Ohio's largest inland lake. Dug by hand as a canal feeder, 1837–1845.
Grand Lake St. Marys is Ohio's largest inland lake, 13,500 acres dug entirely by hand between 1837 and 1845 as a feeder reservoir for the Miami and Erie Canal — the largest artificial lake in the world at completion, split today between Celina on the west shore and St. Marys on the east.
Grand Lake St. Marys spans 13,500 acres across Mercer and Auglaize counties, dug by 1,700 German and Irish immigrants between 1837 and 1845 to feed the Miami and Erie Canal — at the time, the largest artificial lake in the world, and still the largest ever built by manual labor. Celina, on the west shore, holds the restaurant and marina cluster along West Bank Road; St. Marys, on the east, covers the supermarket and the hospital. Eight free state launch ramps and unlimited horsepower make it a genuine powerboat lake, with a 1923 ornamental lighthouse, modeled on England's Eddystone, visible from the water east of Celina.
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