Thursday, March 12, 2009

A Tunnel Through Time

BY Jen Karpus



Haydenville, or the “Hocking furnace”, is located in the Southern Green Township in Hocking County.

The founder, Peter Hayden, an industrialist from Columbus, arrived in 1952 to start an iron business. In 1882, his company was renamed the Haydenville Mining and Manufacturing Company, which produced brick and ceramic tile.

In 1906 it was sold to the National Fireproofing Company (NATCO).

Then in 1964 the town transitioned from a company town to a community town. It’s long run as a company town earned Haydenville the reputation as the last company town in Ohio. Today the NATCO is now a lumber yard.

Haydenville is also known for it's structural significance because many of
the buildings were created with the clay and tile products produced in the town.

The town itself is a showcase of the work done there. Most notably is the
Round House, which is a rounded house made of different sorts of bricks located
on Haydenville Road and is now a small family home.

Haydenville is famous for the Haydenville Tunnel. The century old tunnel transported manufactured materials, coal and clay from nearby mines. It was abandoned in the 1950s.

One tunnel entrance is behind the Haydenville Cemetery, which encourages ghost theorists who believe the tunnel is haunted by workers who died during its construction and possibly a young girl. According to the Ohio Exploration Society and the Central Ohio Paranormal Society, paranormal bites have been recorded.

2 comments:

Karilee said...

Thanks for the info here.
We just visited here the other day not even knowing its existence, but happened upon it. Hayden is our family name, so we just stopped in to see what was there.
Interesting history, thanks!

Unknown said...

My sister and I were looking for this tunnel last time I was at home (I'm living in florida at the moment but I grew up in Logan) but we couldnt find it. we knew it was behind a cemetery, but we couldn't find the cemetery!

Speaking of Tunnels you should do a post about the Moonville Tunnel in vinton county. it is really awesome if you have never been there.