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American Byways

December 25, 2022

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Driving east through the Oklahoma City area along

Driving east through the Oklahoma City area along old U.S. Route 66, we had set our sights on Yukon, mostly to pass by Garth Brooks’ childhood home. But scanning the map to see what else was in Yukon, another pin caught our attention: “Prairie Dog Field.” It seemed out of place among the usual chain fast-food restaurants and gas stations, so we decided to take a short detour.

At the corner of the 1958 alignment of U.S. Route 66 and Caravel Road, a public field once held a large colony of black-tailed prairie dogs. Even though much of the land had been sold for development and part of the colony relocated in 2024, we could still see the small animals darting in and out of their burrows, standing upright to chirp warnings to one another. The field was surrounded by signs of growth, construction equipment, and new commercial projects, but the prairie dogs carried on, reminders of the wildlife that once dominated this stretch of prairie.

These colonies are fascinating to watch. Black-tailed prairie dogs are the only species in Oklahoma, and they live in tightly knit communities with complex burrow systems. Their barks carry across the grass, each signaling that the group heeds. Despite the encroachment of neighborhoods and shopping centers, some colonies like this one manage to adapt to the Great Plains’ urban edge.

#RAW_allnature #rawusa_sept25 #VisittheUSA #wanderingusa #Route66 #HistoricRoute66 #MotherRoad #Oklahoma #TravelOK #OKHereWeGo #DiscoverOklahoma #OklahomaPhotographer #OklahomaTourism #ThisIsOklahoma #OKC #OklahomaCity #SeeOKC

Travelers following the National Road through east

Travelers following the National Road through eastern Ohio should make time for a stop at the Y Bridge in downtown Zanesville. Few crossings in the country are as distinctive, and fewer are tied so closely to the early movement of people, goods, and roads across the interior. At the meeting of the Licking and Muskingum rivers, the bridge remains both a landmark and an active part of U.S. Route 40.

The site had been important to travel since at least 1798, when Zane’s Trace passed through here. When the National Road reached Zanesville in 1826, it also used this crossing. Before dams and locks regulated the Muskingum, floods repeatedly damaged bridges at the mouth of the Licking, making the location difficult to maintain. The first Y-shaped bridge, built in 1813 by Rufus Scott to replace a ferry, collapsed just five years later. A second wooden bridge opened in 1819 but was later condemned after heavy use and flood damage.

A third bridge, a covered Buckingham through-truss, was completed in 1832 and served the city for decades. Operated at first as a toll bridge, its National Road branch was later purchased so tolls could be removed. By 1900, however, the structure had been judged unsound. Its replacement, completed in 1902, was a pioneering concrete-and-steel Y Bridge that was then the only bridge of its kind in the United States.

That bridge survived the great flood of March 1913 even after railroad cars from an upstream bridge struck it and destroyed its parapets, while every other Muskingum River bridge in Zanesville collapsed. But by 1980, deterioration had become too severe. The old bridge was closed and demolished in 1983, and a new steel-girder Y Bridge, reusing historic piers and echoing earlier designs, opened later that year and still carries National Road traffic through the heart of Zanesville.

#Appalachia #appalachian_explorers #Ohio #OhioTheHeartofitAll #RAWbridges

The walk to Whispering Cave at Hocking Hills State

The walk to Whispering Cave at Hocking Hills State Park in #Ohio began at the Old Man’s Cave trailhead, following a gentle winter route through open woods and along sandstone cliff lines. Icicles hung overhead, breaking apart in the winter sun as temperatures shifted through the day. The cave itself is a broad recess—nearly 300 feet wide—cut into the Blackhand sandstone, its scale felt before it fully came into view. A seasonal waterfall drops roughly 105 feet into the hollow, subdued by cold but still shaping the space. This spirited hike marked the close of our New Year’s winter visit to Hocking Hills. 💖

#OhioTheHeartofitAll #OhioStateParks #HockingHills #WinterWonderland

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

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

Mill Race Park in Columbus, Indiana offers a mix o

Mill Race Park in Columbus, Indiana offers a mix of riverfront scenery and unexpected botanical surprises. On a visit earlier this year, I noticed a stand of conifers that reminded me of the tamaracks I had known in New York—trees whose soft needles flare into a vivid yellow each November before falling. Their presence here, far from their usual northern range, feels unusual enough to make you pause.

When I returned in November while photographing several historic bridges in the county, I was struck by how vibrant those trees had become. Their needles glowed a deep orange, a sign of mild stress from an earlier drought, yet the color was still remarkable against the cool tones of late autumn. Set beside the park’s ponds, trails, and historic covered bridge, these tamarack-like conifers offer an unexpected splash of seasonal color in a landscape shaped by water, history, and thoughtful design.

The history of Mill Race Park gives this landscape a deeper resonance. The park sits at the confluence of the Flat Rock and Driftwood rivers, on land once known as “Death Valley” for its poverty, substandard housing, and chronic flooding. After the city began acquiring the area in 1963, the site underwent a long transformation that culminated in a 1990s redesign by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, who shaped a resilient floodplain park of elevated structures, concrete paths, lakes, looping drives, and an 84-foot observation tower. At its center stands the New Brownsville Covered Bridge, originally built in the 1830s using Stephen H. Long’s pioneering wooden truss design and reassembled here after the 1985 arson that destroyed the park’s earlier bridge. Today the bridge, pond, and river trails form the heart of a landscape that has evolved from flood-scarred ground into one of Columbus’s most welcoming public spaces.

#VisitColumbusIN #RAW_seasons #Water_Perfection #Water_Brilliance #wb_water_brilliance #HistoricPreservation #Deserve2Preserve #stayandwander #folkscenery #Autumn #AutumnColors #FallColors #leafpeeping #rawusa_dec25 #VisittheUSA #wanderingusa #Indiana #VisitIndiana #igersIndiana #ExploreIndiana #myIndiana

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

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

After days of heavy rain, the waterfalls at Clifty

After days of heavy rain, the waterfalls at Clifty Falls State Park transform into powerful torrents, creating dramatic displays at every turn. Located just west of Madison, Indiana, the park spans over 1,400 acres of rugged terrain, deep gorges, and breathtaking waterfalls. More can be found in our newest guide at americanbyways.com

#folkscenery #folkgreen #stayandwander #WildernessCulture #OptOutside #earth_shotz #raw_country_spring #raw_landscape #Water_Perfection #Water_Brilliance #wb_water_brilliance #Waterfall #Spring #Springtime #raw_seasons #Indiana #VisitIndiana #igersIndiana #ExploreIndiana #myIndiana #IndianaDNR #rawusa_mar25 #VisittheUSA #wanderingusa #VisitMadisonIN @visitmadisoninc

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

Near Sturgeon Point in #Michigan stands the Bailey

Near Sturgeon Point in #Michigan stands the Bailey School, built in 1907 of Norway pine at the site of the C.A. Johnson logging camp west of Mikado. Constructed for the children of logging crews and named for a lumberman who helped build it, it is one of the few remaining one-room log schoolhouses in the state. Partially restored in 1973, the structure was later disassembled, moved, and fully restored in 1998 to its present location at Sturgeon Point. Maintained by the Alcona Historical Society, it is furnished with period pieces, including a recitation bench, student desks, a drinking pail, and a coal stove.

#PureMichigan #HistoricPreservation

Concrete pouring is underway on the Sunken Garden

Concrete pouring is underway on the Sunken Garden fountains at Garfield Park in Indianapolis, Indiana. This is part of a large-scale renovation project began to restore the park’s historic Sunken Garden fountains. Construction and testing are scheduled to continue through spring 2026.

Thank you to @fogpindy, @indyparks, the donors, and the laborers for making this work possible.

#Historic #HistoricPreservation #Deserve2Preserve #rawusa_june25 #VisittheUSA #wanderingusa #bestoftheusa_urban #SeeYourCity #Indiana #VisitIndiana #igersIndiana #ExploreIndiana #myIndiana #Indy #loveIndy #igersindy

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