Posted on 07/24/2012 5:51:29 PM PDT by Pharmboy
It's believed to be the oldest building in Ohio, and possibly the Midwest. But the mystery remains: who built it and why?
COSHOCTON, Ohio -- It's believed to be the oldest building in Ohio, and possibly the Midwest built nearly a century before the American Revolution. But the mystery remains: who built the Old Stone Fort and why?
On an ordinary plot of farm land on County Road 254 in eastern Coshocton County sits what is arguably one of the most important buildings in Ohio history.
It is believed that the Old Stone Fort was built sometime around 1679.
As important as it is, however, hardly anything is known about the Old Stone Fort.
For example, no one knows who built the fort or why.
It's generally believed that it was built by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville.
He was a French Canadian and brother of the founder of New Orleans.
It's believed that he traveled the nearby Tuscarawas River and built the fort to guard against the English in the fur trade battles.
Then, there's the George Croghan scenario.
He was an Irish fur trader working for England who moved into the Native American territories to trade furs with the Delaware tribe.
He was not born until 1718, which would mean that if built by Croghan, the fort isn't as old as presumed.
There's also the theory that the fort was built by unknown settlers as a way to defend themselves against the native tribes.
There are rifle ports on all sides, and archaeological digs have found evidence of a stockade.
Then, there's yet another theory.
"I'm going to get tarred and feathered and ran out of Coshocton, because I don't think it was a fort," said Margaret Lowe.
Lowe has studied the fort all her life and said she believes it was not nearly as historic as a fort or outpost, but it may have just been part of a farm.
"I think it was probably, and again, this is written during one version, that it was used as a spring house. Another version was that it was used for a meat house," Lowe said.
Could it have been all of the theories over the years?
In the French Canadian version, the fort was built nearly 100 years before the American Revolution, and oral history handed down over generations say it was built as early as 1800.
In 1918, a farmer dug up a French compass while plowing near the fort. In 1880, there was a tornado in the closest town of Evansburg, destroying the town, but the fort survived.
The town, named after the people who lived there, was never rebuilt.
Over the centuries, the fort was rebuilt after falling into disrepair.
Part of the doorway is preserved at the local museum, and the wood looks ancient.
It is only 14 square feet inside, and doesn't appear to have been used as living quarters.
At one time there was a ladder heading up to a second floor, but now the fort is boarded up.
What the Old Stone Fort has given the neighbors is a sense of wonder.
"I would have loved to have seen the stockade around it," said Dan Markley, a local historian. "This fort, everybody has a different opinion as why it was here and it's just a mystery. If you could find just one person, somewhere along the line who could give you a true answer."
Another mystery surrounding the fort is the owner. It's not clear who owns the building today.
Locals want to know the history, but likely will take their theories to the grave, never having an answer.
Whoever built that fort didnt build it.
..and they couldn’t possibly have built it without the assistance of the federal gov’t.
See Post 73
Pssst...I'm considered a research specialist. Everytime I see this type of "History Mystery" item....prepare for the inclusion of the item in a new book.
looks like a barn to me. I bet a) it’s not quite as old as claimed and b) it was part of a moonshine operation.
See Post 82
Interesting!
Thanks for the link
I still vote for “blockhouse” - 22 inch thick walls was serious work
I remember them building a plaza near me....8" concrete block walls....it was about 10 ft. high at the time. They had it braced with 2 by 4's...It fell over....because it was a bit off balance.
The weight of a 22 inch wall.....that will shift only when the ground shifts.
http://www.midwesternepigraphic.org/croghan.html And, another one! Important info ~ an original black walnut lintel is in a local museum. This building was rebuilt ~ much of it had fallen over ~ so it’s really old ~ 22” stone walls falling over ~ no foundation. Did find an example of the gun windows ~ early frontier priests took confession and administered the sacraments through a window! Sometimes they used rather small windows and sometimes large windows. The ALAMO has a confessional window on the front ~ frequently copied in the many manifestations of fake ALAMO facades for homes in Texas. This may have been part of a larger wooden building.
For what it's worth, that's one of the first things the Spanish built anywhere they intended to stay for a while. Later they'd build the rest of the church ~ but initially this would have a dual purpose ~ church and safehouse.
Should be easy to use dendrochronology to date this structure ~ a black walnut lintel still exists and is safely in a museum in the area. Plus, someone found where the stone came from. So more sophisticated methods could be used to date that.
The local historical society went out of business some time ago so this piece of land isn't owned by anybody. It's possible an enterprising person could find the property description and buy it for taxes. Guessing it's outside the land survey ~ so might be really cheap ~ price of registering ownership in fact.
http://factsanddetails.com/media/2/20120507-Basilica_of_Paleopolis%20450%20ad.jpg ~ here’s one of the early models for this sort of architecture. It’s a 5th or 6th century church in Greece. See the narrow windows? That’s to keep out the bad guys. Not all the people visiting churches were good guys ~ same in Ohio a thousand years later ~ same need ~ same solution!
Thank you for all the research you’ve done on this and the time to impart your knowledge. Just terrific information...I have learned a lot from you and a few other posters, like sacajawea.
I could never afford the time nor the money to do the sort of travel necessary to do this kind of research. But with the net it's just a question of asking questions, not of scraping dirt off bricks.
I really always had a question of what went on between 1492 and the PIlgrims. Turns out there was a lot ~ the Hapsburgs seem to have been preparing to develop North America. Should not be surprising!
Probably one around there ~ which is why they cut the stone on the other side of the river and further North. Somebody figured they'd made a mistake on latitude and they attempted to correct.
This is NOT an 18thcentury British survey ~ but something far older ~ back when they'd actually use a magnetic compass in a land survey.
40²16’56.17” N
81²40’37.73” W
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-texas/NacogdochesOldStoneFort,1885.jpg “La Casa Piedra (later known as the Old Stone Fort) was built by the Spanish
in 1779 as the first mercantile house in Nacogdoches. In 1902, it was dismantled, the stones saved, and the fort reconstructed on the campus
of Stephen F. Austin State University. Photo 1885.” ....... notice the primitive construction. The stone used is probably sandstone and difficult to cut. The Old Fort in Ohio is cut better, but the limestone there should be easily worked compared to any sandstone ~ you need a mill to run a saw to do it nice and neat.
It is comparable to the English yard ~ but it's measured from the tip of the nose to the end of the index finger. That's 36" + 6" ~ which is roughly speaking 3'6". Four of those is 12' + 24" ~ OR 14'.
Mystery solved ~ about "Why 14'" ~ the guy used a Spanish measuring tape for an EL
For those into ANCIENT HEBREWS, they used the EL as well.
BTW this is all recent stuff with me. Had to study the name CORYELL ~ early settlers in what is now Jennings County Indiana ~ first settler type of deal. They seemed to already be around when other white folks first moved in, so what did their name mean.
In LADINO, it means 40 gallon Iron Pots and Yard Goods ~ that's the language of the Spanish Jews in the good old days ~ still used by one group of Sephardim.
So, now you know about the COR and the ELL! Jesus did too.
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