MOUNT VERNON -- One of the historic landmarks of Mount Vernon is Mound View Cemetery, and one of the historic landmarks of the cemetery is the old water tower.

BRANDON -- When the congregation of Brandon Baptist Church got together recently to strip the old wallpaper off the walls of the sanctuary, it found some precious treasures.

FREDERICKTOWN -- Long ago, in the late 19th century, the Pinkley School -- on Pinkley Road between Fredericktown and Batemantown -- became the setting where many Knox County children learned reading, writing and arithmetic. But what few know now is that the school building, still mostly intact, now resides inside a barn, living out its second incarnation as a hayloft.

DANVILLE -- The North Bend Church of the Brethren, built near Danville on Orange Hill Road in 1870, is full of history. Literally.

BLADENSBURG -- The small but stately Bladensburg Presbyterian Church is closed now, its last service held on Sunday, July 16, 2005.

NORTH LIBERTY -- Pike Township has some fine hills, and, despite their steep grades, most are used for cropland and pasture.

BUTLER TOWNSHIP -- The Kokosing River winds far below a high bank dotted with hemlock trees and huge, moss-covered boulders into which people have carved their names.

MOUNT LIBERTY -- Liberty Township was settled in 1805 by pioneers from Pennsylvania, was established as a township in 1822, and was reported to be a wild and dangerous place by some. Hill's "History of Knox County, Ohio,"written in 1881, mentions one Lewis Bricker Sr. of Green County, Pa., who wanted to establish farms in Liberty Township for himself and his entire family. He purchased 1,600 acres, and in 1810 sent relatives on ahead.

GREER -- No one knows for sure how the Devil's Backbone got its name, but volunteer naturalist David Greer, who lives near the town that shares his name, speculates it's because the high ridge is quite narrow and the path atop it a little crooked and bumpy.

MOUNT VERNON -- "If you put up your umbrella while you're up here, you'll land in the Kmart parking lot,"said Carole Wagner, coordinator of marketing and community relations at Knox Community Hospital.

CENTERBURG -- The view from the roof of the old three-story Centerburg High School, on the corner of Preston and Union streets, is impressive.

MOUNT VERNON --On a frigid, blustery March day, Charlie Griffith, clad in insulated Carhartts, led visitors through a snowstorm to the top of Rich Hill ... the actual hill, not the village that bears the same name. Griffith and his wife, Anne, own the hill, and the farm below it.

DANVILLE -- The gothic-styled St. Luke Catholic Church was constructed in 1895 and since then has been a Danville landmark. The church's steeple rises high into the air, the cross at its top at 120 feet.

BRINKHAVEN -- In 1993, the Mohican Valley Trail had only one insurmountable obstacle: The Mohican River. An old, defunct Penn Central railroad bridge crossed the river, surrounded by woods and across U.S. 62 from the village of Brinkhaven.

MOUNT VERNON -- When people attend funerals at Dowds-Snyder Funeral Home, 201 Newark Road, they often ask the funeral directors, "What's up there?"or "Can we go up there?"indicating the curving chestnut and walnut staircase that leads all the way up to the fourth floor and the belvedere atop the historic house.

JELLOWAY -- Most Knox Countians know of Dutch Hill, south of the village of Jelloway on Ohio 3. What they may not know is how it got its name.

MOUNT VERNON -- Belvederes perch atop some of the historic houses of Knox County, and the former Hannah Browning Home for the Aged -- now the Christian Star Academy -- on the corner of East Sugar and North Gay streets has a fine example.

HOWARD -- Locals call it "the old red mill,"but until the 1970s it was the Howard Elevator, where customers walked in the front door, off U.S. 36, and trains and wagons pulled up at the back door to pick up and deliver grain and feed. Built into a hillside, the four-story building is the tallest structure in Howard, but visitors only discover that when they walk around back.

LIBERTY TOWNSHIP -- The highest point in Knox County -- 1,426 feet in elevation -- lies near the right angle made by the intersection of New Delaware and Tucker roads, on private property.

MOUNT VERNON -- The courthouse clock on East High Street in Mount Vernon is the county's visual representative, the icon of the city. Its single bell was made by Vanduzen and Tift Bell Co., Cincinnati. The courthouse, built in 1854, is actually the fourth version, the previous buildings having been removed or damaged by severe weather.

MOUNT VERNON -- Ninety-five feet above East High Street, the old weather vane marks the highest point of the Memorial Theater. It stands atop the original oxydized-green copper roof of the cupola, with its 20-paned arched windows that give a bird's-eye view of most of Mount Vernon.

MOUNT VERNON -- The twin-towered St. Paul's Episcopal Church is the oldest church building in Mount Vernon. The property on which it stands, on the corner of East High and North Gay streets, was purchased in 1830 for $200, and the first annual congregational meeting was held that year.

MOUNT VERNON -- Jason Frazer, building manager at Gay Street United Methodist Church, led the way to the church's 85-foot-tall bell tower, which dates from 1927. The tour begins on a stairway, but quickly becomes a ladder-climbing adventure.

MOUNT VERNON -- Knox County has no lack of historic buildings, especially churches. In the quest for the highest places in the county, many churches qualify because, traditionally, they are built with steeples or bell towers, built high so the bell tones would carry as far as possible.

GAMBIER -- Peirce Hall, the tallest building on the campus of Kenyon College, rises 100 feet above The Hill, its tall tower an impressive sight above the trees.