Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1875-06-18
From the Toledo Blade.)
THE s. BLACK SWAMP -

| nlflY years ago, when the Tue OIL c1lt-
grafton was strongly settling to the then
| Western States of Michigan, Illinois, and
| Iowa, no locality was better known or more
dreaded than the Black Swamp" The
limits 0f this "Swnmp" were never very
we'll defined, but the largest part of it is
| embraced in Wood county. At the time
when this "Blnct swamp" was ENJOYING
its reign OF terror, prior to the construction
oi Western Reserve & Maumec Stone Road,
movers passing from the Enst to the
West found the greatest difficulty In going
from the Portage River, at WoodvilIe, to
the Maumcc River, at Perrysburg. While
all OF this distance was not properly
"Swamp," two or three stone ridges rising
ont of the mud and water to cheer the
weary traveller, the greater portion Of the
fifteen miles was emphatically Swamp
| covered with water nine months in the
| year, and a1ording almost bottomless mud
and miro from January first to December
thirty first.
Old settlers relate many amusing incl
dents connected with travel through the
swamp" in those days, and the hard
ships endured by 'moycrs" can probably
never be too strongly col0red. "Tnverns "
were located along the line of the travelled
road in great numbers, not more than one
half mile or mile apart. II is related
MS fact that movers would frequently
travel hard each day for three days in sue
ceSslon and put up at the same "tavern
each night. 1t was called "llack swamp
because the soil was black, and il was cx-
ocedinglv difficult 10 pass through it, be-
cause this black sHil, or loan, was Of great
depth and thorouS Shly impregnatcd with
lime, forming n tough, waxy mud which
would adhere to the wheels of wagons with
great tenacity.
Bat things have changed, and that which
thlrty years ago was regarded as n great
curse, is to-day esteemed the greatest bless
ing. Clearing up the Land and ditchipr
it, has redeemed the Black swamp" and
the soil to-day Is unsurpassed for proinc-
tivencss. 1t is easily titled mud Yields the
largest crops OF grain and the best samplta
OF fruits The BLACK Swamp" farmers
see no evidences of the once dreaded
swamp except in the deep, rich black
loom into which their plows sink and
which yields such abundant returns for
the husbandman's lahors Artificial drain
! age has accomplished what natural drain
we has failed to effect, and the "Black
swamp" to-day, where properly under
drained and provided with bitches, will
stand drought or a food better than anv
other section of Ohio. With natural
drainage, much of the wealth of soil now
provided for the farmers would have been
swept away. The land is much stronger
than IL possibly could have been but for
the level surface OF the earth, which gave
il the appearance of Il vast "Black swamp
This swamp" seems to have been,
created Tor particular purposc--for spe.
81 Ga nj, ,,.I, 81 4. I L.. 1
tcrest. a great city is being dcyeloped
here upon the borders of the once noted
Black swamp" Five years hence there
will be one hundred thousand persons here
to be led by the products uf the surround
ing country. Twenty-Five years hence.
there will he half million people clus-
tered close about the Maumee River at the
foot of the Rapids, and it is matter of
interest to know whence must come the
garden products, fruits, &C., to meet the
wants of SO many people. 1t is only in the
light of such facts that the actual value.
and the seeming purpose. of the "Black
Swamp" can be properly appreciated,
With the Dayton & Michigan Road pass
ing through this "Swamp" from North
to Sonth, the Atlantic & Lake Erie. nnd
the Columbus & Toledo Roads traversing
II at other points, large part of this most
fertile section of country is placed within
few minutes of Toledo. While the prai.
ries about IIaslins, Tontogany, and IVES
ton, on the Dayton & Michigan Road are
exceedingly rich, producing fruits, berries,
vegetables, etc, in Abundance, there can
be no doubt but the lands living in the vi
cinity of Pembervillc, at the Forks of the
Portage, as well IA those lying IN the vi
cinity OF either branch Of that River, and
Rose Prairie, near Freeport, are peculiarly
desirable for gardening PURPOSES The
day is not distant when the most of these
lands will be cut up into FIVE and ten acre
lots, and each lot will Weld its owner more
than is now derived from a farm of one
hundred acres The farmers on these
Roads may well see in their lands great
prospective value, and those who may be
alive at the close of the present century.
will see the notorious "Blnck Swamp"
converted into a vast garden for supplying
the wants OF the Future Great City"