How to Quest

Quest clues and maps—created by 

teachers, volunteers, and/or park 

staff—will help you discover the 

natural and cultural gems of the 

Ohio & Erie Canalway. At the end 

of each quest is a hidden treasure 

box. Sign your name in the logbook, 

stamp this page, and return the box 

to its hiding place.

The questing season runs from 

April 15 through November 15.

Notice a problem or have 

suggestions for improving this 

quest? Contact Arrye Rosser at 

440-546-5992 or arrye_rosser@nps.gov.

About This Program

I’m Arrye Rosser, interpretive and education specialist at Cuyahoga 

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dream of bringing questing to Ohio. This project was made possible 

by the generous support of a 2010 Parks as Classrooms grant from the 

National Park Service and is a partnership between many organizations.

So far, more than 100 teachers, volunteers, and park staff have been 

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create many more in the years ahead. If you would like to volunteer, 

contact me at 440-546-5992 or arrye_rosser@nps.gov.

Special thanks to Emily Bryant and Steven Glazer.

The Ohio & Erie Canalway celebrates the rails, trails, landscapes, 

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that helped Ohio and our nation grow. 

For more information and to get copies of other quests, visit 

ohioanderiecanalway.com and search under Activities for Questing.

NPS/ARRYE ROSSER

Canalway Quest

Notorious Boston Quest

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learning about infamous past residents.

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This quest was created by Rebecca Jones, a park ranger for 

Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and Nancy Desmond, interpretive 

coordinator for the Ohio & Erie Canal Association. The map was 

created by Mary Hultman, a naturalist for Stark Parks. 

 revision date SEPT 2014

A story of notoriety often then and now told

Is of overinvestment that left a man cold.

Julius Edson—1850 was the year—

Owned most of Boston, including this store here.

Though times change, history repeats:

He overextended his credit and disappeared in retreat.

Now you know stories not often told,

Of the quiet, notorious Boston of old.

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Go to the front desk, treasure box to request.

Clues Continued...

SUMMIT COUNTY SECTION

CUYAHOGA VALLEY NATIONAL PARK

BOSTON STORE VISITOR CENTER
Over your shoulder to the right

Is a railroad platform of yellow, light.

Cross the road and stand by the two brown posts

To learn of a village, now only ghosts.

West of the river were American Indians’ homes.

To the east of the river, white men roamed.

Look to where the rail platform stands;

Imagine an American Indian village at hand.

Before hunters would go to their destination,

On a special pole were hung decorations.

Tobacco was the gift hung on the pole—

Sometimes the item their eastern neighbors stole.

Back into Boston over the river

To learn of a man that might make you shiver.

Pause at the MAIN STREET sign to read of his story.

His life had some troubles, some of them gory.

In 1800 rough and tumble with his gun,

Ole Jon Williams survived Indian attack—the only one.

By his gun he sought clothing and rations—

A woodsman with some unfortunate passions!

(No friend to Indians, he caused some strife,

Giving them deadly trouble his whole life.)

On eastward toward TRAIL MIX BOSTON you go,

Cross over the road, but pause—you must know...

At the end of MAIN STREET, just out of sight,

Lies old Boston Cemetery, made by morale right.

Early in history, worried about Boston’s decline,

Boston Morale Society was formed to bring in the divine

And lay Boston’s citizens to rest

Where Indians had built a mound to attest.

Stop at TRAIL MIX BOSTON and look across the road

For a story of scandal, rarely told.

Where now is M.D.’s, once stood a tavern grand.

Owner, Jim Brown, greatest counterfeiter in the land.

In the 1830s elected justice of the peace—

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After two times in jail, his wife said, “Enough!”

And divorced him in scandal, standing tough.

Following the path along the fence,

Stop at the towpath, a new story to commence.

Imagine a towpath car doing 55!

From Jaite Mill they came for lunch in 1965.

For in those times, cars traveled the towpath,

Rarely watching their aftermath.

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Was o’erturned by men with lunch to deliver.

Across the road, inside Boston Store you go.

Use caution, but don’t be slow.

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Planning Ahead

This treasure hunt takes about 25 minutes. Most surfaces are hard and 

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children. You will need a pen or pencil to sign the logbook. Some 

people prefer using their own signature stamp and ink pad or marker.

Getting There

Start at the Boston Store Visitor Center, 1550 Boston Mills Road, east 

of Riverview Road, Peninsula, Ohio 44264. Additional parking is 

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open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; hours may be extended seasonally. 

Please do this quest during those times. 

Clues

How to quest?

The clues in italics tell you where to be;

Clues in plain type tell of Boston’s history.

To the front porch you go to begin a trail

Of an older time, a notorious tale!

Stand and enjoy this quiet village view.

If these walls could talk—if you only knew!

1,000 people once walked these streets;

Some shady characters you once could meet.

For Boston was a canal boom town for better and worse.

Walk this quest and get the story through verse!

Down the steps and left you turn,

Over bridge and river for more stories to learn.

At the BOSTON PARK sign, stop for a look.

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You are looking west up old “Brewery Road,”

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Leftover “spent” mash must not be wasted,

So often pigs and chickens tasted.

(Spent mash still can affect you— 

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