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Natural Areas:
| Glacial
Grooves | North Shore Loop |
The
Alvar | East Quarry |
| Scheele
Preserve | North Pond Nature Preserve
| Inscription Rock | Home
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Inscription Rock
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Photo by Pat Hayes
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Photo by Delores Cole
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This large limestone rock is on the south shore of Kelleys Island just east
of downtown. The remains of at least two Native American villages were found
very near the rock. Archaeological and historical research suggests that until
about 1643 AD, Algonquian-speaking groups affiliated with the "Fire
Nation" confederacy populated the Sandusky region. Historical references
describe a water route of travel via Lake Ontario to the western basin of Lake
Erie, an area rich in beaver pelts. It is assumed it was these pre-historic
groups or members of roving bands of Iroquoian peoples (Neutral, Erie, Cat)
after 1643 that carved the rock’s markings.
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Photo by Pat
Hayes
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The 32 x 21’ surface of the rock is covered with one of the finest examples
of aboriginal art in the Great Lakes region. Known as a petroglyph, no one is
sure what the unusual drawings depicted. The most widely accepted theory is that
the large rock was used as a "message stone" where various Native
Americans would make drawings noting that they’d been there, how the hunting
or fishing had been and/or where they were headed next. The markings have been
so eroded by exposure to the weather that it is difficult to see them. In 1969
The Ohio Historical Society erected a cover to attempt to preserve the rock. A
small-portion plaster replica of the accurate and detailed sketches done in the
1850’s is at the site.
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Natural Areas:
| Glacial
Grooves | North Shore Loop |
The
Alvar | East Quarry |
| Scheele
Preserve | North Pond Nature Preserve
| Inscription Rock | Home
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Last updated on
July 31, 2006
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