Remains of an old mill?

I have seen numerous photos of the area once called "The Rocks" along the Rocky River just past the three railroad bridges off of Nobottom Road.

In the background of several 1800s photos you can see there was once a mill situated on the east bank.  The mill was gone very early, but a section of stonework that appears to have once directed the water to the waterwheel seems to have remained.

Today I took a jaunt to see if I could locate these rocks.  I couldn't make any positive identification yet, though I did see something in what I think would be the approximate location of the old mill that looked to be a collapsed rock wall.  I will need to make a closer inspection and see if any of the stone shapes are identifiable.

The photo below is not mine.  The collapsed rock wall that I saw, though, is out of sight to the bottom left of this photo.

Ride the old Interurban!

For years I have tried to find a way to the other side of the old trestle in the Metroparks to find where the rest of the old roadbed leads.  I finally found it.  Here's a "ride" on the old Cleveland, Southwestern, & Columbus Railway.



Riding the interurban 1 from Kurt Maechner on Vimeo.

Tracks on the Metropark trail

The more I have looked at maps of old Berea, I've come to the conclusion that the quarry railroad must have run where the present day metroparks trail meanders south of Bagley Road.  This was confirmed by a quote in A Collection of Historical Facts Concerning Berea, Ohio.

In this book there is a selection written by Mrs. Lurs Gould Baldwin where she relates the early history of Berea.  She mentions the following:

"Oxen were used to haul the stone from the first, and track went down Front St. along the present line of the trolley cars.  After the Cleveland and Columbus R. R. was built in 1849 a pony engine hauled the stone along the river to the depot.  This important event made a marked improvement in the township as well as the village."

I would guess, then, that the quarry railroad left the railroad main line, ran down North Rocky River Drive, dipped down into the valley somewhere before Bridge Street (present day Pulaski Street), crossed to the other side just south of the present Bagley Road bridge (where one bridge support still stands) and then ran along the river, where today's Metropark trail runs, and onto the quarries.