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Remember where we left Laurel Trail? Let's start there and follow it for another two hundred feet. You should now be overlooking Tomlinson Run from the old covered bridge abutment. Sorry, no swimming allowed, nor is the water deep enough for a high dive.
Time to turn around and return to the fork where White Oak Trail starts. For those who have tired feet or are just a little bit tired, hang in there. Only one more stop and you can head home and rest.
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The last remaining structure of cut stone that I would like for you to see is located along the left hand side of White Oak Trail. Start walking down this trail and notice the retaining wall. The best section is about four or five hundred feet down the trail and the wall is at least twenty feet high. It is all cut sandstone with keystone shaped drains. The old New Manchester turnpike is still in pretty good shape, considering.
Ok, if you are tired and have sore feet, this is a good time to head back home. Either use the upper section of Laurel Trail, this is the way we arrived here and the easiest hike back, or for a change in scenery, try the lower section of Laurel Trail. It starts by the covered bridge abutment and follows Tomlinson Run back to the Scout Camping Area. Caution, the lower section is not maintained as well and has a few slides to cross.
For the more hardy that brought lunches and planned to make a day of it hiking, there are a few more places to explore. I will not go into as much detail as how to arrive at these places. You will be hiking through a large part of the Wilderness Area of Tomlinson Run State Park. The other maps that I have included with this article should be of some value. You might want to locate other places of your choosing. In any event, a topographical map of this area should keep anyone from getting lost.
The last two areas of interest are as follows. Either follow White Oak Trail or Tomlinson Run stream down to where White Oak Run empties into Tomlinson Run. White Oak Trail ends here. There are no other trails to follow! From here on you make your own path! There is an old road bed that follows the right hand side of White Oak Run and the old tire and buggy tracks can still be seen in the fall and spring. Along White Oak Run there is another small bridge abutment and a small waterfall.
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If you follow Tomlinson Run down stream far enough there are the remains of another dam about a half mile before the park boundary. Some of the cut sandstone blocks are piled against a large boulder on the right side of the stream. More of these blocks are strewn along the shore and down stream. In the 1800's Thomas Hudson operated a steam powered saw mill at this site. An unusual fact about this saw mill was the cutting blade was not a circular one, but it was a vertical blade. It moved up and down to saw the logs into lumber. Family genealogist please take note, the surname spelling of Hudson was sometimes Hutson in deed books at the Hancock Co. Courthouse. It was the same piece of property by description, acreage, etc. Why the change in spelling, who knows.
Scattered throughout the hillsides of this gorge are the remains of many abandoned oil and gas wells. Once again, March is a great time to explore this area if it is new to the reader. Please take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints. Do bring a topographical map and compass.
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Just to throw in something different, below this paragraph are two buttons to take you to maps of cities mentioned in this web site. I've enlarged the maps so the detail will be clearer. Since I've scanned the images, the scale indicated on the maps are incorrect. The maps are from "Map of the 'Panhandle', Embracing counties of Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, and Marshall." It is a landownership map that was published in 1871 by F.W. Beers and James Lathrop.
The old mills along this stream provided a service to the community for nearly eighty years. For a couple of generations agriculture was the life blood of these mills. The brickyards located to the north and south of New Cumberland, plus the clay works and potteries of Newell, Chester, and East Liverpool were to be the next industries to wax and wane for the people living here.
Could it be happening again? Will our grandchildren walk along the shores of some river and wonder about the concrete foundations, iron beams fallen from some rusted steel mill, and will they wonder about the people that worked here? What will we leave them?
Back to the Entrance or Parting Shots
