TOLEDO, Ohio — Editor's note: The attached video above is from a story about Fossil Park that aired on Aug. 5, 2021.
Ohio has a rich and fascinating history. In northwest Ohio alone, historical moments range from the lost Black Swamp and its settlers' stories, to boasting some of the most crucial moments of the War of 1812. Other regions of the state aren't short of their own historical relics.
But if the last several hundred years are just not quite old enough for you, there are places you can scratch that prehistorical itch.
Fossil Park in Sylvania is located just a mile north of Hanson Aggregate Midwest's largest working quarry, the same place from which the fossils rocks are collected. It is, according to Fossil Park's website, one of only two prime Devonian Era dig sites on the planet.
Visitors can search the park's limestone rocks for fossils. Limestone is a soft sedimentary rock that can be easily broken apart with your hands and is well-known for its high-volume of fossils.
If you're not in the Toledo-area, or otherwise want to visit other fossil sites, there are several in southwest Ohio. These include the Oakes Quarry Park and Hueston Woods State Park among several others. The full list, including information about each site, can be found here.
Although no dinosaur fossils are to be found around here, specimens far older than your average T-rex are readily abundant. Approximately 450 million years ago, the land that is now Ohio was covered by a shallow sea in which plenty of organisms lived, including brachiopods, trilobites, and corals among them-- and they aren't difficult to find.
Ohio's state fossil, Isotelus, is a genus of trilobite. Trilobites were a class of invertebrates that at one point ruled the seas. Oftentimes quite large, this particular genus is most abundant in southwest Ohio, though other trilobites can easily be found in northwest Ohio.
Sylvania's Fossil Park specifically is family friendly and open year-round. Admission is free and visitors are welcome to bring their finds home. The park only asks you leave your chisels and hammers at home. Brushes, however, are allowed and encouraged.