20160910-_DSC1629 – American Byways

Home
Journal
Map
Destinations
- Historic Site
- National Park
- Nature
  - Arch
  - Bog
  - Canyon
  - Cave
  - Desert
  - Dune
  - Lake
  - Prairie
  - View
  - Waterfall
  - Wetland
  - Wilderness
- Point of Interest
  - Cemetery
- Transportation
Regions
- Mid-Atlantic
- Midwest
  - Indiana
  - Michigan
  - Ohio
- Northeast
- Southeast
  - North Carolina
  - Tennessee
- Southwest
  - Arizona
  - New Mexico
Prints & Downloads
About
Search

Home
Journal
Map
Destinations
- Historic Site
- National Park
- Nature
  - Arch
  - Bog
  - Canyon
  - Cave
  - Desert
  - Dune
  - Lake
  - Prairie
  - View
  - Waterfall
  - Wetland
  - Wilderness
- Point of Interest
  - Cemetery
- Transportation
Regions
- Mid-Atlantic
- Midwest
  - Indiana
  - Michigan
  - Ohio
- Northeast
- Southeast
  - North Carolina
  - Tennessee
- Southwest
  - Arizona
  - New Mexico
Prints & Downloads
About
Search

20160910-_DSC1629

Discover more from American Byways

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Type your email…

0

American Byways

August 22, 2018

Instagram

americanbyways

The National Road brought a more deliberate form o

The National Road brought a more deliberate form of overland travel across eastern #Ohio, carrying stagecoaches, wagons, livestock, and westbound settlers along the first highway built entirely with federal funds. As the road crossed the rolling streams of Muskingum and Guernsey counties, its builders used stone arch bridges that were practical, durable, and suited to the terrain. Among the most distinctive survivors are Ohio’s S bridges, whose curved approaches gave each crossing its name.

The S-shaped plan was not simply ornamental. By curving the roadway on either side of the arch, builders could set the stone span more nearly perpendicular to the stream, reducing the length and complexity of the arch while easing the grade of the approaches. The result was an unusual but efficient crossing: a masonry arch set squarely over the water, with the road bending into and out of it in a graceful, practical line. The form also helped protect the embankment and backfill from erosion, an important concern on a road expected to carry heavy traffic through all seasons.

📸 Key:
1 & 2: Fox Creek S Bridge
3 & 4: Peters Creek S Bridge
5: Salt Fork S Bridge

#historicpreservation #OhioTheHeartofitAll@cambridgeohio

On a quiet farm in Washington County, #Pennsylvani
$On a quiet farm in Washington County, #Pennsylvania, a wood-framed barn painted black rises from a block foundation, its edges softened by deep winter snow. Along one broad wall, a hand-painted American flag appears in vivid reds, whites, and blues, the colors striking against the muted landscape and the weathered boards beneath. Barn murals like this have long served as rural expressions of identity and continuity, turning working structures into public statements without spectacle. The flag, in particular, carries layered symbolism—less celebratory than resolute—signaling attachment to place, labor, and shared values shaped over generations. In the present moment, marked by political violence, hardening rhetoric, immigration raids, imperial ambition, and deep mistrust of institutions and neighbors alike, the mural reads as neither comfort nor nostalgia. America has never been free of uncertainty, but the mural suggests endurance rather than innocence, a quiet assertion that despite fracture and strain, the idea of community rooted in land and work persists, even as the nation continues to test its own ideals. #Appalachia #folkscenery #ExplorePA #VisitPA$

Driving east on US Route 40 through Putnam County,

Driving east on US Route 40 through Putnam County, Indiana, the evening light struck a farmstead in warm gold.

Barns and grain silos rose against the sky, their shapes darkening at sunset. Strings of LED lights spelled out “Jesus Is The Reason” and “Noel,” a quiet roadside glimpse of local faith and rural life.

The farm, known as Shields Farm, includes a two-story brick house built around 1843. Its five-bay façade, gable roof, modest porch, transomed doors, and segmental-arched windows reflect Greek Revival and Italianate styles typical of mid-19th-century Indiana homesteads.

The farm holds historical significance. Locally known as the Shields Farm, it features a two-story brick residence built around 1843. The house combines Greek Revival and Italianate elements, including a five-bay façade, gable roof, modest entry porch, doors with transoms and lights, and segmental-arched windows, characteristics typical of mid-19th-century homesteads.

#RAW_landscape #AmericanRural #rawusa_nov25 #VisittheUSA #wanderingusa #SmallTownValues #LiveAuthentic #ThisIsHome #RoadsideAmerica #Indiana #VisitIndiana #igersIndiana #ExploreIndiana #myIndiana #putmeinputnam

Forty Mile Point Light stands on a low bluff along

Forty Mile Point Light stands on a low bluff along Lake Huron in Presque Isle County, #Michigan, about midway between Alpena and Cheboygan. The station was completed in 1896 after Congress appropriated funds in 1893 to close a long, unlit stretch of shoreline that had concerned Great Lakes mariners. Its square white tower rises from a two-story red brick keeper’s dwelling, a practical design used widely by the Lighthouse Board in the late nineteenth century. The original fourth-order Fresnel lens gave the light a range of roughly 15 nautical miles, guiding ore carriers, lumber steamers, and passenger vessels moving along Michigan’s northeastern coast.

Automation came in 1969 under the U.S. Coast Guard, ending the era of resident keepers. In 1996, ownership transferred to Presque Isle County, and the property gradually reopened as a museum while remaining an active aid to navigation. Visitors today can walk the grounds, view exhibits in the former keeper’s quarters, and follow the shoreline north of the station to see timbers from the 1905 wreck of the steamer Joseph S. Fay, still embedded in the sand. The setting is open and exposed, shaped by wind and water, much as it was when the light first went into service.

#HistoricPreservation #GreatLakesLighthouses #LighthousePhotography #PureMichigan

A late-winter hike through the Red River Gorge Geo

A late-winter hike through the Red River Gorge Geological Area in #Kentucky in 2009 offered a quiet day on the trail with my dad, moving through bare hardwoods and lingering patches of evergreen and rhododendron. We followed well-worn paths to Princess Arch, a modest sandstone span, and continued on to Rock Bridge along Swift Camp Creek.

The gorge, carved into eastern Kentucky’s sandstone plateau, is defined by its natural bridges, cliffs, rock shelters, and seasonal waterfalls, features that have long made it one of the region’s most distinctive landscapes.

#OptOutside #Appalachia #appalachian_explorers #TravelKY

The Michigan City lighthouses mark one of the most

The Michigan City lighthouses mark one of the most distinctive harbor entrances on the southern shore of Lake Michigan in #Indiana. Together, the old shore light and the later pierhead light reflected the city’s growth as a working port, while their survival into the present gave Indiana one of its best-known maritime landmarks.

Michigan City’s lighthouse history began in 1837, but the surviving shore light was built in 1858 to replace the earlier structure on Lake Michigan. It remained in service until 1904, when its lantern and lens were moved to a new pierhead tower at the harbor entrance. Harriet Colfax, one of the station’s most notable keepers, served both the shore light and the harbor light before resigning in 1904 at age eighty.

A separate pier light was first established in 1871, but storms repeatedly damaged the exposed structure, and one tower was swept into the lake in 1886. The present Michigan City East Light was completed in 1904 on a concrete pier and built of steel and brick above a fog-signal building. Automated in 1960 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988, it remains paired with the old shore light, now a museum. Together, the two landmarks preserve a continuous story of navigation, harbor engineering, and lighthouse keeping from the 1830s onward.

#HistoricPreservation #GreatLakesLighthouses #LighthousePhotography #VisitIndiana

The sun dropped low over White Domes Road, casting

The sun dropped low over White Domes Road, casting long shadows through Nevada’s Valley of Fire.

Out here, light moves differently, cutting across sandstone in hard angles and soft glows. The road winds through a maze of red rock and pale domes, the oldest state park in Nevada, stretching out in ridges and washes. At dusk, the cliffs flare up—pink, orange, gold—before falling into quiet hues.

#RAW_landscape #RAW_seasons #RAW_allnature #rawusa_aug25 #VisittheUSA #wanderingusa @visittheusa #roadgeek #Nevada #TravelNevada #VisitNevada #ExploreNevada #NVstateparks @travelnevada

Enjoyed a peaceful evening stroll through White Ri

Enjoyed a peaceful evening stroll through White River State Park the other day—golden light on the canal, a soft breeze, and the city skyline reflecting in the water. It’s one of those places where nature and city life blend effortlessly. Hard to beat for a quiet walk at sunset.

#Indy #loveIndy #igersindy #indyarchitecture #Indiana #VisitIndiana #igersIndiana #ExploreIndiana #myIndiana #IndianaDNR #RAWbridges #amazingshots_bridges #Total_Bridges #rawusa_mar25 #VisittheUSA #wanderingusa #bestoftheusa_urban #SeeYourCity #raw_seasons #Water_Perfection #Water_Brilliance #wb_water_brilliance #folkscenery #folkgreen #stayandwander #OptOutside #earth_shotz #raw_country_spring

Tucked along a quiet rural road north of Cambridge

Tucked along a quiet rural road north of Cambridge, #Ohio, the Indian Camp Covered Bridge is one of Guernsey County’s surviving historic covered bridges. Built in 1855, the restored multiple Kingpost truss still carries local traffic over Indian Camp Creek, offering a worthwhile stop for travelers exploring Ohio’s covered bridges and backroad history.

#OhioTheHeartofitAll #historicpreservation @cambridgeohio

Presque Isle Lighthouse occupies a wooded rise alo

Presque Isle Lighthouse occupies a wooded rise along Lake Huron north of Alpena, #Michigan, overlooking one of the lake’s most reliable harbors of refuge. The name derives from the French presque île—“almost an island”—a reference to the narrow peninsula that sheltered vessels and once served as a portage for Native Americans and early voyageurs. Today, the site reflects successive phases of Great Lakes navigation, with three distinct lights marking the evolution of maritime commerce along Michigan’s northeastern coast.

Congress first appropriated $5,000 in 1838 for a harbor light, and Jeremiah Moors completed the original stone-and-brick tower in 1840. Modest in height, it guided vessels into Presque Isle Harbor but proved increasingly inadequate as traffic expanded. In 1869, Congress funded range lights to better define the channel; plans by engineer Orlando Metcalfe Poe were implemented in 1870, allowing mariners to align the front and rear lights for safe entry.

A larger coastal beacon followed. Authorized in 1870 and placed in service in 1871, the New Presque Isle Light rose 113 feet, making it the tallest lighthouse on the Great Lakes. The double-walled brick tower, connected to a two-story keeper’s dwelling, housed a third-order Fresnel lens visible for more than 10 miles. Keeper Patrick Garrity, appointed during the Lincoln administration, and members of his family maintained the station for decades.

Automation in the late twentieth century ended resident keeper operations, though the light remains active under the U.S. Coast Guard. Both the 1840 and 1871 towers are preserved as museums, and the relocated front range light, once tended by Anna Garraty, one of the few women keepers in the service, stands nearby as part of the larger complex. Together, the structures trace a continuous line from early harbor refuge to modern navigational aid.

#GreatLakesLighthouses #LighthousePhotography #PureMichigan #HistoricPreservation

In 1871, a project was adopted to improve the Cheb

In 1871, a project was adopted to improve the Cheboygan, #Michigan, Harbor by dredging the river to a width of 200 feet, and, to help mariners locate the entrance, a light was later established and aligned with the west side of the river mouth. The Cheboygan Crib Lighthouse commenced operation in 1884, effectively serving as the outer marker from Lake Huron while the front and rear range lights carried vessels inward on the proper line.

#HistoricPreservation #GreatLakesLighthouses #LighthousePhotography #PureMichigan

Whatever the season, I’ve found Cataract Falls Sta

Whatever the season, I’ve found Cataract Falls State Recreation Area near Cloverdale, Indiana, to be a quiet place to reflect and explore.

On my most recent visit in early autumn, the air was cool and still, and the trees showed only the first touches of color. The flow over the falls was low—reduced by late-summer drought—but Mill Creek still threaded its way through the limestone gorge, glinting in the soft light. The subdued sound of water over stone matched the calm of the season, a contrast to the rush and thunder of past visits.

Cataract Falls is home to Indiana’s largest waterfalls by volume. Over millions of years, Mill Creek carved through layers of ancient limestone, shaping the Upper and Lower Falls. The landscape owes its form to the Illinoisan glacial period, when ice sheets buried pre-glacial ridges beneath layers of sediment. Mill Creek later cut through those weakened formations, creating a combined seventy-five-foot drop—forty-five feet at the Upper Falls and thirty at the Lower.

I’ve seen Cataract Falls under far different conditions. In summer, the air was heavy and humid, and the creek gushed with steady power after seasonal storms. In winter, following a rain that turned to snow, the falls ran full and strong, framed by sheets of ice and a landscape muffled in silence. Each visit revealed a different side of the same place—shaped by weather, time, and the enduring pull of Mill Creek across the stone.

#stayandwander #OptOutside #folkscenery #RAW_landscape #RAW_seasons #RAW_allnature #Water_Perfection #Water_Brilliance #wb_water_brilliance #Waterfall #rawusa_nov25 #VisittheUSA #wanderingusa #Indiana #VisitIndiana #igersIndiana #ExploreIndiana #myIndiana #IndianaDNR

Search

Search for:

The Small Stuff

© 2003-2025American Byways. All Rights Reserved.