German Township, Fulton County

How German Township, Fulton County began

German Township occupies the southwestern corner of Fulton County and contains the village of Archbold in its south. It is one of five Ohio townships named German, reflecting the German-heritage settlement common to the pattern, though no source consulted gives the township's own organization date or a specific naming account. The township's principal historic landmark outside Archbold itself is the Goll Homestead, an 1862 house built with heavy timber construction in the style of the region's early French and German settlers, now part of the Goll Woods State Nature Preserve northwest of the village.

Settled 1834-08-22, incorporated 1839-03-04, by Swiss and German Mennonite colony from Millhausen; organized by the Lucas County commissioners.

Where the name comes from

The township is one of five townships named German across Ohio, reflecting the state's common practice of naming townships for the ethnic heritage of an area's early settlers; no source consulted gives a specific naming account for this particular township.

Before the town

No Native village, mound or trail specific to German Township was located in the sources checked. The township sits inside the tract ceded at the 1807 Treaty of Detroit.

Timeline

1. 1807-11-17 — The Treaty of Detroit cedes the tract of northwest Ohio that includes the future township's land.
2. 1834-08-22 — A colony of forty-three Swiss and German settlers, most from Millhausen, Switzerland, reaches the forest site after eleven days of travel; Christian Lauber, Jacob Bender, George Meister, Jacob Grunday and Moses Kibbler lead families, and Lauber's house on section 10 is the first.
3. 1835 — Christian Beck of the Mennonite church preaches at Christian Lauber's house in the fall, the first religious meeting in the township; Peter Wyse, Peter Rupp, Christian Funkhouser and others settle the same year.
4. 1836 — George and William Johnson, Englishmen, buy land on Bean Creek and begin building a saw and grist mill in 1841, finished in 1842; they run it until George dies about 1857.
5. 1838 — Ira Eaton lays out the town of Eatonburg, with Michael Gish as its first hotel proprietor; the town is active only until about 1842.
6. 1839-03-04 — German Township is organized from towns seven and eight north, range five east; George Johnson lays out Burlington the same year and Samuel B. Darby teaches the first school, half a mile west of it.
7. 1839-05 — A post office named Elmira is established, moved to Burlington eleven years later.
8. 1841-03-01 — Franklin Township is organized and German loses all of town eight north and a tier of sections off the north of town seven north; the last change comes when Fulton County is organized in 1850.
9. 1855 — Archbold, the township's only incorporated community, is established when the railroad reaches the site.
10. 1855 — Archbold is laid out by Haywood & Ditto as the Air-Line Railway comes through; it incorporates later as a village and has 1,125 people by 1920.
11. 1862 — Peter Goll Jr. and his wife move into the newly built Goll Homestead house, a day before their child is born.
12. 1870 — German Township, the largest in the county by area, has 2,479 people; 3,033 in 1880, 3,103 in 1890, 2,989 in 1900, 3,088 in 1910 and 3,137 in 1920.
13. 1913-08-30 — A fire on the night of August 30 and 31 destroys a block of Archbold's business section with damage over $150,000; engine companies come from Bryan, Wauseon and Toledo.
14. 1960s — Florence Louys, a Goll descendant, sells the family's timber tract to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which becomes the Goll Woods State Nature Preserve.
15. 2005-10-26 — The Goll Homestead is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
16. 2020 — The census counts 6,576 people in German Township, which holds Archbold and the Goll Woods State Nature Preserve.

Stories

A House Built for Two Generations at Once

When Peter Goll Jr. and his wife moved into their newly built house one day before their child was born in 1862, they were not just starting a family; they were carrying forward a European building tradition their own parents had brought to Fulton County. The house was raised using massive timber construction methods derived from the vernacular architecture of the region's earliest French and German settlers, and it was built, unusually, with two separate front doors -- one side for Peter Jr.'s young family, the other for his aging parents, both households sharing one roof. The Goll family held the property for a century, until descendant Florence Louys sold it to Ohio's Department of Natural Resources in the 1960s, and the timber tract around it became the Goll Woods State Nature Preserve. The house itself nearly came down in the early 2000s before local preservationists intervened; restoration work, carried on today by the nonprofit Friends of Goll Homestead with volunteers from Eastern Michigan University, kept standing a building that had already survived as a working link between two generations of one settler family for a hundred years.

The colony from Millhausen

In August 1834 a party of forty-three Swiss and German settlers, most of them from Millhausen in Switzerland, reached a spot in the Fulton County forest after eleven long days of toil and slow movement. Nicholas King, who had been hurt along the way, returned to Wayne County and came back, and among those who stayed were Jacob Bender with seven children, Christian Lauber with four, George Meister with five, Jacob Grunday with five and Moses Kibbler with six. The first house was put up by Christian Lauber on section 10 almost at once, and the other families chose their land and raised cabins in quick succession. In the fall of 1835 Christian Beck preached the first sermon in Lauber's house, and a society of the Mennonite church was organized that, the 1920 county history says, still existed. The township later added Amish, Lutheran, Reformed, Catholic and Baptist congregations, but its strict church code gave it a lasting stamp.

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

Every historic place in Fulton County on the full map

Tiffin River, stored in two above-ground reservoirs at the plant. The water here

• Archbold Village85% of residentsTiffin River (plus Brush Creek), stored in two reservoirs
• Wauseon City11% of residentsMaumee River (via Napoleon pipeline) + Big Ditch/Stucky Ditch, in reservoirs
• Swanton Meadows2% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Stryker Village1% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Northeast Water System1% of residentsLake Erie
• Brunersburg Wd - Evansport0% of residentsTiffin River (plus Brush Creek), stored in two reservoirs

Facilities reporting toxic releases (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (4)

Money issues on the ballot since 2016: 5 of 5 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.
• Financial Audit, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-12-18

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