Editor’s note: First in an occasional series. Have a question about an
unusual Wood County name?
Email queries to [email protected].
There is often a rich history behind the names of various places including roads and other landmarks.
Some are more interesting than others. Here is a look at some local names that spur the question, “Why
is it called that?”
DEVIL’S HOLE ROAD
Probably no other local name stirs up more interest than Devil’s Hole Road, which runs east and west
north of Bowling Green. The Wood County Engineer’s office shows the name spelled various ways with no
official clarification, though county maps list it as Devils Hole Road and some listings call it simply
Devil Hole Road.
Research revealed some interesting things about the road, primarily through the use of the Prairie
Scrapbook of 1909, which contained information gathered by Charles Evers. The book was written and
compiled by his daughter Mary Evers-Ross.
Within the confines of the area known as The Great Black Swamp, then-Gen. William Henry Harrison was
leading an expedition of his troops from Sandusky to Fort Meigs in Perrysburg. They were stopped in
their tracks by an area deemed impassable. Harrison sent out a scout to survey the area.
The Evers-Ross book phrased it that the scout “became entangled in the man-trap and only after a day’s
persistent effort did he find success to the trail back.”
When interrogated as to his whereabouts, the scout reportedly said he had been lost in the Devil’s Hole
asserting that he had truly disappeared into the home of Satan.
The area later became knows as the Devils Hole Prairie.
Over the centuries various tales and lore have been shared regarding the area including bizarre
happenings and disappearances in the area. The biggest documented disappearance, however, are the road
signs erected by the county that disappear from their intended posts and mysteriously find their way to
dorm rooms and other domiciles.
To help identify the road, people have painted the name on bridge culverts near intersections. Throughout
the years, there only have been a few signs dotting the road, and according to the sign department at
the county’s highway garage, they have not made any replacement signs for the road in many years. The
only Devils Hole Road sign seen on a recent drive down the entire length of road is at Devils Hole and
Carter roads.
Interestingly, they also no longer make Holcomb Road signs, undoubtedly due to the legends of Holcomb
Woods. But that is a ghost story for another time.
BOWLING GREEN
Most “townies” of Bowling Green have heard how the Ohio city was named after the city by the same name in
Warren County, Kentucky.
What many don’t realize is the casual way it came about. While there had been meetings and discussions,
the actual naming just happened.
According to the Prairie Scrapbook, the name was first used for the now Wood County city by Joseph
Gordon, a mail carrier of the pioneer days. At 17, in 1801 he began carrying mail on horseback from
Russellville, Kentucky, through Bowling Green, Kentucky, to Glasgow, a distance of 85 miles once in two
weeks. He later carried for different routes until 1823 he when commenced on the route between
Bellefontaine and Perrysburg — a distance of 81 miles through a wilderness.
When the time came to have a post office in this community, the central point of the community was the
cabin of a man named Jacob Stouffer. When his son-in-law Henry Walker and Stouffer sought to name the
community, Gordon had made one of his stops at Stouffer’s. It was time to file the name for the post
office and thus what has become the city, and the people had not yet agreed on a name.
The book reads, “The old mail carrier who stood on the cabin steps listening to the discussion said to
Stouffer, half jestingly, ‘if you will give me a tumbler of cider, I’ll give you just the name.’”
Accordingly Stouffer filled a glass with cider and handed it to Gordon. The postal carrier said the name
would suggest the landscape and be appropriate for the area. The book indicates Gordon said, “With a
sweep of his arm, ‘Here’s to the new post office of Bowling Green.’”
Gordon swallowed the cider and was preparing to mount his horse and depart. The villagers detained him
long enough for them to write a name on the petition for the post office and indeed it was as he
suggested.
The papers were folded and then sent on their way to Perrysburg, at that time the county seat, and
finally to Washington. The office was established March 12, 1834.
MAUMEE RIVER
The Maumee River originally was named Miami of the Lakes, distinguishing it from the other Miami River in
Ohio that empties into the Ohio River.
Primarily the French settlers of the area, along with the Native Americans who resided near the river,
tended to pronounce the name Me-Ah-Me. The various dialects and pronunciations morphed into the modern
pronunciation which resulted in the name change to Maumee.
