If On A Northeastern Ohio Winter’s Night a Traveler…

The good folks at Mackinaw Valley Institute ponder the passage of time and the provisioning of shelter, as people travel from place to place, needing to find a home in the meantime:

The Old Stagecoach Inn is a testament to this. Standing three stories tall the building began serving travelers in 1832. Folks heading west to Cleveland enroute from Pittsburgh and Wellsville (the nearest port on the Ohio River) stopped here to nourish, rest and–at times–seek shelter. Looking at the building I can’t help but imagine the sense of relief and comfort that it must have provided. Particularly this time of year. Folks, damp and chilled, traveling over the same frozen ground I now so smugly speed across. Seeking relief from the bitter, westerly wind. I think of them rounding a bend on the Portage-Columbiana Stage Road and through a flurry of descending snowflakes, making out the illuminating candlelight and oil lamps of the Inn.