Wednesday, October 7, 2015

The Roger Blough Enters Conneaut

For as long as I've been following the Roger Blough, I have been meaning to head to one of the ports that she calls on.  She normally splits her time between Gary, Indiana and Conneaut, Ohio.  Since there really aren't too many places where I could catch her entering Gary, it would have to be Conneaut, Ohio that I would visit.  Since I was already basically there, it worked out for me.

Conneaut was formally settled in 1799 on an old Native American trail.  There used to be a Missasaugua village that was located near there that was founded in 1747.  Originally Conneaut was named Salem and the surrounding areas were named Lakeville.  These areas were combined to the area of the current city.  Sometime the outlying parts of the city are called Lakeville or Amboy by the locals.
Conneaut is located at the northeastern corner of Ohio and almost borders Pennsylvania.  It is in Ashtabula County.
 Because of the arrangements of the docks in Conneaut, the Blough has to back into the harbor.  The lighthouse in this picture is fairly new but there have been some others there previously.  The first lighthouse was established in 1835 but that had deteriorated to the point where it had to be replaced in 1885.  The current lighthouse was built in 1917.  In this picture the Blough is turning to get in line with the channel.
 I believe the ore docks in Conneaut end up supplying the steel mills in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and that makes for a lot of rail traffic.  It seemed like I would hear train horns constantly.
 I couldn't quite get the shots of the Blough that I normally like but these will do.  As I said, I've always wanted shots of her coming into one of the ports she services.
 Sometimes ships will use this area to turn and face the Lake, but I'm guessing those would be ships that aren't backing into the harbor.
 She approaches the dock.
 An almost shot of her pilothouse.
And the shot of the pilothouse that I like.

I will have to make a trip back here at some point.  Maybe I can figure out a way to get different shots.

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