Explore how major sites in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park came to be.
provided by Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Krejci Dump Site
Krejci Dump Site
A former auto salvage yard and a repository of toxic industrial waste, the 50-acre Krejci dump in Boston Township was bought by the Cuyahoga Valley Recreation Area in 1985 and designated a Superfund site for environmental cleanup. It took more than 30 years to finish environmental remediation, with the work certified as completed in 2020. Now the spot you can see on Hines Hill Road is full of wetlands, native vegetation and wildflowers and turtles.
Brecksville Diversion Dam Site
From the start of the Ohio & Erie Canal, the Pinery Feeder Dam was established along the Cuyahoga River to divert water into the canal in 1827. Then in 1952, the Brecksville Diversion Dam was built downstream. Both dams were removed in 2020 to reintroduce a more natural habitat and make the water cleaner. In 2022, a screw pump was installed to complete the project and then riverbank restoration took place at the site that is located at the Station Road Bridge Trailhead.
Station Road Bridge
Built in the 1880s when the Valley Railway was nearby, the Station Road Bridge was renovated for $1.34 million starting in 2020 and finishing in 2021. Located in Brecksville, the pedestrian bridge is a trailhead for the Towpath Trail and is a great place to get photos of the Brecksville-Northfield High Level Bridge featuring historic concrete arches that span over the river.
Beaver Marsh by Brian Hunsaker
Robert George
Bob Trinnes
Rick McMeechan
Rick McMeechan
Beaver Marsh
The Sierra Club organized a large-scale cleanup of the 70-acre area that was becoming known as Beaver Marsh in 1984, hauling out car parts, bedsprings and trash. The area, variously farmland and a junkyard, had started turning back to its natural wetland in the late 1970s. Around the same time, beavers started returning and building dams that restored natural water levels. Today, Beaver Marsh features myriad plants and animals, including muskrats and snapping turtles, and a boardwalk that serves as an excellent spot for bird-watching great blue herons and tree swallows.
Brecksville Diversion Dam Site
From the start of the Ohio & Erie Canal, the Pinery Feeder Dam was established along the Cuyahoga River to divert water into the canal in 1827. Then in 1952, the Brecksville Diversion Dam was built downstream. Both dams were removed in 2020 to reintroduce a more natural habitat and make the water cleaner. In 2022, a screw pump was installed to complete the project and then riverbank restoration took place at the site that is located at the Station Road Bridge Trailhead.
Station Road Bridge
Built in the 1880s when the Valley Railway was nearby, the Station Road Bridge was renovated for $1.34 million starting in 2020 and finishing in 2021. Located in Brecksville, the pedestrian bridge is a trailhead for the Towpath Trail and is a great place to get photos of the Brecksville-Northfield High Level Bridge featuring historic concrete arches that span over the river.
Beaver Marsh
The Sierra Club organized a large-scale cleanup of the 70-acre area that was becoming known as Beaver Marsh in 1984, hauling out car parts, bedsprings and trash. The area, variously farmland and a junkyard, had started turning back to its natural wetland in the late 1970s. Around the same time, beavers started returning and building dams that restored natural water levels. Today, Beaver Marsh features myriad plants and animals, including muskrats and snapping turtles, and a boardwalk that serves as an excellent spot for bird-watching great blue herons and tree swallows.
Canal Exploration Center and Lock 38
Canals were designed to work without currents or waterfalls, with locks that would raise or lower the water level depending on the boat using it. The 308-mile Ohio & Erie Canal had a total of 146 locks, including 44 between Lake Erie and the Portage Summit in Akron. As the Towpath along the canal was built, work was done in 1992 to restore Lock 38 to give people an idea of how the canal functioned. See how Lock 38 works when it’s filled with water during seasonal demonstrations. The lock is near the Canal Exploration Center, which offers hands-on exhibits about the canal era and opened in 1996 in a building even older than the canal, originally serving as a tavern in the early 1800s.
