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So — now that you’ve got the song ringing in your head — read on for the story of Dorothy Sloop.

Dorothy (known as “Dottie”) was born into a musical family in Steubenville in 1913. “Her grandfather owned a music store, and her father played the pump organ and was the theater organist for silent movies,” says her nephew, Fred Ruland of Marietta. 

Ohio State Parks earned the National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management in 2025 — essentially the top honor a park system can earn — but Mertz knows there’s always room for improvement, and she says restroom facilities are low-hanging fruit.

“We want people to want to be in the outdoors,” Mertz says. “Fifty years ago [when many of the facilities were built], people’s expectations were different. Today, people have come to expect a higher level of accommodation.”

ACCORDING TO A MAP from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, most of Ohio’s springs are in the southeast part of the state, with a fair number in central and southwest Ohio as well. Steven Lyon, an associate professor at the School of Environment and Natural Resources at Ohio State University, says they’re driven by the state’s geological history and the prevalence of limestone, sandstone, and shale. 

In 1774, the Ohio Country was a vast land populated by a host of Native American tribes, and the British Crown wanted to use it as feudal property — owned by the king — where occupants would pay a tribute to live there. A young Thomas Jefferson was having none of it. He penned a pamphlet denouncing the plan — he hated the thought that only aristocrats and kings and churches could own land in America. More on that in a bit.

Heilman manages nearly 800 hives, which he hires out to farmers. Half of his hives travel out of state, but he estimates his bees alone help Ohio growers produce
$10 million to $15 million worth of crops each year.

Oh, and by the way, those busy workers also make one of the more luscious food products on the planet. Heilman’s bees produce more than 35,000 pounds of honey annually.

One of the largest bald eagle nests ever discovered was the Great Nest, located near Vermilion in the early 20th century. By 1979, however, there were only four nesting pairs of bald eagles left in the Buckeye State, their numbers having been decimated by poisonous chemicals accumulating in the environment, mostly DDT.

“They transformed a resolution into a binding act of commitment,” says David Zavagno, executive director of Lake Erie Heritage Foundation. “That moment — where individuals stepped forward and put everything on the line — is at the heart of our event.”

Zavagno says that the July 4 action was important, but it was the delegates’ actual signing of the declaration that was an act of mutiny against Britain and its king. “Signers picked up a pen and risked their life, knowing they would be forced to pick up a sword to defend it,” he says.

“Reading about history in a book is good, but it doesn't give you the same feel as attending a living history event,” says Cindy Jackson, a reenactor who is coordinator of the Fair at New Boston, an annual Labor Day event in Springfield that includes several reenactments during its run. “It helps us get in touch with history instead of it being a dry subject in a textbook — and when you see it happening right in front you, it isn't as pretty as in the movies.”

It read, in part, “As the Love of Liberty, and Attachment to the real Interests and just Rights of America outweigh every other Consideration, we resolve that we will exert every Power within us for the Defence of American Liberty, and for the Support of her just Rights and Privileges; not in any precipitate, riotous, or tumultous Manner, but when regularly called forth by the unanimous Voice of our Countrymen.”

In today’s parlance, it might be described as a challenge to “fool around and find out.”

Add some other modern conveniences, and it makes for glamping at its finest. Turn the page to check out a few options for yurt stays right here in Ohio.