Blackhand Gorge State Nature Preserve is rich in natural and early Ohio history. The name Blackhand came from a dark hand-shaped Indian petroglyph engraved on a massive sandstone cliff along the north side of the river. That engraving was destroyed in 1828 when canal builders dynamited the cliff face during construction of the Ohio-Erie Canal, which runs through the gorge. Historic remnants in the gorge include an Ohio and Erie Canal lock, an electric interurban trolley tunnel, a railroad deep cut, and an abandoned sandstone quarry.