Transportation shaped Vandalia from its beginnings in Butler Township. In April 1811, a construction contract was awarded for the first 10-mile section of the National Road beginning at Cumberland, Maryland, the first federally funded interstate highway. One hundred years later, in 1911, construction began on a lake-to-gulf highway from Detroit to Cincinnati along a north-south dirt path through Vandalia known as Troy Pike and later designated as the Dixie Highway. Vandalia became known as the “Crossroads of America” at the intersection of National Road (US 40) and the Dixie Highway (US 25). During the early 1900s, the Dayton and Troy Electric Railway ran through the crossroads, and the Al Johnson Flying Service operated on approximately 310 acres just northwest of it. The railway discontinued service in 1932, and freight service eventually re-emerged with the establishment of the CSX Railroad. The Al Johnson Flying Service closed in 1934, and the Dayton Municipal Airport emerged to later become the James M. Cox Dayton International Airport. Today, the intersection of Interstate 75 and Interstate 70 is recognized as the modern-day “Crossroads of America.” The Village of Vandalia was platted August 4, 1838 at the crossroads, then the crossing point of two dirt trails. Its founder, Mr. Benjamin Wilheim, a settler from Pennsylvania, laid out the village in 33 lots, including his own home and a small general store he built on the National Road as a stop for westbound travelers. In its early years, the village had a church, hotels, blacksmiths, a steam sawmill, meat markets, and a carriage shop. It attracted travelers and entrepreneurs, and on February 7, 1848, it was officially incorporated as the Village of Vandalia with William Wilheim as first mayor. By 1959, Vandalia was outgrowing village status, and its citizens voted for a council-manager form of government, effectively making it a municipal corporation. After becoming a Charter City of the State of Ohio on January 2, 1960, Vandalia incorporated “The Crossroads of America” into the city’s logo.