Genoa
Township
Habitat
Sedimentary rocks, such as limestone shale and sandstone, underlie
Delaware County. The glaciers that spread over much of the northern United
States passed and retreated across the area several times more than 12,000
years ago. Retreating glaciers left behind large amounts of boulders, pebbles,
sand, silt, and clay. Glaciers had pushed most of the material – limestone,
sandstone and shale – from central and north-central Ohio. However, many rocks
and other material – granite, quartzite, and other crystalline rocks from the
Canadian highlands – had been carried hundreds of miles by the ice.
The retreating glaciers left
behind a high ridge that extends north and south through the middle of Genoa
Township, dividing the watersheds of Big Walnut to the east and Alum Creeks to
the west. These streams, along with the Scioto and Olentangy Rivers to the
west, have provided Central Ohio residents with many resources over the years,
but on occasion also generated considerable floods and freshets. Dams on all
four streams were built in the mid-1900s to help control the flooding and to
provide additional water reserves and recreational space for the growing central
Ohio population.
Much of Delaware County was originally covered in woodlands, most
notably oaks, beech, hickory, black walnut, butternut, ash, birch, and sugar
maple, as well as wild grapes, wild plums and black haws. Big Walnut Creek was
so named because its banks and bottomlands were covered with a dense growth of
black walnut trees, most of which were chopped down for construction of
split-rail fences, dug-out canoes and cabins. There also were some smaller
areas of prairie grass and low-lying swampy ground.
The dense groundcover of Delaware County provided excellent habitat
for foxes,
beavers, squirrels, woodchucks, rabbits, whitetail deer, coyotes, raccoons and
many other species of wildlife, including songbirds and woodpeckers. Some more
fearsome species that were abundant when westerners first settled the land
included wolves, bears, wildcats and timber rattlesnakes.
When the area was cleared in the early 1800s, many farmers planted
corn, soybeans, wheat, flax and hay, and some tended horse, cattle, sheep, hog
and dairy farms, as well as nurseries. In the days before tractors, the cattle
and sheep ate brush along the fencerows, keeping farms looking tidy. In those
early days of the township, cooperation among farmers was necessary during the
planting and harvest seasons. It has been noted that the influx of
mechanization in the form of tractors and combines following World War II
empowered the farmer to sow and reap his fields by himself, but also lessened
the degree of community bonding that had been prevalent for decade.
An 1880 drawing
of the Joseph Gardner farm (present-day intersection of Maxtown and McCorkle)
behind grazing cattle, sheep and horses, a typical assortment of livestock for
Genoa Township (illustration from History of Delaware County, 1880).
Farmers also harvested clay from the abundant beds found in the
township to fire bricks for building homes, some of which still stand today.
Sand and gravel have been mined over the years along the waterways and in other
locations, mostly for local use. Genoa Township contains the 17.2-acre Butterfield
Landfill, which lies southeast of the intersection of Worthington and Freeman
Roads and was operational in the 1960s and early 1970s before being closed and
reclaimed with a topping of cover soil.
Agriculture remains a significant land-use activity of Genoa
Township, and light manufacturing and service industries play a significant
economic role, especially in the southern parts of the township, where
residential and business development has escalated over the last 20 years. The
township has been careful to guide the development process, requiring
residential subdivisions to preserve substantial green spaces in an attempt to
retain some of the rural atmosphere of the township’s heritage. A comprehensive
plan and strict zoning restrictions allow developers to build developments with
slightly higher housing densities and smaller lots in exchange for setting
aside additional acres of open space.
Currently, Genoa Township maintains five parks: Freeman Road Park just
west of State Route 3, McNamara Park at the corner of State Route 3 and Big
Walnut Road north of the Genoa police, fire and service complex, Center Green
Park on Center Green Drive and Danbridge Drive, Hilmar Park on Hilmar between
Mt. Royal and Tussic Road, and a small park on the side of the township’s administration
building off Old 3-C Highway.
Within Genoa Township, Preservation Parks of Delaware County
maintains Char-Mar Ridge Preserve north of Lewis Center Road, just east of
State Route 3. Char-Mar Ridge Preserve features 128 acres of mixed habitat,
including woods, stream corridors, pond and small meadow, with the majority
being forested.
The Department of Recreation and Parks for the City of Columbus
operates numerous sites surrounding Hoover Reservoir, including Mud Hen Marsh, Hoover
Dam Recreation Area, Hoover Meadows, Hoover Nature Preserve and Hoover
Reservoir Park. Alum Creek State Park is accessible from Genoa Township’s
northwest corner, off Africa Road near the intersections with Lewis Center and
Jaycox Roads.
The Genoa Township Land
Conservation Association has been an active partner in the effort to conserve
natural habitat. Each of its properties is protected from development, and one
property features a barn left by previous tenants of the parcel. The properties
feature public access to walking trails of stone, mulch and mown grass.