 Promoters arrived who were eager to make a fortune in selling and developing western lands.In 1817 a town plat was laid out at the Foot of the Rapids of the Maumee River, and within a decade, the settlement was gaining recognition as a major trans-shipment point connecting Lake Erie and the land to the west.The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 in New York State stimulated migration to Ohio, as it connected Great Lakes communities to the Hudson River and port of New York City.