Buckeye Lake and Cranberry Bog

Grab your cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate, sit back and enjoy! 

Today’s story is about Buckeye Lake and Cranberry Bog.  I believe it was a place of family get outings just like Baughman Park. 

7000 years ago and 1000 miles later a great glacier moved its way to Jacksontown.

The great valley was filled with water from the melting glacier and “Buckeye Lake” became reality.  

As a child I went to the amusement park many times and skied on the lake.  My husband “Lester or Bud St.Clair” took our children there to swim, picnic and watch the boats.  We now take our grandchildren and hopefully they will do the same.  No video games or television sets, just pure relaxation and fun. 

Cranberry Bog is an interesting spot.  Many times there will be a swamp area and it is filled with peat moss and other plant life, as is the case with Cranberry Bog.  When the water levels rise and lower so does the bog.  In doing my research I found that around 1830 the bog was 420 acres.  Bogs tend to be broken from the changes weather temperatures and boat activity. 

Slowing down the boat activity around the bog is just about the only way to preserve it.

So over the years it had broken down to 15 acres.  It is federally protected and you no longer have the freedom to come and go.  I am sure J-me Braig would be happy to take you on a tour.

I spoke of plant life on the bog, well of course some of that are cranberries and another is the Pitcher Plant.  An insect eating plant that captures its’ prey when they land on its’ sticky flower.

I would so love to see pictures of the family events that took place there.  Who knows how much longer we will get to enjoy it.

Would you believe me if I told you that bogs tend to have a lot of acidity (probably from the cranberry bushes or vines) to them and anything or anyone that falls into them is preserved.  Yep, it sure is and bogs in other countries have found “Bog People” that are hundreds of years old and still have hair and their fingernails.  Like a mummy would be I suppose.  Rumor has it that there are 10 to 12 “Bog People” at Cranberry Bog.  Could they be Indians? 

Another article I enjoyed reading was about the “Grocery Boat” at Buckeye Lake”.  I would think this was a custom for many canals at the time.

I am sure the people in the area including the children were happy to have the boat services.

The “Grocery Boat” came 3 times a week and you could get everything from candy, to fabric and even furniture.  That would be like a large truck coming down our streets and selling just about anything we could want.  The boat at Buckeye Lake started running in 1914 for about 35 years by two brothers named Harvey and Russell Bower.  They used ice to keep the food items save and later purchased a fridge.  The boat had removable shelved in the middle and bins around the edge and was 24 feet long.  I bet it was like seeing the ice cream truck coming. I am sure the people and visitors of the lake greatly appreciated the Bower brothers very much.

Well I hope you will visit the lake this summer with your family and maybe tour the museum and Cranberry Bog.  I have been to the museum but still have never went to the bog, once more adventure to add to my summer schedule. 

Resources:

Story of Buckeye Lake by-Joseph Simpson

Thhttp://books.google.com/books?id=XfVDAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+buckeye+lake+story+by+joeseph+simpson&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=falsee 

My Buckeye Lake Story by- Donna Fisher Braig

Wikipedia