Photo Provided Visitors look at a display ship in the Belmont County Heritage Museum where tourists will make their first stop for this year’s Heritage Trail set to take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — People can take a self-guided tour to learn about the historical sites and heritage of Belmont County while traveling the National Road Scenic Byway this weekend.

The Belmont County Heritage Trail tour takes place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, where people can spend the day exploring the history of Belmont County.

The National Road, coined as the “Road That Built the Nation,” is celebrating its 200th anniversary. The free event will include activities, demonstrations, food trucks and more.

The tour trail began in 1971 as the Rubberneck Tour to promote agriculture, but Belmont County Tourism rebranded it to the Heritage Trail about three years ago to drive home the family fun element of the day. Over the 50 years of the annual tour, it has expanded to include more stops and reach different parts of the county.

Tourists will be able to stop at five different places throughout the trail, including the first stop at the Belmont County Heritage Museum, the second stop at historic downtown St. Clairsville, the third stop at the Belmont County Fairgrounds, the fourth stop at the Great Western Schoolhouse and lastly the Black Horse Inn.

Each stop will have a passport where people can get it stamped and at the end of the tour, if someone completed all five stops, they can turn in their passport to be entered into a prize drawing of Belmont County-themed gift baskets.

At the Belmont County Heritage Museum, which is celebrating its 10 year anniversary, people will explore exhibits that showcase local stories of transportation, industry, coal mining, innovation and government.

People will be able to explore downtown St. Clairsville at their second stop through a National Road display, browse local shops and admire the courthouse.

At the Belmont County Fairgrounds, people will be able to learn about aquatic ecosystems, biodiversity and water quality, learn about seed starting, soil sampling and nutrition demos and interact with animals in the petting zoo.

Relive the past in a one-room school with building tours that include the school’s history and stories, as well as viewing historic archives at the Great Western Schoolhouse for your fourth stop.

The last stop is the Black Horse Inn, one of the last surviving inns and taverns along the original National Road, take a free horse and carriage ride from noon to 2 p.m.

Belmont County Tourism Executive Director Jackee Pugh encourages residents of Belmont County as well as visitors to go enjoy the day at each historic stop.

Pugh said the day full of demonstrations and information is centered a lot around the Ohio National Road celebrating its bicentennial anniversary this year.

“Each one of the stops has something where people can learn about Belmont County history,” Pugh said. “They can do a fun activity that enhances what they’re learning at that stop and just really make it a fun day for the community.”

Pugh hopes people might experience a hidden gem in their backyards they didn’t know about and learn about the importance the historic National Road Byway had in Belmont County. The groundbreaking for the road happened right in front of the St. Clairsville Courthouse 200 years ago.

“I think this year’s Heritage Trail is special because it really is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Ohio National Road. Two hundred years is a really big milestone,” Pugh said. “We’re happy to be able to tie in and pay homage to the road that built America and the significance that it played here in Belmont County.”