What is the significance of the stone landscaping in Dublin, Ohio?

Question

I noticed that there are many stone walls with the stones sticking up along the roads of Dublin Ohio. Is there any history behind this? Best answer goes to those can can find me actual proof or research articles on this. Thanks!

Answer 1

They're called "dry stone fences" or "dry limestone fences" and they're all over Ireland, England and Scotland. They were used to mark property lines and land ownership. Not only can you find them in Dublin, Ohio, but all over the U.S. where English/Irish/Scottish settlers lived. When labor was cheap they went up all over the country. When it became expensive, only wealthy landowners could afford to put them up. I know that in PA, we have tiny little stacked walls all over the place where landowners dug up their property and needed a use for the rock they were hitting. No where near as impressive, these squat little walls are still an amazing feat.

Unfortunately there's way more historical info on Kentucky and Tennessee. More often Ohio articles just mention their stone walls without much background - almost every article and website on Ohio repeats the same information:

"Early 19th century architecture and dry limestone fences bordering its roads add to Historic Dublin's heritage. Many of its original buildings are listed in the National Register of Historical Places."

In any case here are a bunch of websites and pdf files that discuss this interesting craft.