Mohican Outdoor School: Help Purchase Hemlock Falls!

The sandstone that makes up these cliffs indicates that these sediments were deposited in deltas at the edge of a great ocean during Mississippian time -- perhaps 350 million years ago! The Black Hand sandstone cliffs stand at the edge of the pre-glacial Groveport River, a west-flowing tributary of the Teays River. This river was pounded by Pleistocene glaciation and later reversed its flow. cutting through the massive Black Hand sandstone formation at Clear Fork Gorge National Landmark four miles northeast of Hemlock Falls. Hemlock Falls was itself recommended to be a National Natural Landmark in 1974. The Hemlock Falls area is the extreme northwestern exposure of Illinoian end morain in the state. The Wisconsin glaciation came within a mile of the Falls but did not cover it.

The Falls area has a rich history involving people as well. The Indians and early European settlers knew this area well. Picnics and meetings were held there often in the early years of Richland County history. An early Indian village known as Helltown was located nearby. Newville, once one of the largest towns in Richland County was just a couple of miles north of the Falls. The locations of both Helltown and Newville were mostly covered with water when the Pleasant Hill Lake was formed. The first non-Indian owner of the Falls was Dr. S. Riddle of Ashland who organized the first pioneer meeting in Richland County at the Falls in 1856. At the second such meeting in 1857, John Sherman was the main speaker; he was a US Senator, a member of the President's cabinet, and a candidate for President in later years. Such political meetings took place at the Falls for several years, usually in September.

Steve McKee, Director of Gorman Nature Center in Mansfield, Ohio, surveyed the area in 1994 and reported the following botanical highlights. The cliffs of Hemlock Falls are home to two stands of the Rock Serviceberry (Amelanchier sanguinea), a state endangered species. These small understory trees were discovered growing on the cliff edge, and are known in just five other sites in Ohio, all with very small stands of one or two clumps. Because there are fewer than 100 of these plants in Ohio, it is listed as an endangered species. The thin soil on exposed rock next to the Falls provides the right habitat for the Rock Harlequin also known as Pink Corydalis (Corydalis sempervirens), a state potentially threatened species.

The rich, diverse, mature forest located just below the cliffs at Hemlock Falls has one of the best stands of white oak, red oak, American beech, and blackgum in Richland County. Over half of the 31 species of ferns found in Richland County are found at Hemlock Falls, including one of the only two known county sites for Goldie's wood fern! The cliff area supports a large, healthy American chestnut which is bearing fruit, and is far larger than the size when this tree usually succumbs to chestnut blight.

"This romantic locality has since been denominated "Hemlock Falls" . . . These falls, when viewed under the soft and mellow light of the moon reminds one of the poetic descriptions of the fairy lands, where spirits and elves assemble to hold their nightly festivals in the still moonlight, which falling upon and through the checkered curtain of green gives enchantment to the view. Such is but a faint description of this natural curiosity."

Phillip Seymour or Pioneer Life in Richland County

by Rev. John McGraw, 1858