Emerald Township, Paulding County

How Emerald Township, Paulding County began

Emerald Township, the only township of its name in Ohio, lies in the north of Paulding County along the Maumee River and holds no incorporated village. William Gordon built the first cabin on the Maumee in the spring of 1826, followed in 1827 by George Platter, Guy Hamilton and John Musselman; the township, taken from Crane, was organized in 1852 and, according to the 1892 county atlas, named for the many Irish settlers who came with the Wabash & Erie Canal. Its small settlements, Tate's Landing and Emerald, lost their trade when the Paulding & Cecil railroad opened in 1880. Its best-documented landmark today is the William Sinn Round Barn, built in 1911 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Settled 1826, incorporated 1852 (organized), by William Gordon, first settler, on the Maumee River.

Where the name comes from

Named, according to the 1892 Historical Atlas of Paulding County, because a number of the 'sons of Erin' (Irish settlers) had settled within its limits; Lyal Tate and Richard Carle, both of whom came about 1840 to work on the Wabash & Erie Canal, were among them.

Before the town

No Native village, mound or trail site specific to Emerald Township is documented. The 1892 county atlas, drawing on a magazine account of General Winchester's march down the Maumee from Fort Wayne to Defiance in September 1812, says it is 'said' that one of the bloody skirmishes with the Indian force under Major Muir and Colonel Elliott took place at the deep defile just below John Musselman's home in the township, and adds that all of them presumably took place in the county. That is the county historian's inference, not an eyewitness record.

Nations recorded here: Odawa (Ottawa).

• Reported 1812 skirmish at the defile on the Maumee (battle) — on the Maumee below the later John Musselman farm in Emerald Township (reported only, not verified), September 1812 (archive.org)

Timeline

1. 1812-09 — General Winchester marches from Fort Wayne down the Maumee toward Defiance, skirmishing with an Indian and British force under Muir and Elliott; the 1892 atlas says one of the skirmishes was reportedly fought at a deep defile in what is now Emerald Township.
2. 1826-spring — William Gordon builds a small cabin on the bank of the Maumee in the northwest corner of the township and moves his family in, the first actual settler.
3. 1827 — George Platter, Guy Hamilton and John Musselman build cabins along the Maumee near Gordon's; Musselman, still living at about ninety in 1892, clears the farm he keeps.
4. 1837 — Per Judge A. S. Latty's 1886 account to Henry Howe, only two settler families -- John Musselman and George Platter -- live across the entire territory that will become Emerald, Paulding, and Blue Creek townships, a combined 108 square miles.
5. 1838 — John Fahy arrives; in 1840 Lyal Tate and Richard Carle, who worked on the Wabash & Erie Canal then under construction, settle along its line.
6. 1842 — In 1842 only four Paulding County townships (Auglaize, Brown, Crane and Carryall) are organized; Emerald, then part of Crane, is not yet one of them.
7. 1845 — Sections 13, 24, 25 and 36 of Emerald Township are added to Auglaize Township when the northern half of that township is cut off to form Defiance County, leaving Emerald with thirty-two sections.
8. 1852 — Emerald Township is organized, having been attached to Crane Township; the first election is held at the residence of Lina Parrish on Six Mile Creek, with John Musselman justice of the peace.
9. 1859 — Francis Reiniche and his father-in-law Theibault Didier build the first saw mill in the township, a steam mill at Tate's Landing; Reiniche adds stave machinery in 1880.
10. 1866 — The first religious society in the township, United Brethren, is organized at the home of Thomas E. Jones with Michael Johnson as preacher; the Evangelical Lutherans build the hewed-log Mt. Zion church in 1870.
11. 1880 — The Paulding & Cecil railroad opens, ending the days when Emerald was the railroad station for Paulding with a telegraph office, hotel and two stores; the township's population is 1,000.
12. 1890 — Emerald Township has 1,123 residents and eight schools, one for colored pupils.
13. 1911 — William Sinn builds a round barn on Township Road 168, northeast of Paulding village.
14. 1980-04-17 — The William Sinn Round Barn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Stories

The station that lost its trains

For many years Emerald, on the Wabash railroad, was the nearest station to Paulding village, and much of the freight and passenger traffic for the county seat was transferred there. It had a telegraph and express office, a hotel, two general stores and a daily hack line to Paulding, and the merchants Pat Haley and Peter Sehehr did well. When the Paulding & Cecil railroad opened in 1880 the village's fate was decided: the telegraph and express office moved to Cecil, the hack line was discontinued, and by 1892 only one small grocery remained. Haley and Sehehr had become farmers. The township's other trading point, Tate's Landing on the old Wabash & Erie Canal, held on around Francis Reiniche's stave factory, his general store, and a few groceries and restaurants.

Photographs

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

Mostly private wells The water here

• Paulding Village94% of residentsPaulding Reservoir, fed by Flat Rock Creek
• Brentwood Community MHP Llc6% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Bridges rated poor (2)

Spills reported since 2021 (4)

Who holds office

Roster as of 2026-09-18: county board of elections.

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.
• Basic Audit, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-07-08

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