Description: This photograph shows a boulder at Old Man's Cave at Hocking Hills State Park in Logan, Ohio. Old Man's Cave is located in a gorge of Black Hand Sandstone. Thousands of years of erosion, principally caused by glaciation and Salt Creek, a creek that flows through the gorge, carved away the sandstone and created the cave. Sandstone is a very porous substance and much more susceptible to erosion than many other types of rocks. While Old Man's Cave is relatively small, the gorge itself extends for approximately one half mile and reaches a depth of approximately 150 feet at its deepest point. Various forms of plant life, most notably hemlock, black birch, and Canadian yew, thrive in the gorge. According to legend, Richard Rowe lived at least briefly in the cave beginning in 1796. He had migrated to Ohio with his family from the Cumberland Mountains in Tennessee. He eventually settled in the Hocking Hills, and he is purportedly buried in the cave. As a result of Rowe's occupancy of the cave, locals named the structure "Old Man's Cave." Evidence exists that various groups occupied Old Man's Cave well before Rowe arrived. Archaeologists have documented that American Indians visited the region perhaps as long as seven thousand years ago. The Shawnee, the Wyandotte, and the Lenape (Delaware) all occupied the area at various times in the 1600s and 1700s. Rowe also might not have even been the first white man to visit the cave. It appears that two brothers, Nathaniel and Pat Rayon, arrived in 1795. They built a cabin near Old Man's Cave, and it is rumored that they are buried either in the cave or nearby it. The photographs in the Community Profiles Collection, images of Ohio's cities, towns, and villages, were taken by the Ohio Film Commission. The Ohio Film Commission was established in 1979 to promote Ohio to the filming industry as a diverse place to film and a home to specialists with a wide range of film-making skills, including actors and set crews. The commission worked to bring to Ohio such films as Rain Man, Eight Men Out, City of Hope, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Deer Hunter, among others filmed in Ohio. The commission's functions included scouting locations, arranging support services and helping in-state filmmakers to make and export their work. In 2002, the commission was eliminated as a cost-saving measure. The Division of Travel and Tourism absorbed all functions. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA6576AV_B56790_F4-36
Subjects: Hocking Hills State Park (Ohio); Geology; Boulders; Geography and Natural Resources
Places: Logan (Ohio); Hocking County (Ohio)