Oak Harbor

Located on the north side of the Portage River, Oak Harbor is today a bedroom community for some of the larger communities within easy driving distance. For this reason, Oak Harbor is today much as it was in the early 1900s and older. It's biggest asset are the people that have grown up in Oak Harbor, that support the Rockets, the farmers markets and volunteer to work at the annual Apple Festival.

The large ships that once harbored here are no longer. Nor are the ferry boats that ran on a regular basis to and from town. Many of Oak Harbor's industries from the 19th Century are no longer employing the 1000s of people required to keep their doors open. Farming too has mostly disappeared because of the economies of scale seen elsewhere in the state where farms are measured in square miles.

Oak Harbor History

Seldom does a town have a problem with its name, but for Oak Harbor residents, their town's name has gone through multiple generations before being recognized by its citizens, the United States Postal Service and the world.

Ten miles west of Port Clinton where the Portage River empties into Lake Erie, a town was plotted out in the 1830s by Joseph Wardlow. Wardlow was a land speculator who bought a track of undeveloped land, have it surveyed, map out lots and sell those lots individually to recoup his investment.

There is little known about Joseph except that he was originally from Virginia, moved to southern Ohio with his family, married a southern Ohio girl and together with their children, moved to the lake area. After he initiated his land development, Wardlow remained here and became a farmer for many years.

Joseph recorded the deed for the property in 1835 at the Sandusky County Court House. The newly laid out town had 61 lots and he gave the future town the name Hartford. It wasn't necessary when he recorded the deed for the new town why he named it Hartford, but we can make a good guess. Just east of here is the area known as the Connecticut Western Reserve which stopped just about where the Sandusky Bay Bridge is located. Despite that detail, I can imagine Wardlow felt there would be an immediate attraction for Connecticut settlers he suspected might be moving to the area, but in fact, some of the earliest residents of Hartford were German immigrants who were coming here for one reason: work.

Since the last ice age northwest Ohio was mostly swamp land and was called the Great Black Swamp. A few Native Americans lived in parts of it, a few Americans braved the mosquito borne diseases common to the area, but mostly the area was uninhabitable much less be farmed.

For the land to become useful, the swamps had to be drained and in the 1830s the only way to do this was to dig ditches and lay tile to drain away the standing water one acre at a time. That required lots of cheap labor and people to supervise this labor who were experienced at draining swampy land. Both of those needs were met by German immigrants. One of those immigrants was Adolphus Kraemer.

Adolphus Kraemer would play a large role in the history of Oak Harbor. Adolphus was a native of Hanover, Germany where he studied medicine and civil engineering. He came to the United States in the early 1830s and established his first home Lancaster, Ohio. Although his time here was short, it was long enough he met and married Eliza Weaver. They soon sought their fortune to the north first in Sandusky and then  in Toledo where he opened a mercantile business. This was a short lived business and the next year the couple moved to Hartford.

When the young German immigrant saw the beginnings of a brand new town, Adolphus Kraemer saw that this new town had everything required to accomplish his goal: good flowing water with access to all of the Great Lakes and the rest of the country. The other important element in his plan was readily available natural resources which was in this case wood. Lots of good quality wood, more specifically oak trees. Hartford was surround by forests of centuries old virgin growth trees, with an abundance of oak trees-- the kind of trees that were in the highest demand not only here but in Europe where they had long ago stripped their oak forests to build their great navies. After Adolphus opened his general store, he opened a saw mill. Adolphus was well on his way to creating his great city.

Not long after opening his general store and the saw mill, Adolphus purchased a used printing press and type in Toledo and had it shipped to Hartford. Happy that his second hand press had arrived along with the type fonts necessary to publish a newspaper, Adolphus was frustrated that the paper he had also purchased did not arrive . A newspaper without paper was no newspaper. Town leaders in Lower Sandusky (Fremont today) also wanted to start a newspaper and knowing of Kraemer's idle printing press, they negotiated a deal with Kraemer to purchase his press and type.

In the coming years thanks to his business success, Adolphus Kraemer helped build new schools, new churches and got involved in politics. When the state announced a new county was needed here, Adolphus began petitioning the politicians in Columbus to make Hartford the new county seat. Unfortunately for Hartford, Port Clinton had more political clout becoming the county seat for the new Ottawa County in 1840. In the winter of 1897 and 1898, citizens of Oak Harbor led another attempt at securing the county seat designation by introducing a bill in the Ohio Legislature. Citizens of Port Clinton put up a heated defense before the Legislature. This squabble among towns created a certain degree of bitterness in the county. Legislative committees visited both communities and many county citizens spent months in Columbus lobbying for their position. The bill failed and as a result of this a new court house was built in Port Clinton to seal its position.

Five years after losing the bid to become count seat the first time, another setback faced Hartford. The post office was making demands that the citizens of Hartford choose a different name because the name Hartford was already in use by other Ohio communities. It was Adolphus' idea for the new name and it was a good choice . Usually towns are named for either someone famous, perhaps a town founder, or for some place else. Adolphus chose neither of these. Instead he created a name based on the location which had two primary assets: its beautiful deep water river and its abundance of strong oak trees. He submitted the name Oak Harbor, but the United States post office made a mistake. They entered the new name as being Oakharbor (one word) in January, 1845. The village didn't make the name change official until some years later.

Flat Iron Park

Flat Iron Park on the west side of Oak Harbor is bordered by Water, Main and Toussaint Streets. It was originally (and still is) a memorial to local veterans of the Great War in 1919. In the 1980s the memorial was rededicated to honor all local veterans. In the 1970s the iconic gazebo was added and it quickly became a favorite place for picnics, weddings, and an informal meeting spot.

The Oak Harbor Log House

Across the street from Oak Harbor Library. What is seen today is an entirely reconfiguration of the original 2-story house that was donated by the Priesman. The log house was originally south of the intersection of SR 163 and Vogel Road (just west of Oak Harbor) and was thought to have been built in the mid 1800s. Once the log house was dismantled some of the original logs were not in a condition that could be used. It was decided to make the dwelling into a 1 story structure. The 28'x20' dwelling was reconstructed on the site where the the former town hall once stood in 2005. Over the next several years period furnishings were added from donations. This project was led the Oak Harbor Lions Club.

Although Adolphus Kraemer never lived in this house, in 2009 the park where the log house is located was named for him in honor of his contributions and efforts in creating Oak Harbor. Adolphus Kraemer (June 17, 1810 - August 15, 1885).

Oak Harbor Trivia:

• The distinctive 3-globe street lamps were first installed back in 1914.
• Those original street lamps have since been replaced with new.
• In the 1890s citizens of Port Clinton came to Oak Harbor to celebrate July 4th here.
• The bridge spanning Portage River was built in 1934.
• The US Post Office still has the name Oakharbor above its front door.

The Portage River made it possible for Oak Harbor to exist in the early days. This river that is over 40 miles long, crosses 3 northern counties. When the Ohio legislators decided in 1850 it would be of great benefit to drain the Great Black Swamp, the Portage River combined with the Maumee River became the channels used to drain the swampy land that would eventually become some of the richest farm land in the country.
The schooner photograph is of the Faugh-a-Bella docked on the north side of the river at one of the lumber mills. This ship transported lumber from Oak Harbor for use in the construction of Hotel Victory on South Bass Island in the 1890s.

Oak Harbor's Apple Festival

Oak Harbor's Apple Festival is held in early October each year in downtown Oak Harbor on Mill Street. The annual festival draws more than 25,000 visitors to the free event that takes up an entire city block. Baking contests, Royalty Court, cutest baby contests and of course the Grand Parade. The Apple Festival is a perfect reason to meet old friends and make new acquaintances for all ages. Once the sun goes down the stars come out for Applepalooza. Applepalooza begins around 7:00 P.M. and there is a small admission charge to see the live bands and a beer tent.

Ottawa County Fairgrounds

Located just over 3 miles east of Oak Harbor is the Ottawa County Fairgrounds. Of course the big event is the county fair held here towards the end of July and runs for a week.