Putnam County, Ohio - Chapter 7: Highways and Transportation, 1915

Chapter 7: Highways and Transportation

Prior to the year 1820 the territory now embraced in Putnam county was inhabited by but few white people and by a Hmited number of Indians, a remnant of the Ottawa tribe, who made Tawa village their abode. A reservation of five miles square, consisting of nearly all of what is now Ottawa township, had been granted them, but not in perpetuity, as, by a treaty entered into in 1830, another reservation was given to them in Kansas and they were deported to that territory. However, a few of them remained in this locality and county for several years afterwards, not desiring to go to their new reservation. It was not until the years from 1831 to 1834 that emigration of any large number of people to this county occurred. During these years many settlers located along Blanchard river and other streams through the county.

In connection with the early navigation of Blanchard river it may be said that in the government surve}'s the Blanchard is designated as a navigable stream and that it is still so designated on all government charts, but no one has ever come across "the old citizen" who said that he was frequently disturbed by the blowing of the whistles of the steamboats passing up and down the river.

Early Marketing Facilities

The great problem of these earl}- settlers was the method by which they could market their limited amount of farm products and thus secure needed articles necessary for their welfare. While their surplus products were not great, they were sufficient for their limited wants. As the roads at that time were but trails along the rix-ers, which could only be traveled at certain times of the )'ear by teams drawing wagons, the "boy on horseback" was the chief master of transportation of what wheat and corn was taken to the "grinder" to be converted into flour and meal. A\^hen the trails were passable in the summer and fall, trips were made to Lower Sandusky, which at that time was an outlet to the lake, trails to Maumee or Perrysburg not then being- opened.

by way of the river to Defiance and thence by canal to Toledo. This opened navigation on the Blanchard river and a lively business was transacted by the conveyance of the surplus grain, pork, butter, eggs, etc., to Defiance. For this purpose .a small boat, called a pirogue, was used and those who possessed these crafts made tjie business quite profitable. A number of these pirougues were forty feet in length and three to four feet in breadth and would carry a great amount of grain and other products. The individuals who owned these small crafts were expert mariners and, notwithstanding the dangers lurking in the river at that time, which was filled with drift and hidden snags, comparatively few mishaps occurred to these early mariners of the Blanchard. However, now and then they "had troubles of their own," as the following incident shows, which we copy from the Defiance Doiwcrat, of April, 1852, and which refers to one of our most prominent and most worthy former citizens :

"J. P. Simon, of Putnam county, recovered a judgment of ten dollars and costs against the canal boat 'Gold Digger,' before Squire Bouton, on Wednesday, for damages done to his pirogue, through carelessness or inattention of the hands on the 'Gold Digger.' This settles the cjuestion that the Blanchard river boatmen and others with their pirougues, at our river docks, are entitled to some protection and that canal- boatmen must be more cautious."

Advent Ob' The Railroads

The opening of the I\Iad River Railroad, the first in the state, from Dayton to Sandusky City, in 1849, and the subsequent construction of a strap-iron railroad from Findlay to Carey to connect with the Mad River Railroad, gave the people of the eastern part of this county another outlet to the lakes, and the public highways being made more passable, diverted trade to Findlay, nearly all surplus products being marketed at that place.

In 1859 the Dayton & Michigan Railroad was completed through the county, and a new artery of trade established which furnished an outlet for the greater part of the county and did more than any other thing toward the development and growth of the county. This road, now known as the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton, ran its first train on July 4, 1859, ^1'°^ Lima to Toledo. The other steam roads commenced operation through the county on the following dates: Nickle Plate, July 4, 1881 ; Clover Leaf, September, 1877, from Delphos to Dupont; Northern Ohio, October, 1881 ; F^dlay, Fort Wayne & Western, fall of 1888; Kalida & Defiance, 1899; Detroit, Toledo & fronton.

The following is a statement of the mileage and valuation of the steam and electric lines operating in Putnam county, as well as of the telegraph and telephone lines :

There are some thirty local telephone companies in Putnam county. Some of these are large companies, while a few of them have only a very short stretch of wire. The following is a complete list: