Roche de Boeuf

This ancient limestone outcropping in the Maumee River has a long history.

Before the area was settled, it was used by the Miami, Shawnee, Lenape and their allies as a location for councils. Little Turtle, Blue Jacket, Tarhe the Crane and other war chiefs gathered at the site before they met their end against General "Mad" Anthony Wayne in the Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20, 1794, a pivotal battle for the settlement of the Northwest Territory. Later, an early French settlement in the area gave it the name Roche de Boeuf, or 'Roche de Bout".

In 1907 a third of the rock was destroyed during construction of the Ohio Electric Railroad Bridge, or 'Interurban Bridge', which now runs above it. The concrete-reinforced, earth filled Roman aqueduct style bridge was at one time the largest bridge of it's kind, and was the midpoint of a commuter train line connecting Toledo to parts of southern Wood County. However, a mere thirty years after it opened, because of the growing popularity of automobiles, the railway went out of business and the bridge was abandoned.

Today, the landmark serves as the north-easternmost part of Farnsworth Metropark, where it is a short walk away from a public shelterhouse, picnic area, and an eight-mile 'towpath trail' through the Historic Miami-Erie Canal Lands.