Ohio History Journal

THE MAKING OF PINE TAR IN HOCKING

COUNTY

 

BY PASCAL A. BRIGHT

 

One of the primitive industries in southern Ohio

where pine trees are found native was the making of

pine tar. In the summer of 1929 in company with Mr.

Emory Bainter, who then lived on Big Pine Creek, Mr.

A. L. Burgess, of Columbus, whose photographs have

done so much to help popularize the state parks, and his

son, I was on a trip in the park region of Hocking

County. We were in the hollow which contains Sand

Cave, searching for marks left in the rocks by the In-

dians. As we were going down the hollow we came

upon a flat rock with well-defined marks upon it, which,

however, were not such as we were looking for, since

they had been made by the palefaces. Mr. Bainter, who

is native to the region, was easily able to satisfy curi-

osity and ignorance by giving the information that the

stone was part of a kiln used in extracting pine tar.

This particular stone was probably three feet wide and

four feet long, coming to a blunt point at one end. The

surface was possibly two and one-half feet above

ground, and it bore a striking geometrical figure, which

consisted of a circle and several straight lines, all cut

into the stone an inch deep. The circle was nearly

eighteen inches in diameter and one of the lines ex-

tended along the diameter of the circle and for more

(151)

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152      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications than two feet beyond to the pointed end of the rock. Two other straight grooves joined the medial groove just inside the circumference of the circle at angles of near forty degrees. These grooves began in the cir- cumference. A photograph was taken. Unfortunately, the lines were chalked in order to make them distinct in the dense shade of the hollow. The lines are entirely

too distinct and the grooves are practically lost in the chalking. The material from which to obtain the tar was abundant in an earlier day. It consisted of the hearts and knots of fallen pine trees from which the remainder of the wood had rotted away. The parts left were very durable, due to the great amount of pitch contained. The heart was split and cut up into pieces of small size. These with the knots were piled up inside the circle and

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The Making of Pine Tar in Hocking County  153 covered with an iron kettle whose rim fitted into the circular groove. Then the rim would be sealed into the groove with mud, and the long draining groove would also be sealed with mud leaving a tubular channel. A fire was then built about the kettle; the tar was thus roasted out to flow along the draining tubes to a recep-

tacle below the pointed end of the stone. The price of the tar was about 40 cents per gallon. It is evident that the extracting of tar was rather widely practiced. Tar Hollow in Hocking County, Tar Kiln Cemetery in Fairfield County are reminders of the practice; and the writer knows of at least three other places including the one described above.

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154     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications Some months after the discovery in Sand Cave hol- low the writer was in the home of Mr. Byron L. Cave of Lancaster. Conversation brought out the fact that about 1912 he had secured a photograph of a tar kiln that was then operated. This kiln was about one mile east of South Bloomingville on what is now State Route 56. This kiln did not have a surface drainage but a hole had been drilled through the rock and the tar was

collected beneath. When Route 56 was improved this rock was blasted to make the road wide enough. The break was along the line of the drain-tube and it may easily be seen now at the left side of the road between South Bloomingville and Ash Cave. Pine tar was formerly peddled among the farmers in the regions north of where it was produced. It was used as a sort of salve on wounded domestic animals. It was also put on the noses of sheep twice a year to

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The Making of Pinc Tar in Hocking County  155

keep away the bot-fly which laid its eggs in the nostrils

of the sheep. The larvae from these eggs developed in

the frontal sinuses of the sheep causing death. An-

other use was in the greasing of farm machinery, the

axles of wagons, etc. Of all this the words "tar-bucket"

are suggestive.

Perhaps a few words as to evergreen trees in Hock-

ing County may well be added. The hemlock grows

best in the hollows and canyons. Magnificent specimens

are numerous. The cedar is not so numerous. The

most numerous and largest specimens known to the

writer are just east of Ash Cave. There are three kinds

of pine, pitch-pine (Pinus rigida), the scrub- pine (Pinus

virginiana), and the short-leafed pine (Pinus echinata).

These are common in the Hocking County park region.

The largest pine the writer has seen in the county is a

short-leafed pine on the edge of the cliff near the steps

that lead down to the Rock House. It is a magnificent

tree easily one hundred feet high.

 

AN ORIGINAL CONSERVATIONIST

On October 19, 1930, the following news item under

a Logan dateline appeared in the Athens Messenger:

"George F. Bareis, vice-chairman of the Ohio State

Archaeological Society, during his conversation at Old

Man's Cave Friday, gave much credit to the Rev. Pascal

A. Bright of Pomeroy for the development of the Hock-

ing Scenic District into a state park.

He recalled having served with Mr. Bright on a

state committee many years ago which had for its pur-

pose the procuring of options on a portion of land in

the Old Man's Cave region. This was the initial step,

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156      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications he said, which finally led to the State's acquiring the land. Mr. Bareis also credited Mr. Bright with being one of the most enthusiastic boosters of the Hocking County parks since they have been opened. . . ."

Pioneering is always interesting. This is a story of pioneering in publicity that has brought unantici- pated results. It is a story of independent effort, for no one else was working at it and the beginning was made on the pioneer's own initiative. After some time

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The Making of Pine Tar in Hocking County  157

others became partners in the enterprise but the begin-

nings were made by one person, the Rev. Pascal A.

Bright, now of Pomeroy, Ohio, but a native of Logan,

the county-seat of Hocking County. One of the great-

est helpers in the project was The Columbus Dispatch

which gave its columns in the interest of an unselfish

public cause.

In the summer of 1915 Mr. Bright took an extended

tour in which he visited, among other places, two great

parks of the west: Muir Woods near San Francisco

and Yellowstone National Park. The following sum-

mer he visited again the scenic region of Hocking

County and was impressed with the fact that right here

at home was beauty and grandeur that needed only

advertising to become famous. The big trees are singu-

larly suggestive of the bigger ones in Muir Woods; and

the canyons with their silent "cathedral gloom," their

fern covered and colored walls are impressive even to

travelers who have seen vaster ones.

In the Western Christian Advocate (official organ

of Ohio Methodism) of August 15, 1917, there appeared

a full-page article by Mr. Bright, descriptive of the park

region, in which the following is the concluding sen-

tence: "Of such unusual interest and beauty is this

region that we hereby move that it be made a state park

for the benefit and "enjoyment of all the people." So

far as is known to Mr. Bright this is the first suggestion

in print that such parks should be established in Hock-

ing County.

Here the matter rested for several years, but an

editorial in The Columbus Dispatch about 1922 on state

parks induced him to write to the "Mail Bag" a letter

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158      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

concerning the Hocking County region. Much to his

surprise the letter did not appear in the "Mail Bag" but

portions of it were worked into a two-column article

several inches long with big head-lines in a Sunday

edition. The next step was the interesting of the clubs

in Logan in the establishment of the parks. A cordial

response was made by several clubs and he was, in time,

invited to address the Kiwanis Club on the subject.

Mr. Bright thought he sensed an intention on the part

of the state authorities to do just what he was desirous

of having done, so he kept writing letters to the Dispatch.

These were all published and attracted more or less

attention, as was evidence by inquiries that came to him.

Then about 1925 the first purchases were made and the

parks became a realization.

Mr. Bright claims no knowledge as to how the deter-

mination on the part of the state authorities began or

who was the prime mover. But about this time, through

a friend, Mr. Henry Becker, of the Auditor of State's

office, a very pleasant acquaintance was made with the

Auditor of State, Mr. Joseph T. Tracy. He was much

interested in the whole matter and had large hopes for

securing extensive tracts in Hocking County.

Letters appeared and still continue to appear in the

Dispatch. Several years ago through these letters an

acquaintance was formed with Mr. A. L. Burgess of

Columbus. Mr. Burgess proved to be a valuable ally

in the promotion business, for he is an expert amateur

photographer. He has made dozens of photographs,

some of which have had wide publicity. The parks have

no more frequent visitor or warmer and more helpful

friend.

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The Making of Pine Tar in Hocking County  159

At last came the big opportunity. In the winter of

1928 Governor Donahey appointed a committee to

launch a "Know Ohio Week." At one of the committee

meetings Mr. Bright became an observer. He discov-

ered that very influential interests were promoting the

"Week," and had their plans ever borne fruit a very

interesting story could be written about them. Besides

learning what was in the air the most that he got was

cold shoulder. However, he did learn that the psycho-

logical moment had come for Hocking County. The

attention of the State had been caught and parks were

a portion of the picture that was to be presented. Senti-

ment in Hocking County already existed and it took no

urging to obtain results. The Logan Chamber of Com-

merce, the Kiwanis and Rotary Clubs published an illus-

trated folder containing a map and descriptive matter.

The edition, of 10,000 copies, was widely distributed.

In advance of "Know Ohio Week" Mr. Bright sent

long letters to selected newspapers in several parts of

the State. At least one of these letters was published,

for it was repored having been read in an Akron paper.

For several years the crowds of visitors had been

growing and forest rangers had been stationed at Old

Man's Cave and the Rock House. The Rock House

had been having a good many visitors for many years.

When the ranger made his first report for Old Man's

Cave for 1927, there had been more than 13,000 visitors.

At the Rock House in 1927 there were about 18,000

visitors. But when the reports were made for 1928,

the year of the "Know Ohio Week," attendance at Old

Man's Cave had jumped to nearly 30,000, and to about

22,000 at the Rock House, in spite of miserable roads.

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160      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Concerning "Know Ohio Week," it was said at the

meeting of the Ohio Petroleum Marketer's Association

the next winter that Hocking County was the only

county in the State that went "over the top." By this

time publicity was going of its own momentum. Illus-

trations and articles appeared until almost nation-wide

attention had been secured with almost no additional

cost. The crowds kept coming so that the rangers at

three points for 1929 reported more than 117,000 visits,

as against 52,000 the previous year. In 1930 at the

Rock House there were 54,814 visitors, of whom 4,820

were from 31 different states; at Old Man's Cave there

were 87,127 visits, of which 2,380 were made from 40

different states including 32 from Ontario, and one from

the Hawaiian Islands. There were more than 60,000

visits reported at Ash Cave for 1930.

What is claimed for Mr. Bright is that his vision

of what would come to pass in Hocking County has

been sufficiently justified. He started something big.

He has been a leader in discovering to the people of

Ohio the finest bit of out-of-doors in the state, where

many profitable and pleasant hours may be spent free

from the drawbacks of a pleasure resort conducted for

profit. The people continue to come because the parks

speak so eloquently for themselves. Publicity has drawn

people across the continent to see attractions in the West

that are relatively not one whit finer than are to be seen

close to home at a very small cost.

It would be almost unjust to close this article with-

out the mention of Mr. Frank Blasius, Mr. R. R. Lan-

ning and Representative L. P. Mooney, who with others

have done major work in Hocking County.

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