The Chagrin River is located in Northeast Ohio.[1] The river has two branches, the Aurora Branch and East Branch. Of three hypotheses as to the origin of the name, the most probable is that it is a corruption of the name of a Frenchman, Sieur de Seguin, who established a trading post on the river ca. 1742.[2][3][4] The Chagrin River runs through suburban areas of Greater Cleveland in Cuyahoga, Geauga, and Portage counties, transects two Cleveland Metroparks reservations, and then meanders into nearby Lake County before emptying into Lake Erie.
The Aurora Branch begins in northwest Portage County, flowing northwest through Aurora and portions of Geauga and Cuyahoga Counties, intersecting the main branch west of Chagrin Falls.[6]
The Chagrin River was designated as a state scenic river in 1979.
The lowest visible bedrock is Chagrin shale. Named for the river and easily found in the river valley. Chagrin shale is blue gray in color, an offshore alluvial, silt shale of the Devonian period. This layer is found below about 800 feet (240 m) msl.
The next layer is Cleveland shale. This is a black shale that is an important source of local fossils. Cleveland Shale is found in the Chagrin River valley between 800 and 900 feet (270 m) msl.
Bedford Shale is found above the Cleveland Shale layer. This material marks the uncertain transition between the Devonian and Pennsylvanian periods in the region and is also an important source of local fossils. This layer is found in the ravines that carry tributaries of the Chagrin River. Bedford shale is a sand shale and is characterized by its roughly 90° cleavage pattern. Pieces of Bedford shale can look as if they were cut by human hands and are found up to about 950 feet (290 m) msl.
Berea sandstone is found from around 950 feet (290 m) msl to roughly 1,070 feet (330 m) msl. Berea sandstone is an important local building material. In the nineteenth century it was quarried from the base of Gildersleeve Mountain (in the East Branch watershed). This material was used to build Kirtland Temple and other local structures. Berea sandstone is still used as a local building material
Hiking is popular in many areas along the Chagrin River.[7] Some areas are also popular for fishing: ESPN Outdoors recommends the Chagrin River for fishing,[8] especially for finding steelhead. The Daniels Park Dam, a small lowhead dam, was their favorite spot. On December 31, 2004, the Daniels Park Dam failed due to excess pressure from ice and water.[9]
In 2007, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency were notified that, in violation of both state law and Federal Regulations, 8,700 feet (2,700 m) of the East Branch of the river was channelized and diked to prevent flooding on agricultural land owned by the Village of Kirtland Hills.[11] This activity was conducted by local developer Jerome T. Osborne Sr., who leased the land from the village. Both the village and Osborne were cited for the activity, which threatened the riparian floodplains and increased the likelihood and severity of downstream flooding in the communities of Willoughby and Eastlake. In 2012, the Ohio Attorney General's Office under Mike DeWine sued Osborne's company for failing to obtain the proper permits.[12] In 2016, Lake County Commons Pleas Judge Richard L. Collins Jr. ordered the now-late Osborne estate to pay a civil penalty of $404,240 plus interest to the Ohio State treasury.[13] The Ohio Department of Natural Resources later dedicated $2.2 million to the restoration of the East Branch, which is ongoing as of 2024.[14]
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