September Speaker Takes a Fresh Look at the Lost Clinton Airline Railroad

Hudson Heritage Association will launch its 2024-2025 programming year on September 12 when it hosts Joseph D. Fenicle, Program Director and Professor at the University of Akron’s Surveying/Mapping Program, to take a fresh look at the historic Clinton Airline Railroad using aerial lidar data. Aerial lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) is being used by the U.S. Geological Survey to map the United States and all its territories.  The technology has revealed new information about Hudson’s abandoned railway line, as well as new discoveries in nearby Cuyahoga Valley NationalPark.

Chartered and organized in 1852, the Clinton Airline Railroad was proposed as one of the country’s first transcontinental railroads, conceived to run from the Pennsylvania state line to Rapid City, Iowa.  Hudson resident Henry Noble Day was named its president and convinced many fellow Hudsonites to invest in the project.  Although land was acquired and the railbed was laid out, the project never came to fruition and many individuals lost large investments when it went bankrupt just a few years later.  Despite the fact that tracks were never laid, some work did take place, including the construction of two notable stone arches that crossed creek beds in Hudson.  Both of those arches can still be found in Hudson today.

In addition to his work at the University of Akron, Joseph Fenicle runs a business specializing in continuing professional development for land surveyors across the nation and also operates a local surveying business – Hudson Land Surveying.  He received his AAS in GIS/GPS from Hocking Technical College, a BS in Surveying/Mapping from the University of Akron, an MS in Engineering Technology from the University of Maine and is currently pursuing his Doctorate as he researches the astronomical observations and survey history of the Loomis Observatory. He resides in Hudson with his wife and three boys. The September 12 program, which begins at 7:00 p.m. at the Barlow Community Center, is free and open to the public. Attendees should note this is a new, earlier start time for HHA programs. Refreshments will be served following the presentation.