Hocking Canal & Haydenville - Day 72

  We did hike this morning, and it was wonderful. We figured out a way to hike through Tar Hollow even though the roads are still blocked. So we did 4.8 miles that count, and a total of 7.3 miles to make the plan work. The trail was not seriously obstructed by fallen trees, and we really enjoyed the hike along a ridge. Then we tried to do some more road walk because the weather was gorgeous. But there is still a lot of snow on back roads and now it's turning to total mush and deep mud on the edges (no shoulders, often big ditches). Did I mention that this road was literally one lane? We asked someone if we could park one place and they said "no," and a couple other people were not home. By then, we'd chewed up so much time, we just went "home."

Although this was frustrating, the day was redeemed by our hosts Jeff and Kathy. They are local history buffs and activists. Kathy took us on a canal tour. Yes... canal. I did not know anything about the Hocking Canal. It was a relatively short-lived feeder canal for the Ohio-Erie Canal on the east side of the state.

Are you ready for more locks and stuff? This is Sheep Pen Lock. It started life as a guard lock (to keep natural water from flooding a canal), but was then converted to a lift lock. I'm not sure how that works, but its shape is a little different. It was built before the canal was actually dug, and a local farmer used it for a sheep pen- thus the name.

We saw a couple of places where the canal was carried in an aquaduct over a creek. The structures are still in wonderful condition for being about 180 years old.

There are at least two houses in Logan, Ohio, that are made from canal boats that were flipped over, sided, and had roofs added! Never waste anything.

This is the falls of the Hocking River. The mill race you can see on the far bank pre-dates even the canals. The mill was built here about 1805 by Thomas Worthington, an early governor of Ohio. The canal wasn't built until the 1840s. What I want to know is, how did he transport his product? This was before there were hardly any roads in Ohio. Perhaps flatboats could make it up the Hocking River from the Ohio as far as the falls?

Then we went to a small village called Haydenville. It was a company town, built by Peter Hayden who owned a brick factory. They made various kinds of glazed and decorated bricks. Every house was built of these bricks, and you had to work for the company to live in one of them. He owned both stores. The "company town" lasted until the 1960s!

The church was built of a variety of their bricks, and Hayden would show off the church in the way that a salesman would use a sample case.

The history tour redeemed the day, even though we were disappointed by the low mileage. Jeff and Kathy are writing a musical based on the Hocking Canal, and we listened to some more of the music this evening and discussed the scenes some more. It's really an engaging story with several scenes based on actual historic events. The tunes are the kind that stick in your head. I hope they can get it produced in a year or so. Title is The Last Canal Boat.

Although none of these places is exactly on the trail, they are all within a few miles of it.

Tomorrow we have high hopes to finish Tar Hollow. The weather is supposed to be nice again, and we'll still have to do the extra 2.5 miles to get to our car, but at least this is workable. I'll show you all the Tar Hollow pictures on one day.

Miles today: 4.8. Total miles so far: 932.7.

See Blue Ice