Point Place's 'Dynamite Dock' revealed as Lake Erie water pushed out of Western Basin - WTOL

Like an eerie apparition, the last remains of a massive 1884 explosion revealed themselves on Saturday to curious Point Placers

TOLEDO, Ohio — The strong winds this weekend gave north Toledoans a rare up-close look at the remnants of a massive explosion that happened in Point Place a century and a half ago.

Due to the sustained west/southwest winds on Saturday, water from the Western Basin on our end of Lake Erie was pushed eastward toward the Buffalo end of the lake.

Due to that phenomenon, water levels here, in Toledo are down about 9 feet below normal, exposing the lake bottom for all to see.

One of the submerged secrets of the past is the remnants of the so called “Dynamite Dock” which is located near 326th and 145th Street.

The dock at that location in the 1880s belonged to the A.J. Rummel Company, a gunpowder and sporting goods store, according to the Point Place Heritage Society that was used to load rowboats with nitroglycerine.

A dock was there at least until November 1884, when a box of nitroglycerine on or near the dock blew up destroying the dock and Rummel’s buildings.

The explosion reportedly was felt as far away as 40 miles away and the massive cloud of smoke it caused could be seen as far away as Perrysburg and shattering windows as far away as Monroe St.

The ripples of the explosion could be seen on an eerie night in January 2024 when posts from the dock, still buried in the lake bottom, revealed their location once again.