Vermilion Valley Service Plaza - Ohio Turnpike Eastbound - Amherst, Ohio
N 41° 22.646 W 082° 13.496
17T E 397570 N 4581381
This Service Plaza accessible via the Ohio Turnpike Eastbound at Milepost 139.5 in Amherst Township, Lorain County, Ohio
Waymark Code: WMH40D
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 05/18/2013
Views: 7
Vermilion Valley Service Plaza - Ohio Turnpike Eastbound - Amherst, Ohio
ABOUT OHIO TURNPIKE SERVICE PLAZAS
The Ohio Turnpike Commission embarked on a project in the late 1990's to replace the over 40-year-old service plazas with state-of-the-art facilities.
This service plaza is one of fourteen service plazas that has been reconstructed on the existing sites of the original construction in the 1950's. The new service plazas
offer a multitude of conveniences to Turnpike customers. Included are a large variety of food offerings, expanded restrooms, and information wall
with travel and weather information, more parking for cars, trucks and busses and much more.
AMENITIES
Service plazas offer the following amenities for your convenience:
- ATM (Automated Teller Machine)
- Food Court
- Fuel
- Gift Shops
- Handicapped Accessibility
- Life-Saving Technology
- Parking
- Pet Walks
- Picnic Grounds
- Plaza Managers On-Site
- Restrooms
- TTY Phones
- Telephones
- Travel Information
- Truckers' Lounge
- Vehicle Supplies
- Vending Machines
ABOUT THIS SERVICE PLAZA
Vermilion Valley completed in May 2002 and is named for the surrounding valley. An excerpt is included from the Service Plaza
History Page:
Along the forest trails that traversed Ohio long before the way was cleared for the Ohio Turnpike, the Ottawa Indians came to the Vermilion Valley to obtain red clay from its soil for use in making war paint and ceremonial decorations. The Vermilion River was named by French explorers when they discovered the red earth along its banks. In the vicinity of the Vermilion Valley Service Plaza, the earth also bears this vermilion hue.
Paint from Vermilion Valley clay may well have given the Ottawas a fierce, warlike appearance in their relentless resistance to the white man’s encroachments in northern Ohio before they finally surrendered to General “Mad” Anthony Wayne in 1794. The most famous Ottawa leader, Chief Pontiac, is generally recognized as one of the wisest, shrewdest Indian chieftains of all time. A reminder of the Ottawas’ past glory survives in the name of Ottawa County, one of the thirteen counties through which the Ohio Turnpike passes.