Another day in Springfield

Wednesday dawns another hot and humid Ohio day. Time for another excursion. The first locus of interest is courtesy of Roadside America – the Madonna of the Trail statue. This was the first I had ever heard of them.

“The Madonna of the Trail is a pinkish, stony-faced pioneer Mom, in long dress and bonnet, strutting westward with a rifle on one arm, an infant on the other, and another little cruncher grasping Mom's skirt.

The Madonnas of the Trail were a project of the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution. They were erected in 1928-29, strung along the National Old Trails Road, now mostly US 40. The sites were chosen with the help of the president of the National Old Trails Road Association, a then-little-known Missouri Justice of the Peace named Harry S Truman.” Description from Roadside America.

There are 12 identical Madonnas strung from coast to coast (well, almost the coast).The only differences are in the inscriptions on the bases. Here’s the base for Springfield.

The statues were originally place in significant locations with the woman facing west – or at least as money and location permitted. The Springfield statue was originally on the grounds of the Ohio Masonic Home at the location where the Federal Government had stopped paying for the National Road in 1839. When I-70 was built, the statue needed to be relocated and was moved to Snyder Park. Then, in 2011, it was moved again to a small park in downtown Springfield – still along US-40, though.

After lunch, we went on to tour the Westcott House – “a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Prairie Style house in Springfield, Ohio. The house was built in 1908 for Mr. Burton J. Westcott, his wife Orpha, and their family. The Westcott property is the only Prairie style house designed by Wright in the state of Ohio. The grounds include the main house and a garage with stables connected by an extensive pergola.” from Wikipedia.

These outside shots were the only pictures we were allowed to take. The tour was interesting but the house didn’t seem all that “liveable” to me. That’s just my bias, however. I can never look at a house without thinking “How will I be able to clean and take care of this?”. I guess that’s not a worry if you have servants.