Blackhand Gorge State Nature Preserve

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The Blackhand Gorge State Nature Preserve is a spectacular four mile long sandstone formation through which the Licking River flows. Located 12 miles east of Newark, Ohio near the tiny town of Toboso, Ohio, 1200 acres along the gorge were designated an Ohio Nature Preserve in 1975. The gorge is a capsule of Ohio transportation history, having hosted canal boats, steam railroads, electric interurbans and automobiles through the years.

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[edit] History

The story of the gorge is one of transportation. From 1000 BC to 400 AD the Adena Indians lived in the area and visited the gorge. The European settlers later used it as a transportation route through the hilly east-central Ohio landscape beginning in the early 1800's.

[edit] The Black Hand

The Blackhand Gorge was named after The Black Hand, a prehistoric drawing of a black hand painted on the walls of the gorge. The hand had its fingers spread, and part of a wrist was drawn. Supposedly one elongated finger pointed towards a nearby Indian Mound. It is thought that the symbol meant that all tribes passing through the gorge on their way to the flint pits a few miles south must pass through in peace. The drawing, which was just one of several, was destroyed in 1828 during the construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal.

[edit] The Ohio and Erie Canal (1825)

On July 4th, 1825 Governor's Clinton of New York and Morrow of Ohio threw the first shovelfulls of dirt at the Licking Summit near Newark, Ohio on the Ohio and Erie Canal project. Due to lack of transportation, Ohio farmer's were essentially unable to sell their goods at any price, and Ohio was mired in a cash-poor depression. The canal would connect farmers to Lake Erie and the Ohio River.

The specifications for the canal required a width of 40 feet at the top and 26 feet at the bottom. The depth was to never be less than 4 feet. From the Licking Summit the canal proceeded east along the north side of the Licking River, crossed Rocky Fork Creek on an aquaduct. An inlet lock then connected the canal to the Licking River, which due to the sandstone formations, was the only way to get through the Blackhand Gorge. A dam was built on the Licking River at Toboso to provide a constant pool in the gorge. An outlet lock near the dam allowed the canal boats to exit the Licking River and continue on their way.

In some places the sides of the gorge had to be blasted away and a stone pathway constructed to act as a towpath.

Ohio's Canal era peaked in the 1850's and then began a decline into the early 1900's. The 1913 Flood damaged the infrastructure to the point where the canal was no longer navigable.

[edit] The Central Ohio Railroad (1850)

The first rails were laid in Blackhand Gorge in 1850 by the Central Ohio Railroad. The tracks hugged the river's edge from Claylick to Toboso. It took one year to carve through a solid mass of sandstone 64 feet high and 700 feet long producing The Deep Cut. Trains began running in 1851, and in 1865 the Central Ohio Railroad became part of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. In 1958 the construction of Dillon Dam and its resulting reservoir on the Licking River required that the tracks through the gorge be abandoned for a new route.

[edit] The Ohio Electric Interurban (1890)

As early as October, 1890 an electric interurban was running from Newark to Granville. The line wasn't opened to Zanesville until 1903 due to difficulties cutting a pathway through the gorge. An interurban tunnel 19-1/2 feet high and 327 feet long was blasted through solid rock to complete the job. The interurban ran on the opposite side of the Licking River from the B&O Railroad.

The interurban was short lived due to the rising popularity of the automobile. The last Ohio Electric Interurban car ran through the gorge on February 15, 1929.

[edit] Dillon Dam (1961)

Construction of Dillon Dam began in June 1946, but work was halted due to lack of funds, and then a shortage of materials due to the outbreak of the Korean War. Construction on the dam resumed in 1958 and it was completed in June, 1961. The dam protects the Muskingum Valley, including the cities of Zanesville, McConnelsville and Marietta.

Unfortunately, the reservoir formed by the dam completely submerged Claylick and required that most of the town of Toboso be torn down. Opposition to the project was fierce for that reason, but the benefits of the dam served a wide constuency and construction was not prevented.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  • Keirns, Aaron J., Black Hand Gorge, A Journey Through Time, Little River Publishing, Howard, Ohio, 1995, ISBN 0-9647800-0-3
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