The Ohio River Scenic Byway tells the story of the great river that has shaped the landscape, people, and economy along Ohio's eastern and southern borders and across southern Indiana and Illinois. Originating 10,000 years ago when glaciers diverted existing rivers, the Ohio River has provided sustenance and transport for countless people, from native prehistoric cultures to the children of the Information Age.
As you explore the Ohio River region, discover evidence of the river's importance to ancient migration patterns in the prehistoric burial mounds located along the byway. Find archaeologists at work at the Mississippian Indian site known today as Angel Mounds. You can visit the site's interpretive center near Evansville, Indiana, which presents artifacts of the people who lived here circa 1300 A.D. In Illinois visit Kincaid Mounds, a Native American archaeological treasure dating from 800 AD-1500 AD.
As the wide river's waves wash over the years, we move forward to European settlement of the area. Fort Massac in Illinois presents an interesting timeline. Originally built in the mid-1500s, the fort site passed through the hands of the Spanish, French, British, and finally fell to the U.S. during the Revolutionary War. Troops were last stationed there during the Civil War, and in 1908 the site became Illinois' first state park. Today you can tour the fort and hike, fish, or camp at the state park. Stop by the fort's museum in Metropolis, Illinois, to experience the tale of the fort's history with actual artifacts, archive photographs, period costumes, and a short interpretive video presentation.
Travel the Ohio River corridor, a pre-Civil War era hotbed of abolitionist and Underground Railroad activity, where slaves once tried desperately to cross this river to free territory. Town residents once signaled safe harbor by burning lights in their windows. You can keep this light of goodwill and freedom shining by visiting the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, or by touring the home of John Rankin, an active Underground Railroad leader, in Ripley, Ohio.
Learn about life along the Ohio River during the steamboat era at the Ohio River Museum in Marietta, Ohio. The museum features the golden age of the Ohio River steamboat. Don’t miss the W.P. Snyder, America's only surviving steam powered sternwheeler towboat. Alternately, at the 1849 Howard Mansion in Jeffersonville, Indiana, visit the Howard Steamboat Museum and admire a large collection of steamboat models, tools, artifacts, documents, photos, and paintings.
Combine your education of steamboats and historically significant houses in Aurora, Indiana with a visit to Hillforest Victorian House Museum, the Italianate-style mansion of Thomas Gaff, whose financial involvement in Aurora’s 1800’s shipping industry influenced his home’s architecture. With a third floor belvedere resembling a pilothouse and a suspended staircase patterned after those of the Grand Salons on the more elaborate riverboats of the time, it is no wonder that Hillforest is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Ohio River has always called people to its shores and waters, from prehistoric Native Americans to modern inhabitants from many cultures. A trip to the Ohio River Scenic Byway allows you to traverse 967 miles of historic, cultural, scenic, and naturally abundant landscapes from East Liverpool, Ohio to Cairo, Illinois.
