Roche de Boeuf, Waterville, Ohio 1:00
The Roche de Boeuf is a limestone rock located in the Maumee River, Waterville, Ohio. The rock’s French name is derived from its resemblance to a buffalo charging upstream, or “Rock of Beef.” It was a sacred meeting site for Native Americans in the Maumee Valley and the Great Lakes region throughout history. The rock is where war chiefs met to strategize against General Mad Anthony Wayne during the American Revolutionary War. According to legend, it is also where 200 Native Americans pushed each other off the rock to drown in the Maumee River. One-third of the rock was controversially destroyed when the Ohio Electrical Railroad Bridge was constructed.
The Ohio Electric Railroad Bridge was considered a revolutionary type of construction when built in 1907, made of steel reinforced concrete and filled with earth. An electric trolley originally crossed the 1220 foot bridge made of twelve Roman aqueduct architecture spans. At the time, it was believed to be the longest railroad bridge in the world. The Lima & Toledo Railroad used the bridge in 1922 after trolleys became obsolete.