Rice Township, Sandusky County

How Rice Township, Sandusky County began

Rice Township was organized in 1840 when the newly formed Ottawa County took most of the older Bay township away from Sandusky County, requiring a replacement township on the Sandusky County side; it was named for Judge Ezekiel Rice, an early pioneer on the Portage River and an associate judge of the court of common pleas. It is the smallest township in the county and, having no water-power streams, never had a grist-mill of its own. Its earliest settlers, arriving after the War of 1812, were French families removed from the Maumee during the war and resettled here afterward; German families followed from about 1835.

Settled 1815, incorporated 1840, by set off from Bay township after Ottawa County's 1840 organization took most of Bay township away from Sandusky County.

Where the name comes from

Named for Judge Ezekiel Rice, a pioneer settler on the Portage River and an associate judge of the court of common pleas, described in the 1882 county history as universally respected; Rice Township is unique to Sandusky County among Ohio's townships.

Before the town

No source found records a Native village, trail, mound, or treaty event specific to Rice Township. The township fronts Sandusky Bay within the wider region covered by the 1817 Treaty of the Maumee Rapids.

Timeline

1. 1813 — About twenty French families removed from the Maumee, sheltering at Fort Stephenson and later Upper Sandusky for the duration of the War of 1812, were resettled in the county after the war and became the township's first settlers; the story of their winter sleigh journey across the frozen bay is told below.
2. 1830 — A regular Catholic congregation, serving the mostly French settlement, was formally organized; a meeting-house had stood on the bank of the Sandusky River since about that time.
3. 1835 — The first German families moved into the wooded western part of the township.
4. 1840 — Rice Township was organized and named for pioneer settler Judge Ezekiel Rice, after Ottawa County's formation cut off most of the older Bay township.
5. 1843 — Solomon's Lutheran Church was formally organized by Rev. Henry Lang for the township's Pennsylvania-German settlers; a log church followed in 1844 and a brick house in 1867.
6. 1851 — Public schools were organized in the township under the state's new school law, with six districts laid out.
7. 1871 — The Ottawa Hunting and Fishing Club, later Hone's Point Fishing and Hunting Club of Cleveland, was formed by seventy-one members after founder Louis Smithnight had camped on the marsh in 1869; its buildings are listed in Rice township.

Stories

The French refugees' winter crossing

In January 1813, with British and Indian hostilities threatening the Maumee settlements, about twenty French families were ordered by the government to remove to Lower Sandusky. Heavy ice covered with snow let them travel in a train of one-horse sleighs with board runners, led by a former Indian trader named Peter Maltosh who knew the country well. The train crossed the frozen ground to Locust Point in a day, reached Port Clinton the next through deep snow that exhausted the horses, and on the third day, with Maltosh riding ahead to arrange fresh teams at the mouth of the Muskallonge, finally reached Lower Sandusky. The families spent the rest of the winter in government barracks, were moved again to Upper Sandusky that August as Proctor's cannon could be heard bombarding Fort Stephenson, and were not returned to Lower Sandusky until the war's end. Several of these families, including the Bisnette, Mominne, and De Mars households, later settled permanently within what became Rice Township.

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

Mostly private wells The water here

• Fremont City91% of residentsSandusky River (via Ballville Dam intake and city reservoir)
• Lindsey Village4% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Oak Harbor Village3% of residentsLake Erie
• Shorewood Village Subdivision1% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Ottawa County Regional Water District1% of residentsLake Erie
• Carroll Water and Sewer0% of residentsLake Erie
• Brightstar Fremont MHP0% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)

Facilities reporting toxic releases (2)

Spills reported since 2021 (7)

Who holds office

Roster as of 2026-01-24: county board of elections.

Money issues on the ballot since 2019: 2 of 3 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.
• Financial Audit, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-12-02

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