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1907 Map of Defiance

Name: 1907 Topographic Map of Defiance
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1960
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1960

About this map

The confluence of the Maumee River and the Auglaize River at Defiance forms the primary geographic focus of this early twentieth-century landscape. The city is depicted as a vital transportation nexus, where the Miami and Erie Canal meets a dense network of iron rails including the Wabash Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. This infrastructure highlights the transition from nineteenth-century waterborne commerce to the peak of the industrial rail era.

To the north, the Tiffin River meanders through the townships of Springfield and Tiffin, passing through settlements like Evansport and Stryker. Numerous drainage systems such as Maddock Ditch and Tenny Ditch reveal the intensive labor required to transform the wetlands of Northwest Ohio into productive agricultural land. The map also records smaller communities like Ridgeville Corners, Jewell, and Brunersburg, providing a clear look at the region's rural distribution before modern highway expansion.