The Maumee River Valley - NW Ohio

Built by General "Mad" Anthony Wayne

Last Sunday, I took advantage of a beautiful, mild, autumn day and took a roadtrip along the Maumee River. The Maumee flows northeast from the Ft. Wayne, IN area and dumps into Lake Erie at Toledo. My trip started in Defiance, OH where I traveled along the north side of the river through the towns of Independence, Florida, Napoleon and the ghost town of Providence. (A separate post on Providence is below.) At Providence, I crossed the river to the south side to the town of Grand Rapids.


Defiance, OH - Built up around the former Ft. Defiance, which was built during the Indian Wars of 1790-1795. At the confluence of the Maumee and Auglaize Rivers.

Marker on a bluff above the confluence

Site of Ft. Defiance

Independence, OH - small river town just east of Defiance on Rte. 424

Independence Dam State Park

Picnic shelter built by the Mexican Yes-Men

Florida, OH - East of Independence on Rte 424

Florida Public Library

Napoleon, OH - Home of the largest Campbell Soup plant in the world.

Hobbits in Napoleon?

Ritter Park

The shimmering Maumee

Henry County Courthouse

Grand Rapids, OH - Historic canal town that is now a tourist town with galleries, arts and crafts stores, etc.

Grand Rapids Town Hall

Downtown Grand Rapids

LaRoe's Bar and Restaurant

My meal of baked chicken, salad, honeydew melon and a 7&7 to wash it down

Every village needs an apothecary

The Isaac Ludwig Mill, looking across the river from Grand Rapids.