History Along the Maumee: A Driving Tour from Toledo to Grand Rapids
Driving Tour
Driving Tour
180 mins
55.1mi
About the Tour
About the Tour
The history of Northwest Ohio is interwoven with threads of myth, legend and folklore that come together along the banks of the Maumee River. Follow them with me as we travel from downtown Toledo to Grand Rapids and back on a journey that shows off the magnificent beauty of the Maumee Valley – and might also reshape your understanding of both the past and present.
Our tour takes in...
• Toledo's Middlegrounds
• Tecumseh's encounter with General Proctor at Fort Miami
• Dudley's Massacre
• The House of Four Pillars
• Roche de Bout
• Two ghost towns and a few ghost stories
• Nazareth Hall
• A story from a soldier at Fort Meigs
• Toledo's Gold Coast
We’ve built this tour around a 3-hour window but some say they enjoy taking the better part of a day to enjoy the tour and leave time for exploring many of the tour locations. There are plenty of delightful places to stop and eat while your touring – or, if you prefer, you can pack a basket and enjoy a riverside picnic in one of the many parks we'll come across along the way. Whether you are here for a visit or you've lived here all your life, you'll leave this tour with a unique understanding of Northwest Ohio and a great appreciation for the appealing charm of the Maumee Valley.
PLEASE NOTE: There is currently significant construction in downtown Toledo and in the Rossford area. We've made adjustments to the tour to accommodate for detours.
Audio engineering by Amadeus Audio Productions.
Voice dramatizations by Youseff Baddar.
Tour Producer
Tour Producer
Tedd Long
Welcome to Northwest Ohio! I'm Tedd Long, writer and curator of www.holytoledohistory.com. I love introducing guests to my favorite local history stories and showing off the Maumee Valley. I also enjoy hearing people who have lived here all their life say things like, "Gee, I didn't know that!" or "I never knew that was here!" Plus, I'm known for never missing a good meal so I'll make sure to pass along where to catch a delicious bite to eat or enjoy a relaxing drink while we're out and about. Whether we're walking or driving—I have so much to share! Let's go...
Map
Major Landmarks
Major Landmarks
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The Oliver House
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Walbridge Park
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Fort Miami
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Fallen Timbers
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Grand Rapids
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Weir Rapids
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Fort Meigs
Directions to Starting Point
Directions to Starting Point
Our tour usually begins on Water Street in downtown Toledo behind Fort Industry Square but because of construction, we've temporarily moved it to Ottawa Street in front of the Owens Corning HQ building. From Summit Street, turn east on Washington and cross the blue truss bridge over Swan Creek. Turn right and pull over after you cross the bridge and we'll start the tour.
Tips
Tips
Places to stop along the way
Looking for a casual place to dine along the tour? My favorites in downtown Toledo include Grumpy's on Huron and Original Sub & Deli on Broadway. In Maumee, there's Dale's and the Village Idiot on Conant. Want to stop in Grand Rapids? I'd suggest LaRoe's Restaurant or Knuckleheads Kafe. Swig in Perrysburg and Moe's in Rossford are also top "go-to" choices of mine. You can't go wrong at any of these places.
Best time of day
Traffic is generally not an issue along the tour, but it can be a problem getting to and from the tour route during peak commuting hours. On work days, it is best to begin after 10 a.m. and conclude before 4 p.m. Traffic is light after 6 p.m. but be sure you will have enough daylight to see the sights.
Precautions
Please obey the rules of the road and drive safely. Always make sure your vehicle is out of the way of traffic when pulling over for tour presentations. All of the roads used are public and traffic on some can be fairly heavy. Use caution, especially when pulling into traffic or slowing for a stop. Obey all posted speed limits and traffic regulations. Distracted driving is dangerous,
If you exceed posted speed limits, you may bypass VoiceMap directions and information.
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Enjoyed the tour, May 25, 2021. Lots to learn and absorb. Beautiful sites. And sights.
It should be noted the Miami St entrance to the Docks is open. And the construction/detour around the Waterville Bridge on the Wood County side is completed. There is currently no construction implicating the tour except Fort Industry.
There are a handful of points of interest where commentary would’ve been nice that there is no real “stop”, just to keep driving. Especially coming north out of Grand Rapids like the Presby Mission point.
Some commentary regarding the longer stretches of quiet would’ve been nice too - like between Waterville and Providence. It’s a long quiet stretch.
Took us five hours to complete, with a lunch stop at Shawn’s in Waterville, and we got out a walked around a bit at a handful of points.
Glad to hear you enjoyed the tour. Great feedback, Kyle! Thanks for sharing. We'll be updating the tour this week to remove the route edits we had to implement thanks to ODOT. Hopefully, this will be a quiet touring season and folks will be able to enjoy the History Along the Maumee as it was originally written. I'll also be adding new content for the "quiet period" on Route 24 and a new conclusion. Stay tuned!
Thanks again!
Excellent tour, loved learning about the history. Highly recommend.
Thank you! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the tour! - Tedd
Loved the tour but end is anticlimactic. Could you end with some poetry or music originated in Toledo? Or maybe some Toledo famous moments with Jamie Farr, or contributing glass artists to see at museum, etc. Overall I still give you an A-, thanks for sharing your talents.
I agree with your comment, Anonymous Explorer—it is a bit anti-climatic. Unfortunately, we had to revise the tour ending after the city of Toledo closed down the back entrance to the docks during the COVID-19 pandemic. We had a wonderful conclusion overlooking the Maumee and downtown. Maybe we'll get back access soon and we can update the ending. Stay tuned. Thanks!
You might want to re-download the tour and get back out after June 1st. Now that the detours have been removed, I've updated the tour and added a conclusion that is much more appropriate. Enjoy!
Thoroughly enjoyed it! Learned so much that we were unaware of and we’ve lived in Toledo for 38 years.
Awesome tour. Enjoyed it very much and really learned a lot about Toledo and surrounding towns we visited. Will definitely pass the word around about this tour. Thanks so much!!
Patsy & Dale
Fantastic tour! Being a Toledoan my whole life, I’ve never taken the time to learn about our plethora of historical sites, so this was fascinating. And the route was excellent — there’s beautiful parks to explore at every other stop. Highly recommend!
Wonderful and Educational Tour. My wife and I did it for our 39th wedding anniversary.
It is 3 hours of driving if you just stop and listed to the audio information. But if you get out and further explore the site, it takes longer. We did it over 3 days so we could explore many of the historic sites. We would highly recommend this tour. Thank you Ted for your work in putting this audio tour together. Steve S.
If you've driven this route and wondered, "Why is that over there?" Or, "How did that get here?" Or, "What did this look like before?" This tour tells you. You won't ever be bored while driving it again. You have seen its past.