A turnaround area where the road used to go over the Ashtabula River via "the Ford". Often times the river was running over the road and many drivers were swept over the dam into the river. They have placed a bridge higher over the riverand made the road less "curvey".
It was more of a "fun thing" to do then a need to travel the road. Home owners near "Ford" were not pleased with the amount of traffic.
Here are pieces of an article from the local paper ( The Star Beacon) published Aug. 7, 2006.
"Ford across the Ashtabula River is popular, unsanctioned public recreation area.
Ashtabula County has 16 covered bridges but only one ford.
If Gary Hewitt had his way, that solitary ford would be replaced by a bridge.
"Absolutely," says Hewitt of the bridge idea. "I think it would be the greatest thing that ever happened."
For others, like fishermen Tony Brown, Eric Montgomery and David Pinson, a new bridge would possibly destroy one of the county's best stream-fishing locations.
"Of all the fishing spots I've been to, this is the best," says Pinson, an Ashtabula resident who tries to fish at the ford every day.
Dating back to the Depression, the ford is a single-lane concrete structure about 170 feet in length that links Stevens Road in Ashtabula Township with Hadlock Road in Plymouth Township. It crosses, or fords, the Ashtabula River at a wide flood plain. The river drops several feet at this spot, creating a waterfall after flowing across the road. Two outlets at the south end divert some of the upstream water from the road and thereby manage the depth and force to levels most vehicles can drive through without being flooded/washed away.
Nevertheless, there are times the current is too strong for vehicles to safely navigate. Signs warn motorists that they are traveling at their own risk, and this crossing's history is rich in stories about those who dared and failed.
"We've seen cars, pickup trucks, horses, motorcycles, bicycles and kids," Hewitt says, listing ford victims. He says the record must be held by a man who challenged the river with his Cadillac. The car ended up downstream from Hewitt's house, more than a 1/4 mile from where it entered.
Hewitt describes himself as a person who enjoys people, and he tries accommodate the fishermen, swimmers and others who embrace the ford as their ad hoc public gateway to the river. "Any place where there's a body of water, people seem to be drawn to it," he says.
Nevertheless, he's tired of the heavy traffic and trash left behind by visitors.
About 4 feet in depth during normal summer river flows, the pool is a favorite swimming spot for older users. Younger children splash in shallow areas along the river's edge or wade in the current as it crosses the river. Some like to sit with their backs against the spillway and let the water flow over the body, massaging and refreshing them in one action.
"It's a nice place to swim because there are so many different levels (of water) for kids of different ages," says Shea Dunne.
Although a covered bridge has been suggested for the crossing, Martin says it would probably be a more modern structure, 8 to 10 feet above the stream and in several short spans.
The Ford itself, built as a Works Progress Administration project, would probably be destroyed in the process, says Martin. It's fate would ultimately rest with the Army Corps of Engineers, Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Martin says.
Until a replacement comes a long, The Ford will continue to be one of the county's best-kept secrets for fishing, swimming, wading and splashing. For many of the people who use this unsanctioned park, The Ford is a solution to the rising cost of gasoline, high price of water world tickets, and general lack of affordable recreation. It's also a place of tradition, where grandparents who swam here as children now take their grandchildren to wade, skip stones and catch crayfish on a hot summer afternoon, an anachronism that's found a home in a remote Ashtabula River valley."
