Last spring, the Ohio Air and Space Trail — an array of more than 30 locations integral to the Buckeye State’s aviation history — was officially inaugurated at the WACO Air Museum in Troy.
On Friday, the Ohio Creativity Trail had its own kick-off in Toledo, but several Dayton-area sites play a part on that trail, as well.
Melinda Huntley, president of the Ohio Travel Association, said the creativity trail memorializes Ohio’s contributions to artistic expression, focused on 16 sites.
The over-arching goal is to enshrine six trails in all, with locations in all of Ohio’s 88 counties. Today, Huntley said tourists will find 69 destinations on the first two trails, with four trails still planned by the end of 2026.
“The stories comes first, the authenticity of the stories, but we reached out to every part of the state,” Huntley said in an interview.
Each trail will include sites that should be open on a regular basis, with interpreters or historians typically on site, marking people or corners of history of national interest, Huntley said.
Huntley is on the America 250-Ohio Commission and is project lead on what is called the “Trail and Tales initiative.” A spokeswoman said she did a lot of the research behind the Air and Space Trail.
Huntley credited the National Aviation Heritage Area — which might be thought of as an older and more localized version of this trail centered in Montgomery and Greene counties — with inspiring the Air and Space Trail.
The heritage area, highlighting some nine destinations, was Congressionally designated in 2004.
“It was a no-brainer,” Huntley recalled. Air and space were destined to be the subject of the state’s first trail, she said.
“We are looking at ways Ohio has truly revolutionized the nation,” she said. “What is it about the state that’s different. Where is it the state has made it made its mark?”
A list of participating sites, with an interactive map, can be found at Ohioairandspace.com.
There are no surprises here. The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force is a destination, as are the National Aviation Hall of Fame (housed within the museum), the Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center, the Wright Brothers National Museum at Carillion Historical Park and more.
Credit: (U.S. Air Force photo by Matthew
Credit: (U.S. Air Force photo by Matthew
“We can tell the story, but these trails allow you to literally experience the story,” Huntley said.
Each site is eligible for a sign, banner or some physical marker to memorialize it as part of the trail, if organizations governing the sites want those, Huntley said.
The Creativity Trail includes the Dayton Art Institute, the Contemporary Dayton, the Springfield Museum of Art and other sites.
Future trails will highlight Lake Erie and Ohio waterways, inventions and innovators — “We’ve got a wealth of stories there,” Huntley said — transportation and Ohio leaders.
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