Newtown Falls in northeast Ohio boasts of its covered bridge and waterfalls. But like many small towns across the state, it has struggled to keep its main street windows full.
“This past winter, there was about six businesses that were ready to shut down. The coffee shop next door was one of them,” Tom Colosimo tells us inside his store, Fieldview Acres Mercantile, beside shelves lined with candles, jams, chocolates and cigars.
His shop was getting around 10 to 20 customers a day, and he wanted to drum up business.
So when he got the idea to host a treasure hunt from a TikTok video, he went all in.
“I was like, ‘This has to work for our town,’” he said.
He initially planned on hiding a thousand dollars and dropping hints to lure visitors to the area. But it didn’t take long for other local businesses to jump on board and contribute to the pot too. Colosimo estimates the prize now stands at some $30,000 in donated cash, jewelry, and gold and silver coins.
He says it’s been tempting enough to bring hundreds of people a day to the town – including two intrepid Ohio Newsroom reporters.
The first clues
Our day in Newton Falls started with a clue. Colosimo has released one every other Tuesday since March via dramatic videos, like this one:
He’s pretty tight-lipped about his riddle-making process, but he has set some clear ground rules for the hunt: No climbing, no digging, no trespassing.
“Don't do anything that would put you in a dangerous situation,” Colosimo said.
On that note, equipped almost exclusively with lessons from Nic Cage in National Treasure, we dissect the most recent clue.
“Two measures passed this place by different oath, though both were bound to cut the town in growth. One left its mark in stillness, fixed and known, a counted face that never moved nor roamed. The other bore a burden, not its own. Advancing west to east, yet standing numb. It touched no door, it claimed no waiting hall, yet carried weight remembered most of all. Attend the number sworn to bear the load, then set it second, after what abode. The measure sought was borne openly, and cannot be recovered from record alone.”
We think on “a counted face” for a moment. Could it be a statue? A clock?
Determined to find the time, we set off on our hunt.
The competition
That’s when we run into some competition: Lee Dowdy, who has actual real life experience to pull from. The professional treasure hunter literally fell into this vocation.
“Believe it or not, in 2015 I fell in a manhole,” Dowdy said. “I was paralyzed and I kept watching this TV show that came on about two guys flying around the world looking for artifacts … and I told that cute nurse, I was like, ‘When I get out of here, I'm gonna do this, but I'm going to be better than that.’”
He recovered. Since then, the northeast Ohio resident has unearthed valuable artifacts across the country. Now, his sights are set on Colosimo’s prize.
He’s so confident he’ll find the treasure, that he didn’t mind giving guidance to a couple of amateurs.
“Be patient, understand the maps, understand the cryptic messages,” he advised. “Just going out there on feet and just looking for it.”
Armed with this advice, we’re hot on his tail. We approached a clock tower. Its hands are fixed on 2:03, which feels important – though we don’t know why.
We searched around the town’s timekeeper. There are faded letters on the former bank's exterior. We jotted them down and then stumbled upon an old depository. Maybe, we mused, unlocking the treasure is just one key away.
We’re excited at the prospect until we notice a sign near the door: “No treasure or clues here.”
A (minor) discovery
So, that’s a bust. There are plenty of other small businesses advertising their own kinds of treasures, but we decided to make one last ditch effort to excavate the town’s mystery at the local diner.
Ashley Placer takes our order at Guns N’ Hoses Cafe. She told us we’re not the first adventurers to stop on that day. Her business was on the brink of closure, until the treasure hunt revived visitors' appetites.
“Every time there's a clue drop, we're seeing about a 109% increase in sales,” Placer said.
Most diners these days eat alongside notepads, pens and maps. She hopes customers keep coming in through July, when Colosimo expects to drop the last of his cryptic codes that lead to the treasure.
Even once this treasure is unearthed, Colosimo said it likely won’t be the last for Newton Falls.
“I'm gonna do it again the following year,” he said. “It's benefiting the community and the businesses. I might have to keep expanding to the township, maybe the surrounding towns and communities. But I want to keep it going.”
Most visitors, like us, will not leave with any cash, but Colosimo hopes they can find at least a couple hidden gems from local businesses.
In our case, we’re happy to settle for a small treasure chest – full of loaded fries.
