Native Hardin County Historian Aims to Preserve Scioto Marsh History with New Website

What’s being described as the official—and only—website dedicated to Ohio’s Scioto Marsh, is now publicly accessible.

Historian, writer, conservationist, and native Hardin Countian Chase Fleece, who was a guest on Public Eye in 2024, said the Scioto Marsh was once a big onion producer, but efforts to control flooding in the area turned out to be detrimental to the crop, “It was this massive site that was good habitat for all these kind of marsh grasses and these animals that we no longer have in Hardin County, and we drain it in pursuit of onions and by doing so we actually ruin the site.”

The website reflects a brief summary of Fleece’s master’s thesis, but it will be expanded and reworked in the coming months.

He said he thought it was important to share his findings with both locals and outsiders alike.

Until now, the environmental and social history of Ohio’s second-largest wetland, has been largely ignored, and he hopes this serves as an informative first introduction.

You can learn more by visiting the website here.