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Associated Press in The Advertiser-Tribune (Tiffin, OH)
07-15-98
TOLEDO (AP) The site of a 1794 battle that historians credit with opening Ohio and neighboring states to settlement has been put up for sale by the city.
But a developer with an option on the land doesn't plan to do anything with it until the cities of Toledo and Maumee and historians agree on what kind of preservation is warranted, The Blade reported.
The city of Toledo plans to sell 434 acres it owns in nearby Maumee.
The southern third of the land was the site of the Battle of Fallen Timbers, where Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne was credited with a major victory in post-American Revolution history.
The Isaac Group Holdings Inc., of Maumee, which owns nearby development sites, has an option to match any offer for the land including the battlefield.
Company Vice President Zac Isaac said no deal will be completed until Maumee Mayor Stephen Pauken, Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner and historians agree on the land's historical significance.
Pauken has advocated turning the 185-acre battlefield into a national historic site affiliated with the National Park Service. Finkbeiner has offered to donate 15 acres of battlefield land for a monument.
"We've told the cities that they need to resolve the use, historical significance and how much land needs to be set aside between themselves," Isaac told The Associated Press Tuesday. After historical issues are resolved, the group will determine what type of development is appropriate, he said.
Isaac said that land the company owns and plans to develop is several hundred yards from the battle site.
Five years ago, Heidelberg College archaeologist G. Michael Pratt identified the battlefield site northwest of the intersection of I-475 and the Anthony Wayne Trail in Maumee Township.
At the site, U.S. troops led by Wayne defeated a group of American Indians on Aug. 24, 1794.
University of Michigan history professor John Dann said the battle changed American history by opening up non-Indian settlement in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois.
"We in the Midwest have been brainwashed -- if it didn't happen on the East Coast, it wasn't worth considering as important," Dann said. "But from the 17th century to the end of the 19th, the cutting edge of the American experience was on the Western frontier, and for much of that time, the frontier was right here."
Finkbeiner spokeswoman Chris Skeldon said Pauken hasn't accepted Finkbeiner's offer of setting aside 15 acres for a monument.
Finkbeiner "has an obligation to the citizens of Toledo whose tax dollars have been used to purchase the land," Ms. Skeldon said. "He feels he heeds to obtain the highest reasonable price for the land."
Dann said the city should not try to put a price on history.
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