TUSCARAWAS COUNTY

CANAL LANDS

Canal Lands Rules

Ohio & Towpath Trail

THE TUSCARAWAS COUNTY CANAL LANDS COMMITTEE IS MAKING IMPROVEMENTS TO THE CANAL TOWPATH. THE EARTHEN SURFACE IS APPROPRIATE FOR HIKING, MOUNTAIN BIKING AND HORSEBACK RIDING. YOU MAY LEAVE YOUR CAR AT THE CANAL LANDS PARK ON DOVER‐ ZOAR RD, IN THE PARKING LOT BY THE ZOAR BALLFIELDS, FT. LAURENS, OR LEAVE A SECOND CAR AT THE CANOE LIVERY AT THE WEST END OF THE TRAIL IF IT IS OPEN.

You will see a Modern bridge that crosses I‐77 and a Historic Iron Bridge crossing the river. In the future, the trail will also connect to the Historic Fink Iron Truss Bridge also know as the Old Zoarville Station Bridge.

When you travel the northern section of the trail you will see Ft. Laurens, the Brick Factory, Power Station, Slackwater Dam, Fish Hatchery and Zoar. Connected to this portion of the trail you will find the Zoar Wetland Arboretum. This casual 3 mile trail follows the level ground of the canal towpath for most of its route. Walking is easy, though at certain times high water, mud, overgrown vegetation

Modern Bridge over I-77 or mosquitoes could impede your progress. If you walk at a moderate pace, pausing to see points of interest, you should allow 3 hours.

When you travel the southern section you will find railroad trestle and a more natural trail surface. You may find this segment a bit rougher to hike. There are plans to extend the trail to Route 800 with a trail head. Other sites in this area include Ehler’s Store, the Zoarville Station Bridge and Camp Tuscazoar. This segment is part of the (which continues east from Zoarville) as well as the Boy Scouts’ Zoar Valley Trail.

Zoarville Station Bridge On your visit you may wish to just hike the trail, or to make the hike a portion of visiting one or both of the Historical Society sites adjacent to it. These sites include Ft. Laurens and Zoar Village.

Lodging in the area ranges from a modern motel to bed‐and‐breakfasts located in historic homes. (Form more information, phone the Tuscarawas County Convention & Visitors Bureau at 800‐527‐3387).

TO CONTACT US:

125 E. High Avenue New Philadelphia OH 44663 Phone: 330.365.3278 Fax: 330.602.7483 APPLICATION FOR SPECIAL USAGE PERMIT Canal Park Lands

GUIDELINES: 1. This application must be received by the Tuscarawas County Commissioners at the address listed above at least 21 days in advance of the requested date of your visit. 2. Indemnification Agreement and Evidence of Insurance must accompany this permit request. 3. Permits will be issued and mailed to the applicant at least 7 days before the scheduled visit. Any special stipulations concerning the use of the Canal Park Lands will accompany the permit. 4. Any questions regarding your application should be directed to the Tuscarawas County Commissioners at (330)365.3240 or 125 E. High Avenue New Philadelphia, Ohio 44663. 5. All visitors must follow the Rules and Terms of Use. Copies of the Rules and Terms of Use are available from the Tuscarawas County Commissioners. 6. You must carry a copy of this permit with you while on the premises.

FAILURE TO FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES MAY RESULT IN A DELAY IN ISSUING THE PERMIT OR PERMIT DENIAL.

I have read and completely understand the above guidelines and terms of use. I agree to assume full responsibility for all actions of the listed group while visiting the Canal Park Lands.

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Zoar Canal Locks Zoar is a restored village established in 1817 by German Separatists seeking religious freedom. For many years, Four canal locks can be seen along this trail—they are marked Rise and Fall of Flood Waters they sustained a successful communal society. The village contains several historic buildings operated for the public by on the trail log and map with this guide. The locks served two Spring rains annually make rivers “too big for their bridges” as water spills across the land. Unusually heavy rains the Ohio Historical Society. These are open April through October. The village also has numerous historic homes, many purposes. They provided a means for lowering or raising the boats often produce more extensive flooding at irregular intervals. This natural cycle of flooding recycles soils and nutrients, of which have been restored. Some are private homes while others are open as shops, bed and breakfasts and restaurants. going up or downstream. The locks also provided a convenient enriching the flood plain when they finally recede. Phone the Zoar Village State Memorial at 330-874-3011 or 800-874-4336 for hours and more information. point for tolls to be collected which helped pay for the canal Building homes or businesses on flood plains is an obvious folly. Channelizing a river to prevent floods only sends construction and maintenance. the water faster downstream to cause disaster elsewhere, while providing less time for water to saturate local soils and build up the water table. Leaving a flood plain in a natural, or at least semi-natural, condition not only avoids these problems but also provides wildlife habitat, corridors for animal movement and valuable human enjoyment and Fort Laurens, established in 1778, was the only Continental Army Revolutionary War fort in Ohio. The museum is recreation potential. open Wednesday through Sunday during the Summer and weekends during the Fall. It displays artifacts from the fort and costumed mannequins and has an audio-visual program. The grounds contain memorials to the soldiers and a pleasant picnic area. For hours and more information, phone 330-874-2059 or 800-283-8914. Wandering River Banks Statistics Neither the river nor its banks are frozen in time. On a map, the river looks like a rope twisted on the landscape. For more information on either site phone 1-800-BUCKEYE or visit the website at http://ohiohistory.org. Typical canal: 40 feet wide at top, 26 feet wide at bottom, 4 feet deep Over a period of years the river moves, more like a snake wiggling to get away while someone holds its tail. At each Standard lock: 90 feet long, 15 feet wide bend in a river flowing water cuts land off the outside bank while simultaneously depositing soil on the inside bank. While these were typical measurements, some were as wide as 150 feet and as deep as 12 feet. Sometimes this produces wide loops or oxbows. Multiple Use of Trail While such flexing of the riverbanks may be frustrating to landowners, the ever changing channels provide a Three trails use the canal towpath that you are walking today. The “Zoar Valley Trail” (ZVT) is a 17 mile trail set diversity of habitat. These habitats include fast flowing rapids, clear straight runs, slow moving pools, oxbow ponds and up by the Buckeye Council Boy Scouts of America. It connects Fort Laurens to Schoenbrunn Village in New Slackwater Dam marshy shorelines. Each different habitat is critical to different kinds of fish, turtles, ducks and other wild plants and Philadelphia, with an overnight stop at Camp Tuscazoar. For more information on campsites or on this section of the The Separatists in Zoar brought part of the canal to their town by constructing this dam and guard lock in 1832. animals. trail contact Camp Tuscazoar Foundation, Inc. P.O. Box 308 Zoarville, Ohio 44656-0308. The foundation can also be Canal boats could dock next to the woolen mill and other industrial buildings, which are now gone and replaced by the A simple and important method for minimizing both property loss and soil erosion from wandering banks is by reached at (330)859-2288 or www.tuscazoar.org. The first six miles of the trail are also part of the 1200 mile long Zoar flood control levee, constructed in 1935. leaving them in a natural, wooded condition. Planting grass or crops right to the river’s edge is a guarantee of rapid bank “Buckeye Trail.” This trail, started in 1959, is planned and maintained by the volunteer efforts of the Buckeye Trail loss. The roots of trees hold the bank together. When a tree does fall, the treetop – anchored by remaining roots - creates Association, P.O. Box 254, Worthington, Ohio 43085. The towpath is also part of the Ohio & Erie Canal National a “strainer.” These strainers are dangerous for canoeists, but they slow the current and strain silt from upstream, Heritage Corridor, which runs from New Philadelphia to . Congress established the Corridor in 1995. Power Station redepositing soil on the area. An early Zoarite dam and sawmill were converted around 1902 into an electric power generating station. Now only Zoar Levee the building foundation remains. In 1935, a flood control dam was constructed near Dover in order to keep southern Ohio from flooding. However, The 55 Mile Per Hour Tree the completed dam with floodgates closed would put the center of Zoar under 16 feet of water. Due to the urging of Brick Factory Watch along the river and canal edge for a tree with distinctive whitish bark, residents and the Ohio Historical Society, a large earthen levee was built in 1935 to preserve historic Zoar Village. The industrious Zoar community constructed numerous factories and mills along the banks of the Ohio & Erie Canal. blotched with browns, yellows and greens. Because of its bark, the AMERICAN After the Zoar Society’s 1898 demise, a successful brick operation was established next to the canal, taking advantage of SYCAMORE can easily be identified even when speeding past it along the highway. the rich deposits of clay found nearby. Another distinctive trait is their fruit (known as the buttonball), which is a dense ball Ohio & Erie Canal of many nutlets, each having fuzzy hairs on one end. Ohio in the early 19th century experienced a great Hollow cavities are common in sycamores and provide good homes for wood need for an effective system to transport the goods of a ducks, raccoons, owls and many other animals. In the past, they also provided shelter growing population. In an era prior to railroads, the Watch Out For Hoggees! for people. One record sycamore was 140 feet tall and 14 feet in diameter (approx. 44 canal was the answer. A series of canals were Hoggee is a slang term used for the mule drivers who feet in circumference). In pioneer Ohio, one authentic report tells of 12 men spending authorized in 1822. By 1832, the Ohio & Erie Canal worked along the Ohio Canal. The term hoggee was derived a night inside a sycamore tree, and another reports 20 men doing the same. Sometimes was completed. At the start, there was a flurry of from a derogatory English term (Hogler) that applied to low they first had to chase out a bear before settling in for the night. activity along the canal, which lasted for about twenty class field workers. The mule’s hoggees drove down the years. During the 1850’s, competition from the towpath pulling the canal boats along at a pace of about 3-4 expanding railroads started a gradual decline in canal miles an hour. Hoggees were generally children about 10 to use. Segments of the canal were abandoned as early as 12 years old. Their life was hard; they worked in all sorts of Zoar to Zoarville Trail Segment the 1870’s and the widespread, devastating flood of weather and were often under-nourished. Many hoggees 1913 was the deathblow to the remaining canals. This never lived past their 16th year. An additional 3 miles of canal towpath trail covers the section between Zoar and Zoarville to the east. This segment section of the canal was in use until 1913. is part of the Buckeye Trail (which continues east from Zoarville) as well as the Scouts’ Zoar Valley Trail (which crosses state route 800 and Conotton Creek on a historic Fink Truss Bridge- under restoration- then turns south along the abandoned railroad tracks). You may find this segment a bit rougher to hike than the main section covered in this booklet. About 1/2 mile east of Zoar, the trail swings left to pass under the railroad trestle near the river and then swerves Hard Cash back to the towpath. After two miles a tractor road crosses the towpath and the path becomes obscure – follow the tractor During its existence, the Ohio Canal provided more than just transportation. It gave local farmers badly needed cash road to State Route 800 to complete your hike. to pay taxes. While some labor was brought in, local farmers sometimes spent part of each year working on canal construction. Workers were fed, lodged in shanties and given a cash payment of $7 to $10 a month in exchange for working sunrise to sunset for 26 of each 30 days. After the completion of the canal in 1832, the local economy improved. The Native Americans called this river Ehlers’ Store Easy access to markets doubled grain prices several times in a short period. “Mooskingum,” meaning “elk’s eye.” Soon At the intersection of State Route 212 and State Route 800, the village of Fairfield was established in 1854, later it The Zoarites financially benefited from the building of the canal. They played a very specific role in the building of after settlement that name was limited to the was renamed Zoar Station and finally Zoarville, which it is still called today. The Zoar Society opened a store here in this 7 mile section. This opportunity allowed them to pay off their land debts by contracting with the State of Ohio for river below the junction of the Walhonding at 1863, which was operated by Charles H. Ehlers. The building, now Finishing Touch Flooring, was the Zoar 1845 Custom $21,000 to build this part of the canal. Everyone in the community worked toward the completion of the canal, including Coshocton, and this tributary was given its Mill, moved here in 1935. Ehlers’ descendants operated it as a general store until the late 1990’s. the women. The Zoar section was completed in 1828. The finished canal gave Zoarites access to outside markets such current name. The exact meaning of the name as Cleveland and Portsmouth. Tuscarawas is unclear, but it came from the Tuscarora tribe, whose main camp was at the present site of Bolivar. Fink Through Truss Bridge / Old Zoarville Bridge Old Zoar Bridge If you continue across State Route 800, following the fencerow One hundred yards west of County Road that marks the old SR 212 and the Buckeye Trail’s “Blue Blazes,” 82 (Dover-Zoar Rd.) you will pass under the you see the historic Fink Truss Bridge, also known as the Zoarville old Country Road 82 bridge. This is an Station Bridge or Old Zoarville Bridge, crossing Connotton Creek. example of a three span Pratt truss bridge and Backward Flowing River This bridge has currently been removed and is slated for restoration was built in 1884 by the Wrought Iron Bridge Observe the direction of the current in the Tuscarawas River near the towpath. Though it now flows southeast, for by the Camp Tuscazoar Foundation. Albert Fink produced the Company of Canton. Each span is 86 feet long, 60 million years an ancestral river in this valley flowed to the northwest. Geologists have named this ancestral river Zoar design for this bridge type and the B&O Railroad adopted it. The with an overall length of 265 feet. The bridge Creek. design called for all metal construction to avoid burning of the is currently being restored with funds from the bridge by locomotive sparks. This particular Fink Truss Bridge was state of Ohio and the Timken Foundation. built in 1868 in Dover and moved to its present location in 1905. County Road 82 was rerouted and the Buried Valley You may note the bolted, tubular, wrought iron “Phoenix Columns” bridge abandoned to auto traffic during the If you were instantly transported back in which were expensive to build but very strong. This is the only Fink 1960’s. Missing or rusting railings and an occasional hole in the deck make the safety of this bridge questionable. time 200,000 years you would find yourself bridge still standing anywhere in the United States. An excellent Instead, cross the Tuscarawas River to or from Zoar on the new Route 82 bridge, less than 100 yards downstream, to suddenly 50 to 100 feet in the air above the banks article on this and other early metal bridges in Ohio appears in the Canal Lands Park. Cross the small bridge and get on to the towpath. Head northwest to follow this guide. However, the of Zoar Creek. After nearly 60 million years of February/March 1985 issue of Timeline magazine, published by the southwest section is covered briefly later in this guide. eroding, the valley of Zoar Creek was at its Ohio Historical Society. lowest point. Sand and gravel outwash from two glaciers eventually filled in this valley to its current elevation. You are standing on this Zoar Fish Hatchery outwash now. Text and map modified 2002 by The remains of “State Fish Farm No. 12” can be seen between the old Wheeling & railroad levee and the Records of well drilling show that near Zoar County Road 82 bridge. In 1921, the Ohio Division of Wildlife constructed six rearing ponds in the abandoned canal. Clear this outwash sand and gravel is 50 feet deep Tuscarawas County Canal Lands Development Committee springs supplying water to the canal here fostered dreams of a successful hatchery. Breeding stock was brought in by rail above the old valley level. Near Bolivar the on the “Buckeye Fish Car” in 1921 and 1922. outwash is 120 feet deep and further north near from an earlier format written in 1985 by Originally planned for propagating smallmouth bass, the waters were too slow and warm for their survival. In 1923, Navarre it is 210 feet deep. How do these the hatchery produced 108,238 largemouth bass, crappies and bluegill, but this was only the same as what other hatcheries numbers relate to the direction of flow of the Robert C. Glotzhober of the Ohio Historical Society were doing. From there, things went downhill. In 14 years, three floods washed away the breeders and springs dried up ancient Zoar Creek? twice, never returning to their former flow. These problems were compounded by polluted water washing off adjacent About 20,000 years ago, the Glacier made its maximum advance into this part of Ohio. The ice sheet Maps courtesy of Ohio & Erie Canal Corridor Coalition roadways and from a nearby barnyard. Following a five year average production of under 500 pounds of fish, in 1935 the never reached this location, but it did dam up Zoar Creek just north of Bolivar. Water rose behind this glacial dam filling state released the remaining fish, drained the ponds, cut down the flag pole and closed the hatchery for good. The remains the valley with a lake. When the water backed up deep enough, it overflowed through a low spot in the hills. This Printed through a Heritage Areas Program Grant of State Fish Farm No.12 can still be seen along the towpath and is constructed from the remains of Lock 10. overflow cut a narrow gorge-like valley between Zoarville and Dover. The newly eroded valley was low enough so that even when the ice left the river continued in its current direction. from the Ohio Department of Development