Glacier Left Black Swamp
By Elizabeth L. Plummer
The history of Northwest Ohio has been shaped by geology. How and when it was settled and by whom were the direct results of events occurring thousands of years ago. In that period, beginning a million years ago, great sheets of ice began to move southward into the United States.
These glaciers gouged soils and rocks, carried with them great quantities of clay, mud, sand, gravel and boulders frozen into the ice. As they receded, they buried the low hills of western Ohio under thick layers of glacial till, a mixture of sand, clay, gravel and boulders. The melting glaciers formed lakes which left several different shorelines recognizable as ridges.
The last glacier, passing through the region 10,000 years ago, deposited its glacial till in layers one to 90 feet thick. As the glacier melted, a broad river valley filled up with water, becoming Lake Erie. The outlet for glacial Lake Erie's water was frozen, and consequently the waters overflowed, forming a large backwater lake.
The waters, having to find another outlet, cut new streams to the Mississippi River drainage system; the Maumee River flowed over the water divide to join the Wabash River in Indiana. Into glacial Lake Erie came the soil eroded by the cutting actions of many streams. The silts and clays deposited a heavy layer of material over the impermeable glacial till. Deposited directly below was the sand; in some areas of Lucas county, sand is 15 to 30 feet thick
When the glacier left Northwest Ohio, its legacy was the Black Swamp, 30 miles wide and extending southwestward from Lake Erie to New Haven, Ind. Elm and ash trees quickly sprouted in this moist soil, eventually forming a dense forest. Standing water predominated. Even in the dry areas, water oozed out of the ground when stepped upon. Interspersed among the trees were wet prairies characterized by rushes, grasses and the high- bush cranberry.
Obviously, the Black Swamp was not the most desirable settlement. Persons seeking to farm desired land with the best possible drainage. Therefore, they bypasses the Black Swamp area and headed for the fertile prairies of Illinois and Indiana. In 1820, Northwest Ohio had a population of 1,781. It had increased slightly by 1830 because Wood, Henry, Paulding and Putnam counties recorded less than 2,000 people. As the swamp began to be drained, the population increased to 45,000 in 1860. The population for the four counties was 167,243.
Road construction initiated the process of draining the land. Drainage ditches were built alongside the roads, leading to natural and artificial channels which eventually drained into Lake Erie. This development led to the passage of a bill in 1859 by the state legislature providing for a system of public ditches.
Taken from the article "Glacier left Black Swamp," published September 8, 1977 in the Bowling Green Sentinel Tribune. Used with permission.