Johnson Woods State Nature Preserve

Johnson Woods is one of Ohio's largest and best remaining old-growth forests. Many trees rise 40-50 feet before the first limbs occur and several are more than 400 years old. Some are 120 feet tall with a diameter of 4 to 5 feet.   The 155-acre tract on the south side of Fox Lake Road was a gift to the Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves from Mrs. Clela Johnson and her family in memory of her late husband, Andrew C. Johnson. In addition to the gift, Mrs. Johnson sold 51 acres of adjacent old-growth woods on the north side of the road to the division. This tract was purchased with Ohio Income Tax Checkoff donations. After Jacob Conrad, Andrew Johnson's great grandfather, left France in 1823, he bought land in section 7 of Baughman Township and settled in Ohio. This property included what is now Johnson Woods. At that time, many of the trees were already 200 years old. Having sprouted before the Pilgrims came to America on the Mayflower, these trees flourished through a time when clearing the landscape was one of the most important objectives of the settler.