Native American heritage focus of Woodland Trail project at Clary Gardens
COSHOCTON − Education about the Native American heritage of the area is the focus of a new project at Clary Gardens, which is is seeking funding from the Appalachian Community Grant program.
HEART of Appalachian Ohio is a compendium of projects across the state seeking grant funding as a group. The focus is history, environment, tourism, arts and recreation.
Also part of the conglomerate is the White Eyes Park and Trails at Plain Hill on the northern edge of West Lafayette.
The Woodland Trail at Clary Gardens would see improvement and additions to the half mile woodland trail that extends through the 11 acres of woodland on the 20 acre property. The project is estimated at $1.5 million with all coming from grant funding. Projects earning money will be announced early this year and all are to be completed by 2026.
Clary Gardens at 588 W. Chestnut St. is entering its 23rd year of operation as a community botanical garden. Along with programming for youth and families, it's a top wedding destination and sees an average of 25,000 visitors per year. Recent projects included installation of a fireplace, waterfall and grand staircase at the event pavilion. The executive director is Jandi Adams.
"We're bringing people into the Gardens for different purposes, but they're coming out with, hopefully after this, this amazing experience that can really be a big tourism draw for the area," Adam said of the Woodland Trails project.
The woodland trail would feature signage at the start and end along with signs along the way pointing out plants used by Native Americans for food and medicine and to create weapons, shelter, transportation and more. There will also be a three sculpture installation, created by Alan Cottrill of Zanesville. Renovations to Cottrill's studio is also a HEART of Appalachian Ohio project.
The statues would feature Mary Harris, the first documented white woman to live in Ohio, with her Mohawk warrior husband and another member of the tribe. This will be at the base of the largest sandstone ridge at the back of the woodlands. There will also be a statue of a Delaware tribe member fishing near the flat bottom creek and another in contemplation in a clearing. Each statue will be 6-feet tall.
Adams said a Clary Gardens board member was visiting the Cottrill studio and commented on how they would like his work for the gardens, something that would tell a story in its presentation. Cottrill told them about the HEART of Appalachian Ohio program and Adams started researching from there. Along with statues, they wanted something that was plant forward.
"Our idea was to get a statue or a set of statues that would tell the Native American history of Coshocton. As I've given tours in the gardens, we always go all the way back to when the gardens was Native American camping grounds," Adams said. "We know the story that Coshocton was almost the center, the capital, of the Delaware Nation. We've got so much of that history and we don't do the best job of representing it."
Adams recently collected letters of support for the project from Coshocton County Commissioners, City of Coshocton, Roscoe Village, Coshocton Foundation, Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum and historian Scott Butler. Adams said even if they don't get the grant, the board has supported pursuing the project in other ways.
"Your project, I think it will resonate well with the state," Commissioner Dane Shryock told Adams. "It's the type of project they're focused a lot on."
Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with more than 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @llhayhurst.
This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Clary Gardens seeking $1.5M grant for Native American heritage trail
