A French trading post was established on the land that would become Medway. Historians say it was located near the stoplight in the middle of town where Spangler Road crosses Lower Valley Pike and becomes Medway-New Carlisle Road.
The residents of this area then were mostly Shawnee, and they were pleased to trade the plentiful pelts of beavers for wool blankets, copper kettles, steel tomahawk heads, cloth shirts, trade silver, beads, etc.
That was a long time ago, probably more than 300 years, but there are two things that have not changed since then.
First thing is that the area just south of that intersection in Medway is still mostly a wetland all the way to the Mad River.
The second thing that is the same is that there were and are still lots of beaver and wildlife in those wetlands.
As this region was settled 200 years ago it was common practice for swampy and wet areas to be drained so that farming could take place. Other areas of the state responded well to the ditching efforts, but this wetland just would not give up.
The glacial deposits from more than 10,000 years ago and our ever running Mad River proved an impossible combination to overcome permanently. Today we call most of that area the Estelle Wenrick Wetlands, and the Spangler Nature Preserve. These natural wetlands are part of the Clark County Park District and are managed by the B-W Greenway Community Land Trust.
Around 1900 or so the beaver was nearly extinct in Ohio, because of over trapping. The reestablishing and protection of habitats happened beavers to once again thrive.
Now that is all fine and good until the age old conflict between the natural world and progress reared its head. Beavers naturally love to chop down trees to build dams that can sometimes cause flooding or even change the course of streams.
On the other hand, humans have established rigid property lines, farming and construction and don’t look kindly upon the beaver’s ambitious efforts to expand the waterways.
And so we have the question… Does beaver dam building because the flooding of Spangler Road during storms? Some think so, but some don’t. From what I can tell, no one knows for sure.
Some see the flooding that flows across the road from west to east (against normal drainage) as being caused by the Mad River overflowing its banks and not by the beaver dams.
It has been suggested by some that the beaver population might need to be relocated but that can cause issues too.
“If we did that, another beaver would move in,” said Clark County Park District Executive Director, Carol Kennard. “That’s who lives in a wetland habitat.”
Beaver are continuously scouting for perfect places to live. Our wetlands are so ideal that it wouldn’t take long for another traveling beaver family to find it and take over the dam building.
Now to be fair to the beaver, they are not behind all the issues.
I imagine original construction of Spangler Road more than 150 years ago cut the wetland in half and changed the drainage pattern. It had to.
Millraces also changed the streams within the wetlands.
I don’t know what kind of affect the legendary and now gone Tecumseh Park had on the drainage patterns. I also wonder how the interurban traction line and the electrical power plant changed things.
However, I do know that wetlands are important buffers for rivers and help in flood control. We’ve got to figure out a way to get it all under control.
The Clark County Engineer’s office is currently formulating plans to improve Spangler Road, which will keep it from flooding during Mad River’s high water events. This is part of a larger project that includes Medway- New Carlisle Road.
This complicated endeavor will coordinate planning efforts of multiple agencies in addition to obtaining funding from multiple sources.
“We are going through consultant selection process right now,” said Paul DeButy, P.E., Chief Deputy at the Clark County Engineers office.
Construction may begin as early as the middle of 2025, but it may take a bit longer to get all the pieces of the project coordinated and funded, according to DeButy.
“We will be looking for public comment once we have more plans,” said DeButy, who estimated that might occur in a year or so.
I’m glad efforts are being made to get the flooding problem solved on Spangler Road. It is important to this community and the wetlands are also.
Solutions will be complicated, but I’m sure they can be found.
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