page_title: Indian Head Rock
section_title: 20th century
hierarchical_section_title: Indian Head Rock / History / 20th century
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of Henry A. Lorberg-Portsmouth historian (Harris Studio photography)
context_page_description: The Indian Head Rock is an eight-ton sandstone boulder, which had rested at the bottom of the Ohio River, until September 2007 when it was retrieved by a group of local divers, led by amateur historian Steve Shaffer of Ironton, Ohio. The recovery of the perennially submerged rock, which was the subject of local lore since the 1800s, was celebrated by Ohio and Kentucky residents in the months that followed. City of Portsmouth, Ohio officials had planned to display the Indian Head Rock in a manner appropriate for the preservation of the historic boulder. However an ensuing interstate dispute led to charges being brought against Shaffer and his fellow divers and a suit demanding the rock be returned to Kentucky. Legal issues were resolved in 2010 and the rock was returned. The rock has been in a county highway maintenance garage since its return, despite concerns that it should be protected in a climate-controlled structure.
  The controversy surrounding the salvaging of the Indian Head Rock in 2007 is the subject of a 2017 documentary, "Between the Rock and the Commonwealth." The documentary has been broadcast on public television stations in Ohio and Kentucky since June 2017.
context_section_description: In September and October 1908, the Ohio River was at an unusually low level, allowing exceptional access to the Indian Head Rock by local residents. The Portsmouth Daily Times reported that over 1000 people ventured out to the rock on Sunday, September 27, 1908. "It is said that over 1000 people viewed the Indian Rock near the Kentucky shore opposite Bond street, Sunday, the water being so low that the historic relic is now plainly visible to the naked eye." The Times also reported that 1,500 people visited the rock on Sunday, October 11, 1908. "Fifteen hundred people visited the Indian Rock yesterday. Every gasoline launch on the river front was in commission." 
  The newspaper also reported that "J. E. Bradford, well known amateur photographer of 336 Robinson avenue, has obtained some of the finest pictures of the famous Indian Rock in the Ohio that have been so far exhibited. He has made them post card size, just the thing for sending away to former Portsmouth people. At least a hundred sets of initials are easily distinguishable upon his pictures."
caption: Portsmouth historian and entrepreneur, Henry Lorberg, promoted the Indian Head Rock as a "historic bowlder."
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