 
In his day, he was labeled an eccentric. Today, some of his ideas would be considered visionary. His legacy is one of the most exquisite gems in the Ohio State Park system.
John Bryan, the namesake of John Bryan State Park, was a wealthy businessman from Cincinnati who bought more than 500 acres of farms and scenic woodlands in Greene County in 1893 to craft his idyllic retreat, Riverside Farm. The "farm" encompassed the breathtakingly beautiful gorge carved by the Little Miami River and the surrounding ridges and valleys harboring majestic trees and exceptionally diverse communities of plants. John Bryan bequeathed his beloved farm to the state of Ohio upon his death to be cultivated as a forestry, botanic and wildlife reserve park and experimental station.
Though he was an accomplished inventor, poet and conservationist, John Bryan was a controversial figure whose quirky personality and unconventional views on politics and religion earned him notoriety in his lifetime. His peculiar mixture of showmanship and stewardship kept Riverside Farm in the news. He made headlines for his whimsical ambition to build the world's largest barn. With great ceremony, the cornerstone was laid in August 1897 for the four-story structure, which measured 206 feet long, 120 feet wide and 76 feet high when it was finally completed. Still not satisfied, Bryan tacked on a supersized addition a few years later.
Some of John Bryan's other goals were more practical. He was particularly fond of trees, and he enhanced the rich natural diversity of the area by planting numerous native tree species. He developed his own method for processing the plentiful limestone and marl deposits in the area so that they could be applied as a soil additive to improve the fertility of poor clay soil. He demonstrated his green thumb by treating the poorest field on his farm with the lime and planting alfalfa. The alfalfa harvest was spectacular, and the Ohio Alfalfa Growers Association was so impressed with Bryan's achievement that hundreds of association members gathered at Riverside Farm in 1914 for a convention.
One of John Bryan's last ambitions was to create a zoological preserve. Bryan brought a small herd of elk to his farm in 1917. He had also hoped to reintroduce the extirpated black bear, and stock the woods with black fox and antelope, but his plan was never completed. He died in Cincinnati in 1918. John Bryan's last will and testament granted Riverside Farm to the state of Ohio provided that no religious services be held on the property and that no wellbehaved person be excluded because of race or color.
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CCC crew.
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Shelterhouse built by the CCC.
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The state nearly forfeited its claim to the unique natural landscapes because of objections to the stipulations. The Ohio governor at the time of John Bryan's death, along with two of his successors, refused to accept Riverside Farm with the strings attached. Finally, the Ohio legislature stepped in, enacting a bill for the state's acceptance of the property in 1923. John Bryan was designated as a state forest park in 1925. Soon afterwards, an additional 161 acres adjacent to the park was granted to the state by Hugh Taylor Birch in memory of Edward O. Orton, former president of Antioch College and the first president of The Ohio State University.
Long before John Bryan first glimpsed this area, native Americans and pioneers alike admired its beauty and tapped its productivity. The prehistoric Adena Indians built their mysterious mounds here, and excellent examples of their work still survive in neighboring Glen Helen and nearby Cedarville. The prominent Shawnee village "Chillicothe" that was the birthplace of one of that nation's greatest leaders, Tecumseh, was located just five miles south of nearby Yellow Springs. Frontier hero Simon Kenton frequented the area, and both he and Daniel Boone were held prisoner at the Shawnee village.
The raw power generated by the Little Miami River as it tumbled through its narrow gorge was tapped extensively for a variety of mills that manufactured a spectrum of goods from flour, paper and woolen fabric to wooden kegs and whiskey. One textile mill built in 1806 spanned the gorge with an innovative cantilever design, offering access on both sides of the river. Eventually, 14 mills peppered the hillsides along the river as stagecoaches rumbled along the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh road above the gorge. Most of the mills were abandoned by the late 1800s and quickly fell to ruin, although the Clifton Mill in nearby Clifton has been preserved for modernday tourists. Remnants of the foundations of the other historic mills can still be seen by observant hikers, and a portion of the park's rim trail follows the old stagecoach road.
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| John Bryan made the headlines for his whimsical ambition to build the world's largest barn, which measured 206 feet long, 120 feet wide and 76 feet high when completed. |
Since John Bryan's time, the park's natural beauty and the trees he loved have remained virtually unchanged while recreational facilities have been added with care to complement the surroundings. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established a camp at the park and made numerous improvements to welcome visitors. Today, the well-built day lodge they crafted offers a unique meeting space.
John Bryan forest park and its recreational offerings became a cornerstone of the modern state park system when the Division of Parks and Recreation was created in 1949. John Bryan's immense old barn, which many considered symbolic of the man's grand ambitions, was badly deteriorated when the state park system's building boom was underway. The antiquated structure was torn down in 1967, making way for the park's 100-site campground. Construction of new facilities at the park has remained appropriately modest, but the park's natural assets have achieved the superlative status that would have made John Bryan proud. Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve was established at the northeastern edge of the park in 1972, with the north side open to the public and the south side restricted for scientific research. A few years later, the Little Miami River was designated as Ohio's first state and national scenic river, and the river gorge was named a national natural landmark.
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