With the leaves turning, the temperature starting to drop, and all the feels as we fall into Autumn, we registered to go on the Licking County Library’s “Haunted Newark: A Ghostly Walking Tour”. On October 31, we walked from the Downtown Newark Library to Licking County Players, which used to be a funeral home, proceeded to walk on with the rest of the tour group to the Buckingham Meeting House, the Old Licking County Jail, and other historic sites, reportedly ghostly sites in Downtown Newark. The Licking County Library’s Local History Specialist, Jack Goodman, who sported a tall hat to effectively set the mood, did a fine job in hosting the tour, showing digital pictures on his iPad periodically to help provide a visual to times past.
The image that really struck me the most was the photo of the Licking County Jail surrounded by water, as it was directly next to the canal, which is now the location of the Canal Market District. That was an example of how a photograph can really capture and help reality resonate with the viewer. I was aware of the canal being directly next to the jail, but seeing that image helped me realize what it actually looked like in history. The walking tour gave us an opportunity to walk through history on the sidewalks and streets of Newark, Ohio. What a fitting way to spend twilight time on Halloween!
