Bellevue

Bellevue today is best known as being a major railroad hub and it has been that way for more than a 100 years. Not far away from the turn of the century downtown is the Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum. A little farther out and visitors will find the historic Lyme Village, the Sorrowful Mother Shrine, and Seneca Caverns.

To keep track of Bellevue's past is the Bellevue Historical society which is now in the process of restoring The Tremont House that dates back to before the Civil War when it was the largest brick building in the area when it was a hotel. When completed the building will closely resemble the hotel in many ways, except it will be not only a depot for Bellevue's historical past, but it will also be a gathering place for its citizens today.

For bicycle enthusiasts, a section of the North Coast Inland Bicycle Trail extends from Bellevue to Norwalk. The North Coast Inland Trail when completed will connect Indiana to Pennsylvania and be a 270 mile east-west route.

In 1815 a small group of settlers from New York founded Amsden Corners. The first store was opened in 1823 by the same Thomas Amsden for whom the town was named, and although other stores followed, the rough log structure remained the general store and gathering place for many years.

Among the early business establishments were blacksmiths, wagon shops and cabinet shops, a flour mill and distillery, followed by a tannery. A law office and offices of two physicians were opened and in 1828 a post office was established known as York Cross Roads Post Office and more commonly called Yorks Crossing.

Railroads have long played an important part of Bellevue's history. In fact Bellevue got it's name from one of them. In the mid 1830?s James H. Bell, a civil engineer of the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad, named the new station "Bellevue" which he derived from his last name Bell. By 1836 the post office name was officially changed to Bellevue.

The Nickel Plate and the Wheeling & Lake Erie railroads were located through Bellevue in 1882-83, which added several thousand people to its population by the century turn. The Pennsylvania Railroad was located through here in 1891. All are now part of the Norfolk & Southern railroad system.

Lyme Village

The village centers around the Wright Mansion, built in 1880-82, furnished in Victorian period pieces, and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Historic Lyme Village has guided tours 11-4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, Sunday 12-4 p.m. from June through August; Sundays only in September and October. School and group tours, weddings, receptions, meetings and picnics by appointment year round.

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Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum

The Mad River & NKP Railroad Society Museum is the largest railroad museum in the state of Ohio. Founded in 1972 and opened in 1976 as a community bicentennial project to honor Bellevue?s history as a rail center, the museum contains a growing collection of historical and educational railroad memorabilia and artifacts.

Visitors are encouraged to climb aboard the many vintage cars and locomotives including the first dome car built in the U.S., a Pennsylvania Railroad RPO car, and a Wabash F-7 locomotive. There is also a watchman?s tower, depot, L.S. & M.S. section house, and a Trackside Gifts, the museum?s store. The museum is open daily from 12-4 p.m. Memorial Day to Labor Day and weekends only May through October.

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Seneca Caverns

Known as Ohio's "Greatest Natural Underground Adventure." Seneca Caverns is located 4 miles south of Bellevue off State Route 269. The only cave of its kind open to the public in the U.S., Seneca Caverns is a memorable and educational adventure! Enjoy the cool 54 degree, 1 hour guided tour. Visitors will descend 110 ft. underground through 7 levels before returning to the surface. Lighting displays several varieties of fossils along with inscriptions (old graffiti) dating back to 1872.

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Sorrowful Mother Shrine

The Sorrowful Mother Shrine located just south of Bellevue on SR 269 and it is the oldest pilgrimage site in the United States east of the Mississippi River dedicated to the Blessed Mother. It began back in 1850 when a missionary priest built a small brick chapel here in honor of the Blessed Mother. That building became the center of a more expansive mission to minister to the increasing number of German Catholics arriving in Northwest Ohio.

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