Black Hand Gorge is a rugged river gorge in Licking County, Ohio. This four-mile stretch of sandstone cliffs along the Licking River creates a natural barrier across the landscape. Early explorers to the area discovered a petroglyph (rock carving) of a human hand on the face of one of these cliffs. The hand was about twice the size of a man's hand and black in color, from which the gorge takes its name. Three major forms of historic transportation blasted their way through the gorge. The Ohio & Erie Canal came through the gorge in 1826, the railroad in 1850 and the electric interurban railway in 1903. This book contains dozens of fascinating vintage images, some taken from old glass negatives. The area is now a State Nature Preserve.