by Ken Lahmers, Aurora Advocate editor
Tuscarawas County, particularly the Uhrichsville-Dennison area, once boasted one of the busiest clay manufacturing centers in the world.
In fact, Uhrichsville and Dennison were known as "the clay capital of the world." Until a few years ago, an event called the National Clay Week Festival took place every year.
National Clay Week is still observed -- minus the festival -- to remember the once-thriving industry.
When I was growing up in Tuscarawas County, several factories churned out clay products such as drainage pipe, and many more had closed by that time.
On my trip back to my old stomping grounds July 19, I went looking for remnants of old clay plants, but I found that only one remains -- Superior Clay Corp.
Situated on the south end of Uhrichsville for more than 100 years, it makes clay flue liners, masonry ovens, fireplaces and chimney pots.
Its rare beehive kilns are visible from the main road, but I'm told they will be demolished within a few months.
I went past the former Robinson-Graves clay plant west of town. All but a couple of buildings, including the kilns, are gone.
In the heyday of clay, some of the area's other plants were Uhrichsville Fire Clay Co., Universal Sewer Pipe, Larson Clay Pipe, Buckeye Fire Clay, Universal Sewer Pipe and American Vitrified Products.
Aurora resident Dick Scroggs told me his hometown of Lisbon once boasted an Am-Vit plant, as it was called.
Also closed years ago, and now mostly razed, is the U.S. Concrete Pipe Co. on Route 36 west of Uhrichsville, where my cousin worked as a draftsman in the 1970s.
One of the county's biggest clay plants was the Royal Sewer Pipe Works near Midvale, which my dad talked about a lot when he was living. I recall remnants of it when I was young, but they're all gone now.
Probably the neatest attraction to visit in the Twin Cities is the Dennison Depot, a refurbished late 1800s train station on the old Pennsylvania Railroad line. It houses a nice museum.
The depot was called "Dreamsville" during World War II because it had a canteen, which provided food and souvenirs to the thousands of soldiers passing through.
My uncle often tells the story of the day he shipped out of the depot during his Army service in the Korean Conflict years.
On the way to the Twin Cities, I drove through Wainwright and Tuscarawas.
Wainwright once boasted one of the county's finest restaurants -- Bonvecchio's -- which was owned by a guy nicknamed "Ping." All that's left is an empty lot.
Two miles from Wainwright stands the stately Sharon Moravian Church, built in the 1800s. It's one of eight Moravian churches in Ohio, six of which are in Tuscarawas County.
Town with funny name
Heading west of the Twin Cities, I motored to the town with a name many people can't pronounce -- Gnadenhutten (definition: blessed houses) -- where about 1,300 people live.
Here's the way most Tuscarawas Countians pronounce the name: juh-NAY-den-hut-ten. Others pronounce it: nad-en-HOO-ten with a silent "G." Most locals shorten it to juh-NAY-den.
It was the scene March 8, 1782 of the massacre of 90 Christian Indians by U.S. militiamen. A memorial park with a 40-foot high monument erected in 1872 marks the site.
Carved on the monument are these words: "Here triumphed in death 90 Christian Indians - March 8, 1782." Those are emotional words for me every time I see them.
Among the village's famous residents were former Ohio State basketball coach Elden Miller and current West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins.
As I left Gnaden, I was saddened to see the old Alsco Anaconda aluminum plant is closed, and a portion of it has been razed.
Heading west on Route 36 one will see a rare sight -- two parallel truss bridges. One carries the highway and the other carries the old Penn Railroad line over the Tuscarawas River.
The bottom lands between Gnaden and Port Washington are some of the most fertile in the county. Corn there already was up to 6-foot-plus with tassels.
Just outside of Port I drove the Winding Staircase, a road which my dad and I ventured up several times years ago. It's quite an adventure.
The narrow dirt/gravel road spirals to the top of a hill several hundred feet above the river. It's like a roller coaster ride, only very slow. There are only two residences on its 4-mile length.
Meeting another vehicle coming toward you around a curve could prove disastrous. The road is much more suited for ATVs or dirt bikes, but I survived in my Chevy Impala.
Last leg of the journey
Visiting Newcomerstown, a village of 4,000 people, was next. where I covered several football games in the 1972 season, when the high school team posted a 10-0 record.
Woody Hayes graduated from the high school there, and Lee Stadium, where I sat beside Hayes in the pressbox during a game, hasn't changed much.
Called Gekelamukpechunk in the 1700s, it was a capital of the Delaware Indians. Chief Natawatwes later changed his name to King Newcomer; hence the town's modern name.
Turning north on old Route 21, I discovered the old Penn Railroad line -- once the Cleveland & Marietta -- is being turned into a hike/bike path.
It goes through Wolf Station, and just south of Stone Creek goes through an 800-foot tunnel. Trains last ran on the line in 1976.
In Stone Creek is the Stone Creek Brick Co., where my uncle and I delivered straw in the 1960s from my grandparents' farm over the ridge in Oldtown Valley.
I drove to Oldtown past my uncle's farm and observed coal mining in progress on Jack Ballentine's farm about a half-mile up the road. My uncle says more stripping is planned in the valley.
My trip ended at my good friend Randy Gibbs' 44-acre spread in the Crooked Run valley just west of New Philly. He's the organist-choir director at First Moravian Church in Dover.
One of the sad things I've noticed during my trips around eastern Ohio are the number of businesses and plants which have succumbed.
It's a sign of a changing world and economy. Sometimes I wonder if all the changes are a good thing.
E-mail: klahmers@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3155