Despite logging and development in this valley over the last few hundred years, some giant trees survived, and the modern giants offer only a hint of those of the past. Near this spot over 100 years ago, a giant black walnut, Juglans nigra, grew and was thought to be the biggest tree in Ohio, according to letters from Fred Maddock and Harry Root. Sumner B. Day was hired by an English firm to cut and saw the tree, and he had to order a special saw blade for his saw mill to handle the felled log. After the bark and sapwood were removed, the log measured over 40 feet long and six feet in diameter. It was floated down the river to Lorain and shipped by train to the east coast. Just down a side trail stands one of today's giants, inviting comparison with the giants of the past.