Kingsville Swamp

North Kingsville, Ashtabula County
45.4 acres

Kingsville Swamp is located one mile south of the North Kingsville Sand Barrens and is 50 feet higher than the spring heads at the Sand Barrens. The swamp is within a lowland between two beach ridges, the Lake Warren Beach Ridge on the north and the Lake Whittlesey Beach Ridge on the south. Originally the swamp covered 800 acres but gravel operations have drained the wetlands within the western sections of the swamp and mined sand and gravel. The swamp is still in good condition immediately above the North Kingsville Sand Barrens. It provides water to spring both at the Sand Barrens north of the swamp and along the Conneaut Creek valley south of the swamp. There are several plant communities within the swamp, including very large shrub swamps dominated by buttonbush, winterberry, high-bush blueberry and black chokecherry. Sphagnum moss is frequent throughout the shrub swamp. Hemlock swamps, dominated by pumpkin ash, black ash, silver maple and hemlock, are scattered along the shoreline of the shrub swamp. Five rare beetles have been found in the swamp, including a new species published in 1996 and a bombardier beetle known from only three places in Ohio. One rare bird, black-throated blue warbler, occasionally nests within hemlock-dominated areas of the swamp and two rare sedges are present in the swamp as well.