MIFFLIN TOWNSHIP — For more than 100 years, the site of Fleming Falls Park and Preserve has been a place to escape to — a place to slow down and take in the beauty of the natural world.
For the staff and campers at Camp Mowana, it was a sacred place.
Alumni staff and campers returned to that sacred place for a dedication of the site’s new observation deck — which pays tribute to the county park’s history as Camp Mowana.
The Richland County Park District took ownership of Camp Mowana, now the Fleming Falls Park and Preserve, in 2019.
But former staff and campers remained faithful supporters of the property, raising $400,000 in private donations to construct the observation deck where Oneida Lodge once sat.
It took five years and 53 Zoom meetings to make it happen, according to Jeff Burkett and Nick Swinehart, who co-chaired of the Fleming Falls Preserve Observation Deck Steering Committee.
Burkett served on Camp Mowana staff from 1975 through 1981; Swinehart was on staff in 2005 and 2006.
“We are thrilled to know that this hidden gem’s legacy can continue into the future and help enrich the lives of the general public,” Swinehart said.
The new observation deck sits not far from the park’s main entrance. Its design was inspired by the rustic veranda that once wrapped around the lodge, maintaining elements like the stone foundation, tree trunk columns and cone-shaped roof.
“This is where people hung out and enjoyed the view to the woods and enjoyed being with each other,” said Darryl Rodgers of Columbus-based Rogers Krajnak Architects, who designed the structure.
“Now it’s a symbolic gateway to Fleming Falls Preserve and it will continue to be a place of respite, contemplation, conversations, learning and relaxation for all visitors to enjoy.”
Oneida Lodge was constructed in 1906 and demolished in July 2020, due to its deteriorated condition and the cost involved in fixing it up.
The building was originally a hotel and later became the hub and dining hall for Camp Mowana operations.
“It was so painful for me to see buildings torn down, but it’s only because that’s where I made all my memories,” said Steve Phillips, who was both a camper at counselor.
“My memories were tied to those buildings, and that’s why it’s so great to see this come back as a little marker.”
Phillips attended the ceremony with his wife Carrie and children Claire and Simon, who both attended Camp Mowana. The family is based in more than an hour’s drive from the park.
Fleming Falls ‘like a little Hocking Hills,’ said new parks director
Jordan Tackett, the new executive director of the Richland County Parks District, said work will continue to honor the natural and cultural history of Fleming Falls.
The Richland County Park District plan to add native landscaping around the observation deck and construct a retaining wall using historic material from the original lodge.
The next phase of park development will include rehabilitating the old camp trails and establishing new ones to create ether Fleming Falls Historic trail — a short quarter mile loop that begins and ends at the new observation deck.
The trail will include signage highlighting the history of the property and its geology, botany and wildlife.
“It’s like a little Hocking Hills,” Tackett said. “It’s such a rich property, and we’re really privileged to be the stewards of it.”
Tackett is a 2011 graduate of Clear Fork High School. He began his career with the parks district as an intern in 2020 after retiring as a sergeant from the Air Force.
“When I left the military, I had to do a major career change, because I was a fighter jet mechanic when I was in the military,” he said.
“There’s not much call for bombs and rockets and civilian world.”
Tackett said working in parks service has offered him the chance to combine his lifelong love of the outdoors with the dedication to public service he took away from his time in the military.
“I consider conservation in Richland County to be my life’s work. That’s what I want to dedicate my life to, and I could not be more thrilled to be in a position to be able to fully live that out,” he said.
Fleming Falls has been open to the public, every day from dawn to dusk, for more than a year.
The park is home to over 15 cascades and waterfalls, miles of scenic trails and more than 100 acres of natural forests.
“You don’t fall in love with nature and the outdoors unless you get experience with it,” Tackett said. “I fell in love with the outdoors because I was fortunate to have access to private lands growing up. But not everybody is so fortunate.
“Part of our job as a park district is to preserve these places, but then also open them to the public.”
History of Fleming Falls Park and Preserve
The Fleming Falls Park and Preserve is a historical natural landmark named after John Fleming, who used the falls as a power source and tourist destination for Mansfield in the early 1800s. Native Americans are thought to have inhabited the property before that time.
In the early 1900s, Fleming Falls was a tourist stop along the streetcar tracks that connected Mansfield and Cleveland via the Southwestern Interurban Railway. A lodge was constructed on the property in 1906. It featured 12 guest rooms and a veranda made with a stone foundation and thick-hewn timber.
As cars became more affordable and popular, the streetcar business declined and with it, tourism at Fleming Falls. The property was eventually sold at a sheriff’s sale, then purchased by the Boy Scouts of America in 1925.
After 15 years as a Boy Scout camp, the property was sold to the Ohio Lutheran Church in 1940. The lodge was renamed as Oneida Lodge and the site was named Camp Mowana.
The Lutherans expanded on the site, purchasing surrounding land and adding a swimming pool, outdoor chapel, pine forest and pond. They constructed two lodges, 24 cabins and a barn.
In November 2019, officials announced Camp Mowana would be preserved in perpetuity for conservation, recreation and public enjoyment through cooperative efforts of the Trust for Public Land, the Richland County Park District and Lutheran Outdoor Ministries in Ohio (LOMO).
Funding for the purchase, set at $2,062,500, came from the Clean Ohio Conservation Fund and a donation from Lutheran Outdoor Ministries.
Oneida Lodge was demolished in July 2020, due to its deteriorated condition and the cost involved in fixing it up. Not long after, a group of Camp Mowana alumni staff launched a project to recreate the porch of Oneida Lodge as an observation deck.