Aaron Adams’s Blowhard Blog

As long as a century and a half ago, miles of hedge fences crossed the Bellbrook / Sugarcreek Township area. This article about hedge fences, and the subsequent picture, courtesy of the Bellbrook Historical society, comes from the April 9, 1966 issue of the Xenia Gazette.

The most fun about a hedge fence was collecting the hedge apples to be used as missiles in a game of war. The more aggravating things about a hedge fence were the time and hard work required to trim and and that it shaded the ground and robbed crops of moisture for a rod or more on either side. As a result, hedge fence declined in popularity with the introduction of woven wire fencing at the turn of the century, and since then farmers have been using horses, tractors, and bulldozers in attempts to dislodge it. Finally, only a fraction of the original mileage once in use exists.

But at one time the importing, sale, planting, and trimming of the osage orange variety of hedge was a profitable operation of J.H. Racer & Co. at Bellbrook. Harold Berryhill, who, with his wife, is heading up village plans for a sesquicentennial celebration there June 16-19, uncovered the evidence of this early enterprise.

The tree is native to Texas, can reach a height of 50 feet and a diameter of two feet, and is a tough, durable wood that serves for years when employed as fence posts. When used as a fence, the trees were planted in a line about a foot or two apart and, after a few years, cut off to four feet and kept trimmed.

A healthy growth resulted in a thick, thorny foliage that made an acceptable fencing for cattle, sheep and horses, but not so effective for swine. Berryhill found that J. C. McMillan was advertising plantings in the Xenia Torchlight as early as 1852, and that William T. Berryhill, of south of Bellbrook, was running ads for it in 1854.

His terms were 25 cents per rod for setting out the trees and 75 cents per rod when the fence was perfected. The land owner was required to clear the land and plow and harrow the rows and to board the workmen while they were on the job.

In some cases, the hedge was planted form seeds obtained from the hedge balls or apples, a sphere about four inches in diameter and light green in color that exudes a milky, gummy substance when bruised. John H. Racer, who patented the Racer Hedge Fence, was the son of a Major Racer who moved to Bellbrook about 1878 and occupied a house still existing at the end of the Little Miami River bridge on the Lower Bellbrook Pike.

The papers of the 1882 period reported that Racer and this brothers were doing a lively business in planting and trimming hedge and built a “neat little office” which exists as part of a house west of the river bridge, now covered with imitation brick siding.

Racer’s ads quoted the cost as 60 cents a rod, offered two trimmings a year for $3.50 for 100 yards. His ads appeared occasionally in the Bellbrook Moon and in 1891, he bought the paper, expanded the size of his ads, and made offers to outside agents.

Hm, that old J. H. Racer building looks familiar. Where have I see it before?

It’s now the Crowl Funeral Museum in the center of town, pictured here during this year’s Sugar Maple Festival with the Sleepy Tom exhibit in front. After it was the Racer HQ, it served as the office for the local undertaker, who embalmed bodies in the building and poured the blood into the ground out back to dispose of it. Many of his original implements and fluids, as well as a child’s coffin, are currently on display each Saturday.

So why do I bring up hedge fences? There is one known existing example of a hedge fence in this area, and it happens to be located in a park two blocks behind my house. It’s part of Sugarcreek Metropark and they call it the Osage Orange Tunnel. I took this picture of the tunnel two summers ago, and the picture doesn’t do it justice.

But wait, there’s more! I said one known existing example. There is, in fact, another hedge fence that’s close by and I don’t know if anyone else is aware of it.

My fiend Tim Miller was checking out a wooded area behind a hospital that’s under construction just down the road when he found it.

Yep, those are the remains of a hedge fence. It’s hard to tell in the pictures, but the trees are close together and arranged in a straight line. Tim and I walked back into the woods this weekend to check it out. It’s very overgrown and years of forest clutter make it look awful, but it’s there. I really really hope whoever owns that land is aware of the fence and its historical value, and I also hope there are no plans to demolish it. In any case, Tim tells me he’s already in active contact with someone who may have the ability to help preserve it, so we’ll see.

In addition to hedge fences, another type of historical vegetation around here is large oak trees. At one time these large trees were numerous in this part of Ohio, but most of them fell to the settler’s axe. Now they are rare, and the aforementioned Sugarcreek Metropark protects three of them in a cluster, known as the Three Sisters.

It’s very difficult to get good pictures of three large trees, but here’s the best I have on file at the moment, from the park.

I’ll give you one guess what’s directly at the end of the hedge fence.

Yep, another giant oak, probably every bit as big as the ones in the park. According to information provided by the park, the trees there are more than 550 years old. If size is any indication, this tree was probably just beginning its life as Columbus crossed the Atlantic. That’s hard to imagine!

If a hedge fence and some very large, old trees are attraction enough to section off land for a regional park, I think the hedge fence and large tree Tim and I saw this weekend are worthy of some kind of mini-park status. I’d hate to see them torn down to make way for yet more insipid shopping we don’t need around here. If Tim’s contact doesn’t pan out, perhaps I’ll contact the parks district to see if they’re interested in preserving these historic trees.