Bluestone Falls, a.k.a., Covid Falls was shot between April and September, 2020, during a particulalrly wet spring and summer when the Trump flu began to spread, before the introduction of truth antibodies that finally emerged as a reaction to the level of absurdity and lies that we are so tired of hearing and fighting.
These sites were first developed, in rural areas, as sources of power and stone. Quickly, the city formed around these creeks, where, at the crest of the Portage Escarpment, the harder bluestone creates “knick points” and the finer, harder bluestone creates a shelf for falls to form over Berea sandstone, Chagrin shale and Clevelnd shale, a shale that is black from the petroleum and gas trapped in its minerals. But just upstream the Berea sandstone, that sits one layer above the bluestone, has its share of waterfalls as well. The creeks are still polluted, more so, when it rains, with sewage, not to mention, as one follows the gorges down, deeper into the black Cleveland shale, you’re in an area known for its rich deposits of gas and oil.
Starting way out in the western edges of the Portage Escarpment, in Elyria, are the falls of the Black River, the book goes east along the escarpment which is responsible for the waterfalls at its crest only, before sloping severely down on to the Lake Erie plain. At the top of the escarpment, a harder, finer grain sandstone, bluestone, runs in a deep band and is as these creeks wear down the Berea sandstone. exposed in the numerous creek walls.
From west to east, Black River, Mill Creek, Doan Creek, West Dugway Brook, East Dugway Brook and, finally, Euclid Creek, which was where most of the larger bluestone quarries were located. John Rockefeller used stone quarried from Dugway Brook in his Forest Hills estate to build structures on the same property. Likewise Lakeview Cemetery had the western branch of Dugway Brook, coursing through it and the cemetery quarried stone from the crest of West Dugway Brook to construct buildings and infrastructure within the cemetery.
Nine Mile Creek, which had quarries in what is now Denison Park, runs right through the park, it’s small gorge reveals the bluestone and various shale deposits as it emerges from a tunnel under Bluestone Road, that traverses the crest of the escarpment from the quarries at Nine Mile to those a bit farther east at Euclid Creek in South Euclid.
The most important fact is how the creeks and ravines were heavily utilized for their bluestone and Berea sandstone, and as power for grist mills, sawmills and any other need. The first settlements sprung up as quarry towns and mill towns that would become the east side suburbs, the city of Cleveland, and even way west on the Portage Escarpment, as far west as Elyria, and the Cascade Falls if the Black river.
Taking pictures of tunnels, bridges and waterfalls are similar, in the sense that, there are severe limitations as to where to place the camera – left, right, center, up, and down. I learn while shooting these structures, both natural, and man-made to get into the infrastructure and get on top of it and go into it, accomanied by it’s sometimes thunderous xeaseless noise.
Considering that all these waterfalls got their start with human construction and development and grew into urban settings, raw sewage is still a big problem, particularly during high water, and I’m talking about human sewage. There is also the methane gas, as well as, all the other fluids and gases that come with the oil shales of this section of the countryu
Six months into the Trump flu, I met with my PCP for my yearly physical, and, he asked, how I was holding up during Covid. I responded by saying, “Worked for me. ” Of course, he gave me his usual quizzical look which borderline saying that I was some sort of weirdo or a crazy person, instead of questioning me, which is what my response was all about. If he did question me then he would’ve learned that I know what to do in a crisis, particularly one that requires isolation, and, it’s to be productive. With a spring and summer of intense storms and rain, and with the finding of something, always there, but never seen, there was no choice, and, even, the methane beds, gases and fluid in the cuts that the exposed shale gave off, the worst was the human sewage that still was a big problem upstream, miles before hitting the Lake Erie plain.
Shoot near and far, but, also, like i said, get into the water and walk up and into the falls, so you can honestly say, “I am the falls.”
And, if that ain’t your thing, viewing from all different perspectives, in all sorts of ways, and styles, it’s perfect. I’m not here to value or judge anything, just let me do the work.
https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/552
VIEW the slideshow.
