Tourist Cabins in Waterville by Randy Studer
Lytle Cabins on River Road
A while back at the Waterville Historical Archives we received some film negatives from a donor. One of them showed an image of early tourist cabins on River Road. After some discussion we realized that we needed to find out more about the tourist cabins on River Road.
The times were changing in Waterville from the mid 1920’s and into 1940’s, with more people starting to drive automobiles and trucks. Transportation as everyone knew it to be was nearing an end. The Miami and Erie Canal was abandoned and finally drained on July 4th, 1929. The “Pumpkin Vine” line was gone in May of 1910. The Ohio Electric Railway went bankrupt in 1921 and was reorganized as the Cincinnati & Lake Erie Electric Railway which lasted until 1939. The Toledo, St Louis & Western Railroad (Clover Leaf) later became a part of New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad. (Nickel Plate) quit hauling passengers. Then after that the Nickel Plate line from Toledo to Fort Wayne was abandoned ca. 1964.
Lastly, River Road (aka Toledo-Napoleon Road) was the main route going north and south by automobile and trucks. When long distance traveling motorists using River Road needed to stop for the night, they could not stop into the Holiday Inn Express in Waterville, Ohio, get a room for the night and have a free breakfast the next morning. At that time most overnight accommodations were limited to big city hotels, tourist homes, and family-owned tourist cabins located beside the road. In Waterville we had one such place, Lytle’s Modern Cabins on North River Road. From the information we have, Florence Lytle, had four modern cabins built, 2 one bedroom and 2 two bedroom cabins. This became Lytle’s Modern Cabins. They advertised a private shower and bath and innerspring mattresses. We believe they were built in 1940.
In 1944, Gayle and Kathleen Griffith bought the cabins and property from Florence Lytle. It made a nice extra income for them renting the cabins out. The old Miami and Erie Canal bed was being filled in for the new Route 24. In 1951, the final portion of the canal bed starting at Mechanic Street was filled in and a new road was built up to the River Road intersection going south. This became known as Anthony Wayne Trail (Route 24) going though Waterville. Through this progression the River Road was no longer the main highway and the cabin rental business dwindled. Kathleen would rent them out by the week to people who worked in the area and needed a temporary place to stay. As far as we know they were still in operation in 1956. In looking at an aerial photo the cabins were still there in 1963. From what we understand three of the cabins were torn down and one of them was made into a garage, but we don’t know when. When traveling around the area you can still see some roadside tourist cabins still standing. Some were located and operated by gas stations and Mom & Pop grocery stores. In 2019, you can still find tourist cabins for rent from the 1930’s-1940’s, along with new tourist cabins that were built for the weary traveler across America.