
stood about .25 miles west of the present site on the
grounds of the Masonic home. When a highway interchange
for U.S. Routes 40 & 68 was built in 1956-57, the monument
was moved to its current location.
This monument has the distinction of
being the only Madonna not on the old National Old Trails
Highway! Let me explain... The Madonnas were supposed
to be placed on the shoulders of the National Old Trails
Highway. In Springfield, that highway swung away from
the National Road (Route 40) a few blocks to the east
(on Dayton Avenue) and followed the so-called Dayton
Cutoff. When the Madonna sat in its original location,
it was about 15 blocks away from the highway where it
was supposed to reside; today it sits about ten blocks
away. In all of my research on the Madonnas, I've never
been able to unearth why this Madonna wasn't placed
on the National Old Trails Highway - all of the other
Madonnas had that honor. The grounds of the Masonic
home were certainly an attractive and easy place to
park the statue. Or, perhaps, someone at the DAR messed
up. When the Route 68 interchange was built the DAR
for some reason elected not to correct their mistake
(granted it is a slight error, but it is an error nontheless).
On the map below, the dotted line shows the path of
the National Old Trails Highway, the light red line
shows the path of the original National Road.
Map
Important note: If you're attempting
to see this monument, exercise great care as there is
no nearby parking or pull-off. You'll need to park about
a quarter of a mile to the east of the monument and
walk along the north side of the road. There is no walkway
nor is there even a shoulder. You'll need to walk almost
in the roadway while cars zip past at speeds of 40 MPH
or more! Of all of the Madonna monuments, this is the
one that is the most dangerous to access.
The good news is that the monument was
recently cleaned up and rededicated after years of neglect.
It is too bad the monument wasn't relocated to a safer
and more convenient location. The DAR's Pennsylvania
House just a few blocks away on the original path of
the National Road would have been an ideal place to
move the monument. Downtown Springfield's new History
Center would have been another logical choice. Either
location would have corrected the DAR's geographical
error and been back on the highway where it was supposed
to reside. Oh well...
This monument was dedicated on July
4, 1928. The keynote speaker was then Judge Harry S
Truman, President of the National Old Trails Association.
The Springfield monument was the first
of the twelve monuments to be dedicated.
Inscriptions are found on all four
faces. The inscriptions read:
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(South Face)
MADONNA OF THE TRAIL
N.S.D.A.R. MEMORIAL
TO THE
PIONEER MOTHERS
OF THE
COVERED WAGON DAYS
(East Face)
THREE MILES SOUTHWEST OF HERE
GENERAL GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
COMMANDING
KENTUCKY FRONTIERSMEN
VANQUISHED THE SHAWNEE
CONFEDERACY AUGUST 8, 1780
RESULTING IN OPENING THE
NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
(North Face)
THE NATIONAL
OLD TRAILS ROAD
(West Face)
THE NATIONAL ROAD
COMPLETED BY THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
TO THIS POINT IN 1839.
FROM THIS POINT WESTWARD,
BUILT BY THE STATES THROUGH
WHICH IT PASSES.
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