This site is dedicated to Dominick Labino, 1910-1987, glass scientist, engineer, artist, and inventor. Credited with 57 patents, Mr. Labino invented pure silica fiber which was used in insulating tiles covering the space shuttle Columbia and the Apollo, Mercury, and Gemini spacecraft. As a glass artist, Labino was co-founder of the studio glass movement in America. His art works are in over 60 museums in the U.S. and abroad, and his architectural elements of hot cast panels are in many public buildings. His forte was original formulation of glass of high quality, durability, and unusual color effects. A resident of Grand Rapids since 1956, he was a benefactor and warm friend to the village.

Located on Route 65 by the bridge that crosses the Maumee River

This site, at the head of the Great Rapids of the Maumee, has been a major river crossing for centuries. The village was platted in 1833 as Gilead but was overshadowed by rival Providence during the canal era. In 1868 the name Grand Rapids was adopted, and the town prospered with the arrival of the railroad in 1877. Fires ravished the village in the late 1890s and spring floods have remained a threat. Restoration of the Victorian architecture began in 1975 and has helped revitalize this village along the historic Maumee.   

Located on Route 65 by the Welcome Cabin near the Railway Bridge

Thomas Howard, aged 66, a Revolutionary War veteran, arrived at the head of the great rapids of the Maumee from New York State in 1822. Three cabins were erected for his family and the families of his two sons Edward and Robert. The first death in this settlement was Thomas Howard in 1825; and this plot, then a wooded bluff on a sharp ravine, was chosen as a burial place. Other Howards were buried here, and in 1850, Tee-na-Beek, a family friend and one of the last of the Ottawa Indians in this area, was laid to rest in a corner of the family cemetery. WPA workers leveled the ground and relocated many graves in 1938. The Howard Cemetery is now owned and maintained by the Village of Grand Rapids.   

Located at the corner of Route 65 and Wapakoneta Rd across the street from the Welcome Cabin

On this site in 1848, the Presbyterians and Methodists entered into a situation unique to Gilean, as Grand Rapids was then known, by jointly constructing a frame church for worship. James Purdy, grantor, sold the lot for five dollars for religious purposes thereby authorizing either denomination to sell to the other. Proceeds were to be used to build another church. This ecumenical arrangement continued until 1880 when the Methodists sold their interest in the building to the Presbyterians in order to build a new church. The Presbyterians, whose charter included eleven members when they first organized at Guyer's schoolhouse on September 18, 1848, built a new church here in 1928. One addition to the current building was made in 1961.

Located in front of the First Presbyterian Church, at 17700 Beaver St on corner of Second St    

The town of Providence was born, thrived and died with the Miami & Erie Canal. It was platted in 1835 by French trader Peter Manor, swept by fire in 1846, ravaged by cholera in 1854, and finally unincorporated in 1928. Today, only the Irish builders' St. Patrick's Church (1845), the oldest in the Toledo Diocese; the cemetery; and Peter Manor's house (1845) remain. The Providence Dam, built in 1838 to create a water supply for the canal's remaining 25 miles to Toledo, was rebuilt in 1908. Peter Manor's mill stands downstream one-half mile at Canal Lock #9, where it was built in 1822, rebuilt in 1846, and operates today as the Isaac Ludwig Historic Mill. The National Historic Register of Historic Places listed this district in 1975, the mill in 1974.   

Located on River Rd (old Route 24) west of Grand Rapids about 1 mile from Canal lock 9

Fr. Amadeus Rappe, Pastor of St. Francis de Sales, Toledo, and Mission Pastor of all Northwest Ohio, supervised the building of this church in 1845. Peter Manor donated the land, 40,000 bricks, and 5,000 ft. of black walnut lumber for this church. Parishioners donated all other materials and labor, plus their heartfelt prayers. Through the grace of God this little church stands today, the oldest in continuous use in the Toledo Diocese. It survived the town fire of 1846 and the cholera plague of the 1850's that eventually caused the demise of Providence, Ohio. The 150th Yr. Celebration - 1995 

Located on the front of St. Patrick's Church, 14010 Old US 24, just west of Grand Rapids