There are layers of history to discover in Ohio’s Miami Valley, and few sites exemplify this better than Oakes Quarry Park in the Greene County town of Fairborn. It was first developed as a limestone mine by the Southwestern Portland Cement Company in 1929, but the land’s history stretches back much further than that. About 440 million years ago, during the Silurian Age, it was on the floor of an ancient sea and the location of a coral reef where sponges, trilobites, and colorful sea lilies thrived. Fossils of these prehistoric lifeforms were exposed when the quarry was mined. These fossils are known as the Brassfield Formation, and can be seen and even collected by visitors to Oakes Quarry Park today. Stones elsewhere in the park have marks dating back to the glacial activity of the last ice age.
Plenty of history happened here between these two points, too. The Ohio Woodland People first arrived in southwest Ohio thousands of years ago, building mounds and earthworks that still dot the landscape. The land was Shawnee territory by the time European settlers arrived in 1799 and built the first home in what would become Fairfield. In the early 20th century, the Wright brothers tested their new flying machine on Fairfield’s Huffman Prairie Flying Field. Today, the field is part of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and the town is called Fairborn, a name change brought about by its merger with the neighboring community of Osborn in 1950.
This fascinating history gives travelers lots of reasons to visit Fairborn, and Oakes Quarry Park earns a big spot on that itinerary. As Fairborn’s second-largest park, its 190 acres encompass grasslands, woods, and wetlands that provide a home to abundant wildlife, while its trails give visitors a glimpse into the region’s ancient past.
Highlights of Oakes Quarry Park
Oakes Quarry is the northernmost portion of the larger Beaver Creek Wetlands area. The 30-foot stone wall around the park functions as a scenic overlook. Within it, a 2-mile hiking trail runs around the park’s perimeter. Native grasses grow in the 30-acre grassland, along with flowers like St. John’s wort and blue vervain that attract butterflies. The wooded areas are planted with more than 8,000 trees and inhabited by wildlife like deer, coyotes, foxes, and amphibians. For birders, this mix of habitats offers the chance to spot rare species like the lark sparrow and prairie warbler. The four ponds across the park are also popular with shorebirds like killdeer and sandpipers…