Photo Provided The renovated walking trail at the Great Stone Viaduct in Bellaire has earned attention and an award from the Eastern Ohio Development Alliance. Present to accept the Excellence in Tourism Award Friday in Holmes County are Belmont County Tourism Director Jackee Pugh, from left, Commissioner Jerry Echemann, viaduct society board members Ed Mowrer and Dan Frizzi, Commissioners Josh Meyer and J.P. Dutton and Belmont County Port Authority Director Larry Merry.

BELLAIRE — The historic Great Stone Viaduct received state-level honors with the 2023 Excellence in Tourism Award given Friday by the Eastern Ohio Development Alliance in Holmes County.

Members of the Great Stone Viaduct Historical Education Society were on hand to accept. In addition to the award, they also received a proclamation from U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio.

The renovation of this distinctive landmark into a walking trail has been a long time coming, according to Belmont County Tourism Director Jackee Pugh, who nominated the group for this award.

“Few structures in Belmont County are as iconic as the Great Stone Viaduct. For over 150 years, the towering stone arches have greeted visitors to Bellaire.

On June 21, 1871, the first train traveled over the 43-stone arch bridge connecting Bellaire to Benwood, West Virginia,” Pugh wrote in the application.

As of Oct. 23, a 20-arch portion of the stone viaduct is now open to the public, along with a new plaza and overlook. The $2 million project was funded by the Ohio Department of Transportation and was more than a decade in the making.

In cooperation with the Belmont County Port Authority, the society was awarded Transportation Alternatives Program funding needed to construct the walking trail/bicycle path from 26th Street to an observation platform and turnaround on the viaduct at Guernsey Street. The trail provides access over the old Baltimore and Ohio Railroad line along a quarter-mile approach to the viaduct at Hamilton Street, where the trail continues atop the historic stone arch bridge.

The society considers this only the beginning and is already working on additional plans to develop a 4-acre park on the northern end of the property from the viaduct to 26th Street.

Pugh noted railroads have been the backbone of American travel and integral to riverside communities like Bellaire. Less than a third of the 300,000 miles of the rail system that thrived in the 1920s remains today, and the board believes converting these unused rail corridors to trails preserves American history.

The viaduct was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and continues to attract tourists and railroad enthusiasts. It also illustrates the character of the community and enhances civic pride.

“The Viaduct is a visual reminder of the community’s past and rich railroad history. As well as a display of strength and engineering,” Pugh wrote.

Pugh added the Great Stone Viaduct Historical Education Society has been integral in the preservation and revitalization of the viaduct. Without members’ dedication and appreciation of history, and their desire to see the viaduct protected and preserved for future generations, the project would not have been possible.

She added that locally the Great Stone Viaduct Historical Education Society received the 2022 Mattox Award given by Belmont County Tourism. The award is named in honor of the late John S. Mattox, curator and co-founder of the Ohio Valley Underground Railroad Museum and presented annually to the Belmont County “Tourism Champion of the Year.”

The society is governed by a volunteer board of trustees consisting of professionals who have a common, deep appreciation for history and a desire to see it protected and preserved. They strive to educate and design events, projects and activities that facilitate learning opportunities about Belmont County heritage and history.

Each winter they organize a free lecture series cosponsored by the Bellaire Public Library during February and March for educational outreach. The lecture series earned the Great Stone Viaduct Historical Education Society an award for education and public awareness in 2017 from the Ohio History Connection.

“Each board member has strong ties to our Belmont County communities, and a genuine desire to learn more about the places where they live and work. They are advocates for the history and beauty of Belmont County,” Pugh said.

More information about the society can be found at greatstoneviaduct.org.