Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1941-02-27
Page Two
BOOST BEAUTIFUL,
HISTORIC OHIO

Ohioans as whole have been |
slow to appreciate the money to be !
made from tourists. AS state 1t
has not sufficiently pIblicized its
beauty and its historic significance.
Hence, many tourists have merely
passed through the state over its
fine highways without having their
attention drawn to it in such way
as to induce them really to tour its
many points of interest as they do
in some other states. Therefore no.
tells, tourists homes, and gasoline
filling stations have not received as
great patronage as they might; and
Ohio itself has been deprived o.
hundreds of thousands of dollars
which otherwise would accrue to it
in the form of gas and sales tax.
The Ohio State Archaeological aud
Historical Society. since its founding
in 1885, has done monumental work
in acquiring and preserving for
Ohioans historic sites and their his
tory and prehistoric material; but
the funds recently allowed it by the
Legislature have been insufficient to
make needed repairs and better
ments. Yet nearly a million people
in 1910 visited the 35 state memoir
ials which it has under supervision.
Another million might have toured
the state. had it's advantages been
properly presented to sight-seers.
1t will surprise many people to
learn that there are II public mu-
seums in Ohio. On the campus of
Ohio State University the Society
has it's Museum and Library build
ing; and it's contents are rich in re-
markable exhibitions of priceless
collections of archaeological, histor-
ical and natural history specimens.
In it's library may be found news
paper files and historic data that go
back to the early history of the state
and carry it on to the present time.
1t is visited yearly by thousands OF
school pupils; and it's lending sys-
tenn of museum material is an asset
highly valued by teachers of the
state.
In it's terrain Ohio combines the
intriguing, luxurious level soil of
such states as Iowa and Kansas and
beautiful hills and valleys that vie in
beauty with the Ozarks of Missouri
or the Berkshires of Massachusetts.
Along the route from Bellaire to
Barnesyille in the southeastern part
is a portion called Little Switzer-
land because of its beauty; and but
little less beautiful is the Brush
Greek valley extending from near
Portsmouth toward Hillsboro. Much
of the central portion of Ohio is of
that beautiful, undulating character
that makes the thumb of Mich
igan," so attractive.
The beauty of the states river
scenery vies with the best any
where. The Ohio in its windings
rivals the tortuous Mississippi into
which it flows. The Muskingum re-
minds one of the Shenandoah of Vir-
ginia; the Maumee and Sandusky of
the Sesquehanna of New York and
Pennsylvania and the Scioto, while
not so large, has much of the majes
ty of the mighty Connecticut. South
Of Delaware along the Olentangy
river is a glacial rock formation as
unique as that of the Kentucky
river near Lexington, Ky.
Near West Liberty is the Don
Piett Machachee castle, on the lines
Of French baronial mansions and
rivaled only by that of Death Valley
Scotty and by Casa Iona at Toron-
to. Canada. Here in Ohio, and zeal
Gusly preserved for the public by
the Archaeological Society, are the
most notable works of the prehistor-
ic MoundbuilderS such as Serpent
Mound in Adams County, Fort An
cient in Warren County, the 6b
acre tract at Newark, Licking Coun-
ty. containing the Mound Builders
and Octagon State Memorials, the
G8-foot high burial mound in Mont
gomery, the 785-acre Fort Hill in
Highland, and 57-acre "Mound City
in Ross, and the unique Indian rock
carvings in Jackson.
In TuScGraWaS county IS IHe Id
NOUS Schoenbrunn State Memorial
which the Archaeological Society re-
stored through scientific methods.
It has the same fascination for the
visitor as the similarly palisaded
home of the Puritans at Salem,
Mass, and of Kentucky's first settle
ment at HarrodsbUrg. 1t is site Of
the Moravian Mission settlement of
1772 where many Delaware Indians
were converted to the Christian
faith before the Revolutionary War.
Ten miles south Of it is Gnadenhut-
ton where 80 Christian Indians
were massacred by whites in 1882.
In Lucas County is the site Of
Fallen Timbers where Gen. Wayne