Description: This image shows the insides of the Ohio Caverns near West Liberty. In 1897, a farm boy investigating the disappearance of water into a sinkhole in a nearby field discovered this system of subterranean passageways. Digging down a few feet, he found an opening to a cave that had begun forming perhaps several thousand years earlier during the Ice Age in soluble limestone bedrock that was approximately 400 million years old. Ground water dripping down from the cavern's ceiling continues to form stalactites, stalagmites, and mineral coatings on the cavern's walls, floor, and ceiling. A portion of Ohio Caverns near the discovery site was opened to the public in 1897, but that section closed in 1925 when a more extensive and geologically interesting part of the cave was discovered. Ohio Caverns is the largest known cave system in the state and is widely considered to be the most beautiful of all Ohio caves. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06553
Subjects: Caves--Ohio; Geology--Ohio; Logan County (Ohio)
Places: West Liberty (Ohio); Logan County (Ohio)
 

Description: A tree lined Willow Road near Indian Lake in Logan County, Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B12F03_028_001
Subjects: Dirt roads--Ohio--Logan County
Places: Logan County (Ohio)
 

Description: This color photo shows the unveiling of a historic marker on Court Street, Bellefontaine, Ohio, in 1968. An unidentified man dressed in a business suit is removing the covering from the marker. His right hand also grasps a wooden hammer or gavel. Spectators watch the activity. On the photograph's far left and right are men who are documenting the event with a still camera and what appears to be a film camera. The marker reads: "Oldest concrete street in America. America's first concrete streets were those which surrounded this court house. Concrete was first used in 1891 to provide an 8-foot strip along Main Street where horses were hitched. Two years later Court Avenue was paved with concrete made from native marl supplies by the Buckeye Cement Company, 8 miles to the northeast. The marker was erected in 1968 on the 75th anniversary of the paving of Court Street." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06964
Subjects: Historical Marker; Transportation--Ohio--History; Concrete roads; Bellefontaine (Ohio); Logan County (Ohio); Rites and ceremonies; Streets--Ohio
Places: Bellefontaine (Ohio); Logan County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reconstruction of the home of Ebenezer Zane in Logan County, Ohio. The home was built in 1805 and used as an army headquarters in the War of 1812. The photograph was taken ca. 1940-1949. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00368
Subjects: Logan County (Ohio); Ohio History--Settlement and Early Statehood
Places: Logan County (Ohio)
 

Description: A celebration on the community of West Liberty. The West Liberty area, in the Mad River Valley, was the location of at least seven Shawnee Indian villages. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06881
Subjects: Logan County (Ohio); Celebrations; Festivals
Places: West Liberty (Ohio); Logan County (Ohio)
 

Description: In 1812 Captain James Manary built a blockhouse to control a point in the wilderness three miles north of Bellefontaine, at that time the northernmost settled place in Ohio. In a typical one-story log blockhouse, rifle ports lined every wall near the ceiling, and soldiers stood to fire from a bench running the perimeter of the room. The Army of the Northwest, under General William Hull, stopped at Manary's Blockhouse on its march from Dayton to Detroit. There, surrounded by what he imagined to be a superior force, Hull surrendered. He was court-martialed, sentenced to death, granted clemency by James Madison, and spent much of the rest of his life attempting to restore his reputation. James McPherson, a veteran of the Revolution and the War of 1812, bought the house in 1823; members of his family lived there until 1919. In 1924 it was moved to Indian Lake State Park, filled with objects from the period, and made a museum. The Ohio Guide described the array: "[...] willow and hickory chairs, a cornhusk doormat, spinning wheel and loom, andirons, early matches, stone vases, tintypes, snuff boxes, grease lamps, and a rare display of cotton printing of the Revolutionary War period." Reverse reads: "Manary Blockhouse. Photo no. 2 is one corner of the same room as photo no. 1. District 10, Logan Co., Lakeview." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F15_003_1
Subjects: Lakeview (Logan County, Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; War of 1812
Places: Lakeview (Ohio); Logan County (Ohio)
 

Description: In 1812 Captain James Manary built a blockhouse to control a point in the wilderness three miles north of Bellefontaine, at that time the northernmost settled place in Ohio. In a typical one-story log blockhouse, rifle ports lined every wall near the ceiling, and soldiers stood to fire from a bench running the perimeter of the room. The Army of the Northwest, under General William Hull, stopped at Manary's Blockhouse on its march from Dayton to Detroit. There, surrounded by what he imagined to be a superior force, Hull surrendered. He was court-martialed, sentenced to death, granted clemency by James Madison, and spent much of the rest of his life attempting to restore his reputation. James McPherson, a veteran of the Revolution and the War of 1812, bought the house in 1823; members of his family lived there until 1919. In 1924 it was moved to Indian Lake State Park, filled with objects from the period, and made a museum. The Ohio Guide described the array: "[...] willow and hickory chairs, a cornhusk doormat, spinning wheel and loom, andirons, early matches, stone vases, tintypes, snuff boxes, grease lamps, and a rare display of cotton printing of the Revolutionary War period." Reverse reads: "Manary Blockhouse. District 10, Logan Co., Lakeview. Photo No. 3 showing one end of a leanto with a very fine collection of china and glass ware. See Historic House Museums Topic S621 on file." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F15_004_1
Subjects: Lakeview (Logan County, Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; War of 1812
Places: Lakeview (Ohio); Logan County (Ohio)
 

Description: Mac-a-cheek Castle (alternately, Mac-o-Chee Chateau), a Flemish mansion on a bluff outside of West Liberty, was built for the Civil War veteran and newspaperman Abram Sanders Piatt in 1864, and completed in 1871 by his son, William. Returning from the war to their boyhood hometown, Piatt and his brother Donn built homes less than a mile apart. Donn's house, Mac-o-Chee Castle, a Gothic limestone chateau featuring two central towers, was designed by Abram's son William and completed in 1879. According to the Ohio Guide, Mac-a-cheek's library and drawing room, lined in cherry woodwork, contained "antique furniture, Colonial paintings, old sabres and the dueling pistol with which Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton," and served as a meeting places for local literary figures. William McCoy Piatt's family operated the houses as a tourist destination from 1912 until their departure in 1984. The Castles were entered in the National Register in 1982. Reverse reads: "The Piatt Chateau, Mac-o-chee, Mack-a-cheek. Near West Liberty, O. District #10, Logan Co." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F15_005_1
Subjects: Logan County (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.
Places: West Liberty (Ohio); Logan County (Ohio)
 

Description: Returning from the war to their boyhood hometown, Abram Piatt and his brother Donn built homes less than a mile apart, outside West Liberty in Logan County. Donn's house, Mac-o-Chee Castle, a three-story, 36-room Gothic limestone chateau featuring two central towers, was designed by Abram's son William and completed in 1879. Donn Piatt capitalized on his family's Huguenot descent to become charge d'affaires at the American embassy in Paris. Like his brother, he enlisted in the Union Army a private, leaving at the rank of lieutenant colonel. He returned to newspapers during Reconstruction, operating the Washington Capitol, which primarily ran stories on the numerous graft scandals of the period, including the Pacific mail bribes and the Credit Mobilier. William McCoy Piatt's family operated the houses as a tourist destination from 1912 until their departure in 1984. The Castles were entered in the National Register in 1982. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F15_006_1
Subjects: Logan County (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.
Places: West Liberty (Ohio); Logan County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows a view of residences in Logan, Ohio, during a severe flood in March 1907. More than 4 inches of rain had fallen across the southern third of Ohio during March 12-14, 1907, with the heaviest rain, 5 to 6 inches, in a band from Cincinnati eastward to Athens and Noble County. All rivers flowing southward into the Ohio River reached flood stage during March 14-17, 1907. The Hocking River swept over its banks, causing death and destruction on its way to the Ohio. Logan, Ohio, was one of the communities in its path. The houses in this photograph resemble little islands surrounded by water. The March 14 issue of the Logan Hocking County "Democrat-Sentinel" reported: "The water on the paved street of Gallagher avenue would swim a horse.... Men worked in the water to their arm-pits, rescuing the people from their homes." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05942
Subjects: Floods--Ohio; Natural disasters; Logan (Ohio); Hocking County (Ohio)
Places: Logan (Ohio); Hocking County (Ohio)