1909 Map of Defiance

About this map

The confluence of the Maumee River and the Auglaize River anchors this 1906–1907 survey of Northwest Ohio, where the industrial and transport hub of Defiance sits at the water's edge. The map captures a critical transition in American infrastructure, documenting the surviving path of the Miami and Erie Canal alongside a dense network of competing rail lines, including the Wabash RR and the interurban Toledo and Indiana Electric Ry. North of the river, the landscape is defined by the winding course of the Tiffin River, which passes near the settlement of Evansport. Smaller communities like Ridgeville Corners and Jewell are depicted during a period of agricultural growth, linked by early roads that follow the section lines across Fulton and Defiance counties.