When we traveled near Mt. Vernon, Ohio we went to see the covered “Bridge of Dreams” over the Mohican river and had to check out the village of Brinkhaven, also called Gann. This is located in Knox county, Ohio and has a population of about 125. The statistics look as if the high point was in 1910 with a population of 341. It is a tiny village of a few streets. It was like stepping back in time to a slower era. No stores or shops, no gas station, not even a cell tower to be found. I can’t remember if we had cell service there or not.

One little house looked really old, though tidy, clean and obviously had been updated over the years. A woman was cleaning up weeds, etc. We asked her how old the house was. She was uncertain, but she had found a postcard in the attic that her mother had sent to her grandfather dated something like 1910?

According to Knox County History Pages at https://www.knoxpages.com/history/the-flood-the-bodies-and-the-psychic-brinkhaven-1913/article_119c17ba-8e5a-11eb-9c39-631d8d6f22fd.html “In 1913 local weather watchers claimed that Brinkhaven saw over a foot of rainfall before the rainwater swelled the river out of its banks. The village has never entirely recovered from the flood, for Brinkhaven used to be almost double the size it is now. If you drive east on Ohio 62 past the town, the large grassy field between the highway and the village used to be an entire neighborhood.”

Just across Ohio 62 and up the hill is access to the Bridge of Dreams:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_of_Dreams gives details about the conversion of the bridge from railroad use to multi purpose use. One grounds keeper told us that one of the stipulations for the funds that were raised along with the grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources included making this trail and bridge accessible to equestrians and the Amish in their horse drawn vehicles. They were doing the semi-annual horse apple removal when we visited. What a job!

Route 62 has heavy truck traffic and almost no shoulders. We were glad to learn this is a safer route for the Amish to take between East Street in Danville and the Holmes County line.

On our last day exploring the area we were surprised to see several law enforcement cars around the Brinkhaven turn off. Then a helicopter hovering over the area. The chopper circled back over us and then hovered along the fields as we traveled. All we could think was a criminal on the loose? Hiding in this barely populated area of Ohio? We never found out what was going on or if the officers caught the person. We moved along and minded our own business. Trust me, we were not going to give anyone a ride!

More Brinkhaven/Gann photos: