Erie Township, Ottawa County

How Erie Township, Ottawa County began

Erie Township lies on Lake Erie in the middle of Ottawa County and is the site of Camp Perry, the Ohio National Guard's rifle-range and training ground. Ohio's adjutant general, Ammon B. Critchfield, found the site while duck hunting in the marshes in 1905; the legislature voted $25,000 in 1906 to buy over 300 acres, the first National Rifle Matches were held there in September 1907, and the name, for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, was made official on May 1, 1908. The camp became permanent in 1909, trained officers and marksmen in World War I, held about 2,500 German and 2,000 Italian prisoners of war in World War II, and still hosts the National Matches. The township, the only one named Erie in Ohio, also holds Lacarne and a corner of Port Clinton, and had 1,147 residents in 2020.

Where the name comes from

The township's naming is not recorded. It sits on the shore of Lake Erie and is the only Erie Township in Ohio.

Before the town

No Native village, trail or other specific site is documented within Erie Township.

Timeline

1. 1905 — Ohio's adjutant general, Ammon B. Critchfield, duck hunting in the Lake Erie marshes, finds a range site where all firing can be done from a common line toward the shoreline, using the natural light.
2. 1906 — The state legislature appropriates $25,000 to buy over 300 acres for a state rifle range and camp, building on the Congressional Act of 1903 that gave federal assistance to state militias for marksmanship instruction.
3. 1907 — By summer the 200-, 600- and 800-yard ranges are ready with 160 targets, and in September the first National Rifle Matches are held at the camp.
4. 1908 — The Ohio Legislature makes the name Camp Perry official on May 1, honoring Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, victor of the Battle of Lake Erie.
5. 1909 — The camp becomes permanent, with four main ranges holding 210 rifle and 20 revolver targets that can all be used at once.
6. 1917-1918 — Camp Perry served as a training center for World War I officers and marksmanship instructors.
7. 1918 — During the National Matches the first Small Arms Firing School is held; the Erie Army Depot is built nearby for artillery ordnance storage.
8. 1920s and 1950s — Camp Perry hosted the "Special Police School," nicknamed "Hogan's Alley," for tactical law enforcement training.
9. 1942-1945 — Camp Perry held German and Italian prisoners of war during World War II.
10. 1946 — Ohio Governor Frank Lausche considers converting the camp temporarily into a college; the Special Police School, closed in World War II, reopens in 1956.
11. 1968 — Use of the camp, which had declined after the war, rises again during the National Matches.
12. 1980 — Barracks, classrooms and a covered firing range are added in the 1980s; the Small Arms Firing School trains more than a thousand shooters a year.
13. 1998-06-24 — A tornado damaged the Camp Perry facility.

Stories

The second-largest outdoor rifle range in the world

Camp Perry began in 1906 as a purchase of Lake Erie shorefront for Ohio National Guard training, named for the naval hero of the nearby 1813 battle, and opened in 1909. The camp became the host site for the National Rifle and Pistol Matches, and Wikipedia describes it as having the second-largest outdoor rifle range in the world after the NRA Whittington Center in New Mexico, with the firing done toward the open water of the lake. The camp's uses have ranged well beyond marksmanship: it trained officers and instructors during World War I, held captured German and Italian soldiers as prisoners of war during World War II, and in the 1920s and again in the 1950s ran a tactical training course nicknamed "Hogan's Alley" for police departments. The camp's history page says the Small Arms Firing School trains more than a thousand shooters a year.

A duck hunter finds a rifle range

Ohio's National Guard needed a place for marksmanship training after the Congressional Act of 1903 gave federal money to state militias for instruction camps and practice matches. According to the account kept by the Camp Perry Lodging and Conference Center, Adjutant General Ammon B. Critchfield was duck hunting in the Lake Erie marshes near Port Clinton in 1905 when he saw that the shore offered an ideal range: every shot could be fired from a common line toward the lake, with the natural light behind the shooters. In 1906 the legislature voted $25,000 for more than 300 acres. By the summer of 1907 the 200-, 600- and 800-yard ranges were ready with parapets and 160 targets, and that September the first National Rifle Matches were held on them. The state legislature named the camp for Commodore Perry on May 1, 1908, and by 1909 it had four main ranges that could be used at once. The ranges became the home of the National Matches that still draw shooters from across the country each summer.

Prisoners, police and a mock street

Camp Perry did more than teach shooting. In the 1920s the NRA and the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice set up a Special Police School there, with a mock city street of sham buildings, nicknamed Hogan's Alley, where officers practiced shooting at targets that appeared unexpectedly. During World War II the police school closed, and the camp served as a recruit reception center and then a prisoner-of-war camp: at one time it held roughly 2,500 German and 2,000 Italian prisoners, according to the camp's own history, while Army staff tested the wear on artillery barrels by firing into Lake Erie. In 1946 Governor Frank Lausche considered turning it into a temporary college for returning veterans, and the police school reopened in 1956. A tornado on June 24, 1998 damaged several buildings.

Photographs

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · cplcc.com · commons.wikimedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org

Lake Erie, via a submerged intake crib serving the county's regional plant near Port Clinton (precise offshore crib coordinates not documented) The water here

• Port Clinton City56% of residentsLake Erie
• Ottawa County Regional Water District44% of residentsLake Erie
• Greenwood Mobile Home Park0% of residentsGroundwater wells (1 wells)

Fire and EMS stations (1)

Facilities reporting toxic releases (2)

Spills reported since 2021 (5)

Who holds office

Roster as of 2026-04-10: county board of elections.

Money issues on the ballot since 2015: 3 of 3 passed; of those asking for new or higher taxes, 1 of 1.

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 2025-09-02

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