Day 3: September 4, 2006
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Diner 23, Waverly, OH Diner 23, Waverly, OH Knowing that Diner 23 was just up the road, I skipped the free bagel at the motel. But the diner, a newer retro style Starlight, was closed. They tout an October HGTV appearance on their sign and website but the current online HGTV schedule shows that slot as "TBA". Wait and see, I guess.
Canal Park, Waverly, OH Canal Park, Waverly, OH Canal Park, Waverly, OH After snapping a few pictures of the closed diner, I walked up the street to nearby Canal Park. The Ohio-Erie canal passed along here and I assume that the stones at the park were once associated with it but just how, I don't know. It doesn't look like a lock and it's not even clear to me that the current structure was in place when the canal existed. The arrangement looks a little disjointed and it seems entirely possible that at least part of it is a more recent and completely non-functional configuration of stones. There is a time capsule buried in the park that is scheduled to be unearthed at the start of the twenty-second century.
Three Locks Road Three Locks Road Three Locks Road Some online notes contained the information that canal bed and locks were visible from Three Locks Road south of Chillicothe. With a name like that, I figured that I couldn't miss but I could and did. I saw no locks but don't doubt that they are there. I'll look again someday. As the first picture shows, the road and railroad are often parallel with lots of multi-armed poles (BBBob, this one's for you.) between them. The Scioto river is just out of view on the right. Too bad about the locks. A picture with river, canal, rails, and pavement would be great. Throw in a few telephone poles and camera overload is a possibility.

It looks as if the tracks on that overpass are still in use. If so, I'm thinking that being under it when a train rumbles over would be a pretty scary experience. I've included that last picture to show that not everyone takes the easy way out with a machine printed placard from Walmart.

Chillicothe, OH Chillicothe, OH Chillicothe, OH In Chillicothe, I found a warehouse that once served the canal and some nicely restored storefronts that once faced it but no evidence of the canal itself. There were a few of these high mounted small signs that I'm guessing mark the canal's path through town.
Yoctangee Park, Chillicothe, OH Yoctangee Park, Chillicothe, OH Yoctangee Park, Chillicothe, OH What is now Water Street was once canal bed. I walked east along Water then returned by a long-cut through Yoctangee Park. Aside from the fact that one sits beside the other's former path, there is no connection between park and canal.
Chillicothe, OH Chillicothe, OH When I spotted this classic Dairy Queen, I figured a chocolate malt could be just the thing to help me get over my lack of luck looking for locks. When Ben Hatmaker passed the malt through the window, I was certain. We struck up a conversation and I learned that the DQ has been operated by the same family since the day the Salins, Ben's great grandparents, opened it in 1949. According to the DQ website, that's the same year they first offered malts and shakes. There's a lot of history here and some very nice folks. Now that I've found the place, I intend to have a malt and a chat every time I get the chance.
Hopewell Culture National Historic Park, Chillicothe, OH Hopewell Culture National Historic Park, Chillicothe, OH Hopewell Culture National Historic Park, Chillicothe, OH Hopewell Culture National Historic Park, Chillicothe, OH I stayed on OH-104 and stopped in at Mound City. This is part of the Hopewell Culture National Historic Park which also includes High Bank Works, Hopeton Earthworks, Hopewell Mound Group, and Seip Earthworks. The museum here is small but contains several cases filled with Hopewell Artifacts. Mound City is a collection of several mounds inside an earthen wall rectangle and it certainly isn't a city as we think of them. Even when the Hopewells dwelled here, more than 1500 years ago, they lived outside, not inside, the rectangle.
Canal Road, Circleville, OH Canal Road, Circleville, OH Canal Road, Circleville, OH Canal Road, Circleville, OH I had heard of but not seen stone mile markers along US-22. One report had some between Lancaster and Circleville so, when I reached Twenty-Two, I drove to Lancaster and back in hopes of spotting one. Nothing. Once I got back to Circleville, I returned to the canal search and had better luck. Picking up Canal Road southwest of town, I almost immediately found canal bed and this temporarily mysterious structure. It ran across the canal and was partially made of concrete neither of which fit with an 1830's working canal. I later saw this identified on a map as a "WPA Dam". There is about three miles of water filled canal here with a small park at the north end where abutments for an aqueduct over the Scioto are visible.
Canal Road, Circleville, OH Canal Road, Circleville, OH Canal Road, Circleville, OH I actually saw this hawk perched atop the dead tree before I reached the water filled canal. I pulled over and was walking toward it when a passing car caused it to take flight. The egret in the third picture was standing in the canal but was airborne before I could get off a shot.
Washington Court House, OH Washington Court House, OH I was done looking for locks and, so I thought, mile markers as I turned around to make a southbound pass of the water filled canal section. And there, just about where I chose to turn, was a highly visible stone mile marker. I cruised the canal then headed home on US-22. Now that I had spotted one, other mile markers were popping up everywhere. Well, not everywhere, but every mile or two;-) In the twenty-five miles between Circleville and Washington Courthouse, I spotted at least a dozen. The streak ended with one that I had seen before in the lawn of the museum in Washington Courthouse.
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