What is it?
October 19th, 2007, 7:48 pm · Post a Comment · posted by aubreywoods
As a history buff, I enjoyed taking pictures and talking to Fleeta Arthur about what the lower river levels at Shieldstown this year have revealed.
Arthur, a member of the county park board who has researched the history of Shieldstown and the nearby covered bridge, has her ideas about what’s there. I think she’s probably on the right track. She contends that the row of logs that once ran in a row across the bottom of the river is most likely the base for a dam, which was used when a mill was built at Shieldstown in the mid 1850s.
Some of the logs have now floated downstream leaving gaps in the structure, but there’s still enough there to see what was once there.
Arthur said others believe they could have been a corduroy road. One of those individuals is Jackson Township Trustee Bill Marsh who has a cabin in the area. Marsh said it looks a lot like a corduroy. He and others with similar beliefs could be right. I don’t know.
Marsh and I talked about the logs that were there for quite a while.
There’s no doubt at all that human activity led to the logs being laid there and it happened a long time ago. For one thing, they have holes cut in them.
If you have any interest in history, especially that of the mid 1800s, you might want to consider stopping by the bridge this fall to check it out. Just look to the south when you cross the bridge. It’s well worth it.
If you do so and have any ideas about what’s there, let me know.
