July 17, 2018
Category Archives: Blog
November 11, 2012
Abandon Schools in Perry County
In and around the little cities of black diamonds there are many abandon schools. Many of these small communities now have county consolidated schools systems leaving these skeletons behind that stand like statues of good times gone by, driving past these old relics you hardly take notice anymore so I thought I would share a few photos.
November 1, 2012
Roseville & Junction City Ohio forgotten prisons
There are two Forgotten and abandon prisons in Perry County Ohio, the old Roseville prison and the Junction City prison were the movie Brubaker staring Robert Redford was filmed in 1980. The junction City prison has been demolished but the Roseville prison is still standing.
The Roseville Prison was built in 1926. It operated for twenty years, from 1927 through 1933 and later from 1952 through 1966. The medium security prison housed about 300 inmates. The inmates worked in a brick plant located at the facility. They were capable of producing 30,000 bricks each day.
October 23, 2012
The Little Cities of Black Diamonds Rendville Ohio
The little cities of black diamonds are made up of a dozen or so small coal mining towns located in rural south eastern Ohio and they are the bones of what was once a booming coal industry now plagued with poverty and a dying population.
A few of these forgotten small towns have historical significance and are a testimony of good times gone by, such as Rendville, San Toy, and Shawnee. I have blogged about San Toy (here) and I thought I would share some history about Rendville and few photos from a recent visit there.
It’s a tiny town with a big history, and although not much is left today I thought it would be interesting to share some recent photos of surviving structures and artifacts, as well as some history.
September 14, 2012
Rock Mill Lancaster Ohio
The Rock Mill dam park located in Lancaster Ohio has been restored and the mill wheel has been replaced, it is now the largest working water mill wheel in north America.
The first gristmill at this site was built in 1799 by Joseph Loveland and Hezekiah Smith. They also built a store, a distillery, and the Blue Ball Tavern. The available alcohol created disturbances with the Wyandot and Shawnee Indians as well as the settlers. Soon the local community forced Loveland and Smith to leave.
July 29, 2012
Vacation 2007 Yellowstone, Rocky Mountains
After waiting three years to take a good vacation we decided on a mega road trip that would take 11 days and include, The Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, the Rocky Mountains, Grand Tetons and we spent a few nights in Cody Wyoming and Winter Park Colorado.
This would be the first major road trip we had taken in our new Jeep Grand Cherokee and we were looking forward to camping out in it a few nights in Yellowstone.
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June 1, 2012
Big Muskie AEP’s Goliath dragline bucket
One of my favorite pastimes as a teens was to to go fishing at Ohio Power Lakes. Aep.s recreatiom land were there are over 700 man maid lakes and many nature made, That in it self was a blast but the best feature for me was to watch big muskie ripping away at the land, Built in 1969, owned by Central Ohio Coal Co. Last used in 1991. Cost $25 million to build. A model 4250-W Bucyrus Erie drag line: only one ever built. She moved in her life time over 608,000,000 cubic yards of overburden ( twice that amount during the construction of the Panama Canal) Pictures and video are cool but words can hardly explain the shear aw struck feeling that would overwhelm you when this beast was seen in action, It maid you feel very small and insignificant, Sadly like many other great man maid wonders this toy was dismantled and sold for scrap, The bucket was saved and is now on display at at Miners Memorial Park along rt 78 10 miles east of McConnelsville Ohio, READ MORE>
May 5, 2012
Baughman Park another Lost Ohio
Presidents in the Woods
HIGH ON A RIDGE IN A REMOTE, HEAVILY WOODED AREA OF SOUTHEASTERN Ohio, a towering stone figure of Warren G. Harding guards a rarely traveled gravel road. Barely visible through the undergrowth a hundred feet farther down the road are strange figures carved into sandstone outcroppings: an eagle in flight, an elephants head, Abraham Lincoln, an Indian chief. A crouching lion and a wildcat cast wary eyes at passersby. William McKinley stands presidential on a pedestal in the front yard of an abandoned house from which some of the siding has fallen, revealing the original log cabin underneath. The road continues past statues of James McPherson and James A. Garfield and climbs thirty feet to the top of the ridge, where solitary figures are dotted around a two-acre clearing: George Washington, a dough boy, a headless William Tecumseh Sherman, Theodore Roosevelt. Deep in the brush in a natural amphitheater on the hillside below the clearing, a stone shelf bears a carved dedication: “Baughman Memorial Park. Named by Chas. Long. The rest of the inscription is obscured by moss and dirt.
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April 9, 2012
Stonewall Cemetery Lancaster Ohio
I grew up on this road named after the Stonewall Cemetery, And ended up living in the farm house less than 1/4 behind it. We had a blast as children playing here and even more parking here as a teen.
There are several legends and myths about this place, So I thought I would post some history about it. Stonewall Cemetery is located on Stonewall Cemetery Road, about  ½ mile from US-22, outside Lancaster, Ohio (Hocking Township, Fairfield County). The coordinates are 39° 41′ 28.55″ N, 82° 38′ 22.9″ W. Stonewall Cemetery a small family cemetery that is no longer active. It is maintained by the Fairfield County Historical Parks. The cemetery is kept locked to prevent vandalism. The inscription above the gate gives some history about the cemetery. It reads:
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March 10, 2012
San Toy Ohio
While out taking a Sunday drive with the wife, we stumbled upon San Toy, one of the little cities of the black diamonds, the town of San Toy in Perry County Ohio is gone now, but it has a lot left to indicate that a thriving community once stood at this intersection in the rural backwoods of coal county
Between 1900 and 1927, San Toy was a prosperous company town. It was created by the Sunday Creek Coal Company to provide lodging for its employees at the two San Toy coal mines. How did it get its odd name? There are so many stories that it’s impossible to say. It was a fad of the Victorian era to give things Chinese-sounding names, so maybe San Toy just sounded good. Another story says that the town’s best boxer was named Sam Troy, and they wanted to name the town after him, but the handwriting on the town’s charter was misread and misprinted. Probably the closest thing to the truth is the story that the Sunday Creek Coal Company had invested in a Broadway musical called San Toy (which actually did exist around the turn of the century). When it flopped they lost a lot of money. The story goes that, surveying the town, one said to another, “Let’s hope this isn’t another San Toy”
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February 7, 2012
Biltmore House Vacation 2008 Smoky Mountains
This vacation had some unexpected surprises, We did the usual, dolly-wood, pigeon forge, Mountains, Cable car, but it wasn’t until reading a flyer on things to do that we discovered the Biltmore House. The largest private residence in the USA, this was the best $40 bucks I ever spent. We enjoyed the self guided tour and the winery, ate lunch and spent the afternoon exploring the property. This is wealth beyond your wildest dreams, it was amazing to me that the Vanderbilts could even have the vision to build something so spectacular.
The long driveway up to the house twist and winds through the trees until you crest the hill and round a corner and the mansion is revealed, it’s spectacular site and I can only image what it must have been like back in the early 1900′s trotting up the then four mile long driveway with a house and buggy.
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