Berlin Township, Erie County

How Berlin Township, Erie County began

Berlin Township, in eastern Erie County on Lake Erie, was first settled in 1808-1809 by a party who sailed from Pennsylvania to the Huron River, and held its first town meeting at Thompson's Mill in April 1817. It was called Eldridge for an original proprietor until 1832, when rumors of forgery against him led the Huron County commissioners to rename it Berlin on Noah Hill's suggestion, matching Milan. Its Lake Shore railroad, sandstone quarries, fruit boxes and creamery drove the later economy; in the late 1850s and 1860s Berlin Heights drew national attention for 'free love' communities, and Hudson Tuttle's Spiritualist writings. Berlin Heights has 651 people (2020) and the township 3,450.

Settled 1808-1809 (a party of seven by boat in 1808; John Dunbar, first white settler, 1809), incorporated first town meeting April 1817 at Thompson's Mill (renamed from Eldridge to Berlin in 1832), by Settlers from Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut; the township's eastern half was bought for speculation by Eldridge.

Where the name comes from

First called Eldridge, from one of its original proprietors, who had bought the eastern half of the township for speculation and was ruined by taxes on unimproved land. Aldrich's 1889 Erie County history says rumors reached the settlers that he had tried to redeem his credit by forgery, and in 1832, at the time of the Milan-Berlin treaty, the Huron County commissioners changed the name; Noah Hill suggested 'as there was a Milan, why not have a Berlin.'

Before the town

Aldrich's 1889 history reports traces of the mound builders on Henry Hoak's farm in the west of the township, where an eighth-acre mound with large trees on it yielded a seated human skeleton, arrowheads and stone axes, another mound near the center on the Lewis Osborne place, and an old fortification in the north; Hudson Tuthill kept relics and H. L. Hill plowed up a French hatchet, in a tree stump with 219 growth rings. Salt-licks along the ridge were a resort of deer, and Old Woman Creek was said to be named for a squaw who drowned there. When the first party left their cornfield in 1808 they left an Indian to guard it, and a chief named Silas David brought friends to the first house-raising. The township lies in the Firelands, ceded under the 1805 Treaty of Fort Industry.

• Hoak mound (mound) — Henry Hoak's farm, western Berlin Township, prehistoric, undated (archive.org)
• Osborne mound (mound) — Lewis Osborne's farm near the center of the township, prehistoric, undated (archive.org)
• Northern fortification (earthwork) — Northern part of the township, prehistoric, undated (archive.org)

Timeline

1. 1808 — Seven men sailed a boat loaded with provisions, tools and thirty barrels of whisky from the mouth of Walnut Creek, Pennsylvania, to the Huron River, planted eighteen acres of corn in Milan Township, and left an Indian to guard it while they fetched their families; most later settled in Berlin.
2. 1809 — John Dunbar from New York became the first white settler in Berlin Township; his brother Isaac followed.
3. 1810 — Perry and Thomas Starr came from Connecticut, a blacksmith and a miller; their son William Eldridge Starr was the first male child born in the township.
4. 1811 — John Leland taught the first school, on the Henry Hine farm, and John Dunbar's wife died, the first death; the school broke up when war came.
5. 1812 — Methodists began class meetings in private houses, and John Hoak and Mr. Fleming brought the first fruit trees from Canada by boat, starting the township's orchard industry.
6. 1814 — After the War of 1812 panic, only four families remained in the township in January.
7. 1817 — The first town meeting, held at Thompson's Mill in April, chose John Laughlin, Samuel Reed and John Thompson trustees.
8. 1820 — Jeduthan Cobb became the first postmaster, with mail carried by horse from Cleveland to Lower Sandusky; Elder Call settled as the township's first minister.
9. 1823 — The Congregational church was organized by Rev. A. H. Betts and S. B. Sullivan with nine members.
10. 1832 — The Huron County commissioners renamed Eldridge as Berlin, and part of Vermilion was added to give it a lake shore.
11. 1858 — On July 21 the New York Times reported on a 'free love' settlement at Berlin Heights, organized in the late 1850s.
12. 1860 — Point Hope Community (twenty members, lasting a year) and the Industrial Fraternity (twenty members, six months) were organized; a Berlin Community, or Christian Republic, with twelve members and six children, followed in 1865 and lasted about a year.
13. 1865 — The Berlin box manufactory began making fruit boxes and apple barrels, growing to need 100,000 feet of timber a year and employing 25-30 men.
14. 1877 — Melvin Stone started a creamery, which soon served over two hundred cows and by 1878 three hundred.
15. 1878 — Four hundred carloads of Berlin Heights sandstone were shipped to New York from George A. Baillie's quarry, served by a Lake Shore Railroad branch.
16. 1880 — Berlin Heights counted 424 residents in its first census listing, growing to 625 by 1900.
17. 1907 — A photograph of the Tuttle home at Walnut Grove Farm in Berlin Heights, longtime home of Spiritualist author Hudson Tuttle, appeared in a published work.
18. 2020 — Berlin Township had 3,450 residents on 31.6 square miles; the village of Berlin Heights had 651.

Stories

The land speculator the township un-named

In the early days Ohio places were usually named for those who first bought them, and so the township was Eldridge, for a proprietor who had bought its eastern half as a speculation. Aldrich's 1889 Erie County history calls him a pleasant gentleman ruined by the same taxes on unimproved land that fell on cultivated land, and says that rumors came from the East that he had tried to redeem his credit by forgery, which settlers distrustful of speculators readily believed. In 1832, when the Huron County commissioners wanted a new name and the Milan-Berlin treaty was in the news, Noah Hill proposed that since there was a Milan there should be a Berlin.

Seven men, a boat and thirty barrels of whisky

In 1808 seven men launched a rude boat at the mouth of Walnut Creek in Pennsylvania, loaded it with provisions, tools and thirty barrels of whisky, and sailed out on Lake Erie. When storms struck they reluctantly threw the liquor overboard, and gathered it up again afterward. A sand bar stopped them at the mouth of the Huron and they had to dig a channel to reach the river. They planted eighteen acres of corn in what is now Milan Township, left an Indian to guard it, and went back for their families, who came in autumn on horseback under old Henry Hoak, born in 1745. Most abandoned Huron because of floods and settled in Berlin on its two creeks, one called the Chapelle and the other Old Woman Creek, named for a squaw said to have drowned in it.

The Berlin Heights communities

Aldrich's history calls the 'free love' communities the single shadow on Berlin: their founders came from states far from Ohio and drew in only a single local citizen, but their restless ideas touched many. A first nucleus taught its tenets until 1860, when Point Hope Community formed with twenty members and lasted a year; the Industrial Fraternity of twenty lasted six months; and the Berlin Community, or Christian Republic, of twelve adults and six children began five years later and lasted about a year. Hudson Tuttle, Berlin Heights's Spiritualist author, wrote that communism failed utterly but that the individuals who stayed turned to fruit growing and multiplied small farms. Tradition said local women burned a mailbag of their literature in the street. The New York Times had written of them on July 21, 1858.

Photographs

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · archive.org · archive.org · commons.wikimedia.org

Every historic place in Erie County on the full map

Mostly private wells The water here

• Huron City77% of residentsLake Erie
• Norwalk City15% of residentsHuron River / East Branch Huron River (via Upper, Memorial, and Lower Reservoirs)
• Erie Co. Huron East District6% of residentsLake Erie
• Milan Village2% of residentsLake Erie (Sandusky Bay backup intake)

Fire and EMS stations (1)

Museums, historical societies, gardens and zoos (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (6)

Money issues on the ballot since 2017: 4 of 4 passed.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Agreed Upon Procedures, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-05-20

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