RUTLAND — A watershed acts as a collection point for not only water but all the life contained within and around it - including the life of a community.

“Leading from the Past, Stories of the Leading Creek Watershed,” attempts to capture, on paper, the oral history of a community within a community — the Leading Creek Watershed. The watershed covers 150 square miles, including practically the entire Western portion of Meigs County and small portions of Gallia and Athens Counties.

Simple logic dictates where there’s water, there’s life and thus, a community. The Meigs Soil and Water Conservation District’s Leading Creek Watershed Group, comprised mostly of volunteers, set out last year to collect the history of the area by interviewing those who know it best — the residents. The project received partial funding via a grant from the Ohio Humanities Council and other private donations.

The book, unveiled at the Pomeroy Library last week, contains 19 stories detailing life in the watershed both past and present — from the days of swimming and fishing from streams, to the days of streams being polluted by strip mining, to the watershed’s more recent renaissance.

Jean Andrews, a local historian and video producer, spoke to the large audience gathered for the book’s unveiling. Andrews stressed people often don’t realize what they have until it’s gone, leaving them wishing they’d taken the time to “ask grandma what life was like” during another time in perhaps the same place; a place which has changed over the years.

Andrews stressed collecting oral histories from residents can be used to inform families and communities on how the world has changed. She added these histories “fill in the gaps of the official records...they shed light on the official history.”

Jim Freeman of MSWCD contributed several stories to the project though he said one of his favorite experiences was interviewing the late Marjorie Rice in May. Mrs. Rice, who’d lived in Meigs County most of her life, passed away in August before seeing the finished project reflected back in the pages of the book. Because of the project, Mrs. Rice’s recollections about life in the watershed are now preserved, such as her memories of strip mining in the 1950’s which turned the water of Leading Creek into the color of rust, killing the fish, including catfish.

Mrs. Rice recounts a house in the Lima community rumored to be a home used in the Underground Railroad as well as stories about a commercial cannery in the area and a tomato plant near Rutland - these tomatoes were shipped by rail to other cities. Her story closes out with a quote about her small New Lima community: “There’s not a place in the world I’d rather live.”

The watershed has made a comeback from years of environmental neglect thanks in part to locals feeling a stewardship for the area, which is what the book also attempts to transcribe and foster. Copies of the book are being donated to area libraries and schools as well as other organizations. Due to the grant funding, copies are free to all while supplies last and can be found by calling the MSWCD at 992-4282. After January 2011, the books can be purchased from Lulu Publishing.