Devil's Backbone is a rock formation and peninsula formed by the flow of Fourteen Mile Creek into the Ohio River, and is currently situated in Charlestown State Park near Charlestown, Indiana and across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. According to local legend, on this bedrock ridge once stood a stone fortress that was built by Welsh explorers led by Prince Madoc sometime in the 12th century. [1]
Fourteen Mile Creek, shown as Fourteenmile Creek on federal maps, is a 22.7-mile-long (36.5 km) creek in Clark County, Indiana, close to Charlestown. It is so named because its mouth on the Ohio River is 14 miles (23 km) upstream from the Falls of the Ohio; similar to how Eighteen Mile Island, Twelve Mile Island, and Six Mile Island got their names. It is navigable for 2.9 miles (4.7 km) from the Ohio River. It is a State Heritage Program Site and a popular canoe trail.
The Ohio River is a 981-mile (1,579 km) long river in the midwestern United States that flows southwesterly from western Pennsylvania south of Lake Erie to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illinois. It is the second largest river by discharge volume in the United States and the largest tributary by volume of the north-south flowing Mississippi River that divides the eastern from western United States. The river flows through or along the border of six states, and its drainage basin includes parts of 15 states. Through its largest tributary, the Tennessee River, the basin includes several states of the southeastern U.S. It is the source of drinking water for three million people.
Charlestown State Park is an Indiana state park on 5,100 acres (20.64 km2) in Clark County, Indiana, in the United States. The park is on the banks of the Ohio River, 1 mile (2 km) east of Charlestown. It was once part of the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant (INAAP), and was donated in separate parcels to the Indiana state government. In 1993, the state of Indiana was given 859 acres (3.48 km2), and in 1994 was given an additional 1,125 acres (4.55 km2). When the park opened in 1996, it encompassed 2,400 acres (9.7 km2). With an additional 2,600 acres (10.5 km2) given by the INAAP in 2004, the park has 5,100 acres (20.6 km2), making it the third largest state park in Indiana. The park attracts 131,000 people a year.
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The Backbone is believed to have been formed by the processes of glaciation where a combination of ice sheet advances, meltwater flows and a diversion of the Ohio River left an isolated bedrock ridge remaining between two valleys.
Rose Island, an amusement park popular during the 1920s that was destroyed by the 1937 Flood, stood on this rugged peninsula, at the base of the ridge on a level area.
Rose Island was an abandoned amusement park near Charlestown, Indiana, situated on a peninsula created by Fourteen Mile Creek emptying into the Ohio River. It was a recreational area known as Fern Grove in the 1880s, mostly used as a church camp. It was so named due to the many ferns that grew there. The Louisville and Jeffersonville Ferry Company acquired it and developed it in order to increase the use of its ferry business. As Fern Grove it thrived on church picnics and family outings.
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often featuring multiple areas with different themes. Unlike temporary and mobile funfairs and carnivals, amusement parks are stationary and built for long-lasting operation. They are more elaborate than city parks and playgrounds, usually providing attractions that cater to a variety of age groups. While amusement parks often contain themed areas, theme parks place a heavier focus with more intricately-designed themes that revolve around a particular subject or group of subjects.
The Ohio River flood of 1937 took place in late January and February 1937. With damage stretching from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Illinois, one million people were left homeless, 385 were dead and property losses reached $500 million. Federal and state resources were strained to aid recovery as the disaster occurred during the depths of the Great Depression and a few years after the beginning of the Dust Bowl.
Charlestown State Park hiking trails do not provide access to the Backbone, but a loop around the old Rose Island site passes below the ridge.
There is another location by the same name near Fort Ritner, Indiana, east of Bedford.
Fort Ritner is an unincorporated community in Guthrie Township, Lawrence County, Indiana.
Bedford is a city in Shawswick Township, Lawrence County, Indiana, United States. The population was 13,413 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Lawrence County. Bedford is the principal city of the Bedford, IN Micropolitan Statistical Area, which comprises all of Lawrence County.
