The War of 1812 permanently secured the area for the United States, and Maumee was founded in 1817 by William Oliver, a former scout and officer at nearby Fort Meigs. A blockhouse and stockade of the fort can be seen from the old canal towpath. By the mid-1800s the Miami and Erie Canal had made Maumee a center of trade and commerce. The locks that connected the Maumee River and the canal can be seen in Side Cut Metropark; (419) 407-9700.