The Area’s First Business - Peter Loramie’s Trading Post
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| Replica of Peter Loramie’s First Trading Post 1769 |
The last several blog posts about area businesses included a photo of Minster’s welcoming sign that stated the village is located along an old Indian Trail that linked the Loramie Creek to the St. Mary’s river. In order for the Indians to travel by canoe between Lake Erie and the Ohio River, they had to portage for about 10 miles carrying their canoes between those rivers from what is now Ft. Loramie to New Bremen likely along the well worn trail that eventually became State Route 66. According to this website, Peter Loramie came to the area as a missionary to the Wyandotte and Shawnee Indians about 1769. Shortly after he arrived, Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Jesuit order of which he was a priest, and Loramie was out of the missionary business thousands of miles from his home base. He became a trader with the Indians and built his now famous trading post on the high north bank of Loramie Creek where the stream reaches its northern most point of navigability by canoe before it turns east. See the photo above of a replica of the trading post. So Peter Loramie literally was the area’s first business man - and no, I do not remember him, but based on the photo below, my uncle Tony might have!
By the early 1800’s, as more and more European settlers came to the area, the idea for a canal linking the Ohio River and Lake Erie surfaced. That canal, started in 1836 and completed by 1845, served the area until the railroads took over after the turn of the century. The Loramie Creek was dammed to form Lake Loramie as a water supply for the canal going south, just as Lake St. Mary’s was created to provide water for the canal going north. The historic sign below is located adjacent to the replica of Peter Loramie’s trading post in a Ft. Loramie park where the old canal used to flow.
Fast forward to growing up in mid-western Ohio during the 50’s and 60’s, the canal flowed right through the center of every town along its path. By that time, the canal really served no useful purpose, but it was still a prominent landmark in each community, along with the viaducts and locks along the old Indian Trail. As kids we played around and in the canal, and loved pretending to be Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn as if the canal were the Mississippi River. We also enjoyed playing around the spillway, pictured below, at Lake Loramie. The fishing was always pretty good just downstream of the dam. And the rushing water made for fun wading, always feeling cool and refreshing on hot summer days.
One of the bridges across the canal was called Black Bridge and was situated right where Arrowhead golf course was eventually built. I recall when about 8 years old, my buddy Tom and I were riding our bikes nearby when we noticed two kids run out from under the bridge hightailing it north to Minster on their bikes. So we slipped under the bridge to check out what they were up to. We discovered tucked in one of the bridge joists a Playboy magazine, our first exposure to such materials! I vividly recall this picture of …. but I digress.
Eventually Ft. Loramie filled in the canal and removed the bridges across the canal, and then built a nice park in its spot as shown below with the trading post replica in the background. The oversized yellow Adirondack chair inscribed Leinie’s Lounger, is sponsored by Leinenkugel Beer.
On the other hand, Minster and New Bremen followed another tact by restoring the canal so people can get a sense for its impact on the region as they walk or bike along the canal banks as pictured below.
Click on this informative link by the Ohio DNR to learn more about the Miami-Erie Canal and to enjoy the many amenities along its historic route. The following elevation chart from their website demonstrates the challenges in building the canal. And next week, look for more canal stories.
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