Order of Visit: High Point #32
Date Visited: March 26, 2021
Route Taken: Short walk from the parking lot on the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center campus – 200 feet roundtrip
Type of Terrain: Flat, paved area above a grassy field
Elevation: 1,549 feet
Ancestral Lands: Kaskaskia, Shawnee, Myaamia, Hopewell
What’s in a name?
Following the French and Indian War (1754-1763), Britain acquired the Northwest Territory, which included modern-day Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. The Shawnee people were among the tribes living in this region, and one of the notable war chiefs in Ohio was Weyapiersenwah, whom the British called “Blue Jacket.”
During the Revolutionary War, the British government allied with Blue Jacket to combat the colonists’ rebellion. Soon thereafter, Blue Jacket relocated his settlement to the area around Bellefontaine in central Ohio to be nearer to his British allies. This led early Americans to call the area surrounding Ohio’s high point Blue Jacket’s Town.
Kentucky militiamen ultimately destroyed Blue Jacket’s Town during Logan’s Raid in 1786, and the Shawnee war chief and his band moved further northwest, leaving central Ohio behind.
Blue Jacket’s departure opened central Ohio to Revolutionary War veterans who settled there in the early 1800s. Ohio was especially appealing to these newcomers because the cash-strapped federal government was granting tracts of land to veterans in recognition of their services during the recent wars.
In 1831, Solomon Rogue, a native Virginian, became the first person to be deeded the land where the state’s high point is located. Local records indicate that Solomon Rogue originally acquired 1,000 acres from the government, but he sold off most of it shortly afterward. His nephew, John Rogue, obtained the 100 acres in the center of this tract, including the state’s high point, which later became known as Hogue’s Hill.
It is anyone’s guess how this small rise in central Ohio became known as Hogue’s Hill instead of Rogue’s Hill. However, this labeling confusion likely led some amateur historians to incorrectly speculate that the hill’s original namesake was famed Ohioan Solomon Layfette Hoge instead of its true owner, Solomon Rogue.
In 1898, Charles Delavan Campbell (1847-1938) purchased the property containing Ohio’s high point, and he renamed the hill something far less confusing: Campbell Hill.
A year before his death, Charles Campbell sold the high point and its surrounding land in Bellefontaine to August Wagner, a German immigrant and beer magnate who refined his beer-making craft in Ohio. Wagner bequeathed the area containing the state high point to his daughter Helen, and she subsequently deeded Campbell Hill and the surrounding 52.5 acres to the federal government so the Air Force could use it as a Cold War radar station from 1950 to 1969.
When the land was turned into a technical college in 1974, it embraced the novelty of sharing its campus with the state high point. Ohio’s high point remains Campbell Hill, while the surrounding land is now named the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center.
TRIP SUMMARY
Campbell Hill was the third stop on our epically long (1,200-mile) spring break drive from Kansas City, Missouri, to New Jersey. Our prior two high points on this road trip were Missouri and Indiana. And since we’d already detoured off I-70 to visit Indiana’s High Point, why not grab Ohio’s high point too?
The Buckeye State isn’t usually on my top list of places to visit. I don’t want to see the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and I’ve already visited Lake Erie. Plus, my one significant memory of Ohio is a bad one. I’d just walked outside the hotel where I was staying when I crossed paths with an overly protective gander (male goose) in the parking lot. The goose started hissing at me, so I tried to box around him and continue on my way. That’s when I noticed his “lady friend” laying in the grass nearby.
I suspect they may have been “courting” because he immediately got territorial. This angry goose took flight before I could do anything else and started flying toward me at top speed! It scared the bejeezus out of me, and I had to sprint for my life to avoid getting attacked.
But even if I toss my traumatic goose experience aside, I still didn’t have a whole slew of reasons to love Ohio. My general impression of its geography is that Ohio is filled with a lot of wide, open farmland or suburban sprawl around the key cities of Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Cleveland.
So it’s with that background, I set off toward Campbell Hill with extremely low expectations.
The rural drive between the Indiana and Ohio high points is only 80 miles, but it was much slower than my prior drives across Ohio on I-70. The only interesting scenery we had to distract us was the low, dark storm clouds looming on the horizon.
It was already approaching dinnertime as we neared the town of Bellefontaine. We’d started our day early enough this morning that I’d thought we’d have no problem arriving before dark. However, I’d forgotten we changed time zones today. We’d lost a precious hour at the Missouri-Indiana border this morning.
As a result, I was getting concerned that we’d be locked out and unable to visit the high point! Campbell Hill is on the campus of the Ohio Hi-Point Career. So, we were keeping our fingers crossed that the school had at least one class scheduled on Friday evening and the campus’s gates would still be open. Otherwise, we’d be moving on to plan B.
Our luck held! When we arrived at 6:02 p.m., I was relieved to discover that the gates were still wide open. All we needed to do was follow the signs to the end of the parking lot, where all the radar towers were located.
Before becoming a school, the area around Campbell Hill had several previous owners. The most notable was Charles D. Campbell, who owned the land from 1896 to 1937 and named the small rise on the property after his family name.
The U.S. Government acquired the land during the Cold War, and it served as the location of Bellefontaine Air Force Station, a NORAD ground control intercept and warning station from 1951 to 1969. Today, the National Air Defense Radar Museum (NADRM) sits on the old radar site, where historic displays of the country’s air defense mission are held.
A tall brick pillar marked the high point’s entrance, and visitors will find the high point register and some postcards in the pillar’s metal drawer. Then it’s only about 20 feet farther out to the actual high point itself.
Campbell Hill sits atop a small grassy knoll with no views to speak of. All told, it was a pretty humble high point. But it was exactly what I’d come to expect from Ohio.
The summit survey marker might be the most interesting aspect of this visit. In addition to the brass monument near most of the high points, there’s a marble stone marked with an “X.”
The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey placed the piece of marble on this spot in 1900 (while the Campbell family still owned the land), and both survey markers were set in concrete to preserve them.
During the journey to Campbell Hill, I also read that the National Air Defense Radar Museum had a display dedicated to the hobby of highpointing. But seeing that display was not in the cards for us today. The museum was already locked up for the day.
We didn’t hang out on Campbell Hill for long because of the late hour. We’d hit the road again tomorrow, hoping to grab Pennsylvania’s high point, just 300 more miles to the east.
DETAILS
When to Visit: This high point is open year-round. However, because it sits on the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center campus, the access gate may be closed in the later evenings and on Sundays. Planning your visit for Monday-Saturday, during normal business hours is best. If that’s not possible, you can call the school in advance at (937) 599-3010 to make arrangements or use the pedestrian access gate.
Getting There: Cambell Hill is located on the edge of Bellefontaine, Ohio, approximately 55 miles northeast of Columbus, Ohio. Once visitors enter the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center campus and find a parking spot, it’s just a short walk toward the top of the state. The historical marker and Campbell Hill sign are located right next to the flag pole.
Entrance Fees: None.
Parking: The Ohio Hi-Point Career Center has a paved parking lot near the administration offices and NADRM site.
Accessibility: Easy for all ages and mobility levels. A sidewalk goes out to the monument.
Bonus: Indiana’s high point (Hoosier Hill) is a mere 80 miles from Campbell Hill. As such, many highpointers nab both these meager summits in a single trip.
Resources:
- An Overview of Campbell Hill (Summit Post)
- Visit Campbell Hill (The Outbound)
- Ohio Hi-Point Career Center
- U.S. Air Defense Radar Museum (museum included some highpointing memorabilia)