Tag: Transportation
Before the canal, Auglaize County’s trade crawled by river. The Miami & Erie Canal changed everything—linking towns like St. Mary’s and New Bremen to national markets, fueling mills, factories, and breweries, and transforming isolated settlements into industrial hubs.
Long before canals or roads, portages shaped the future of Mercer and Auglaize counties. This article traces how short land routes between rivers—especially the Loramie Portage—defined trade, war, and settlement. Drawing from Knapp’s 1873 History of the Maumee Valley, it shows how geography guided forts, treaties, and canal routes, forming the backbone of Northwestern Ohio’s early development.
Long before familiar towpaths crisscrossed the landscape, before the first shovel ever broke ground for what would ultimately become Grand Lake St. Marys, and indeed, even before Auglaize County emerged as a distinct political entity, a monumental vision was taking shape in Ohio’s state capital. This vision would forever etch its mark upon our region. […]
