Clyde

Today, Clyde is home to the world's largest washing machine manufacturing plant and its citizens proudly proclaim their hometown as also the hometown of General James B. McPherson and world famous author Sherwood Anderson. A lot of the town's charm lies in the preservation efforts made to retain its Main Street so that it looks today much as it did a hundred years ago.

Clyde's location is surrounded by a rich soil that attracted many of the early pioneers who made their way here once the War of 1812 solidified the area as being safe from not only a British invasion, but a Native American uprising. There were still several groups of Native Americans here after the war, but they were no longer the threat they once were.

That great soil and the climate typically associated with this area has made it an ideal location for growing not only fruit trees, but all types of berries. Today many of those old orchards established long ago are being updated with new and improved horticultural practices that yield more fruit per acre of land than ever before. And surprisingly, it is also ideal for growing cabbage. Cabbage has also been grown here for more than a 100 years and is the reason several sauerkraut plants are located in Sandusky County and in nearby Fremont.

Municipal Building, 222 N. Main Street, Clyde

The name Clyde came from a village in New York state named Clyde which was named in honor of a river in Scotland named Clyde. Many of the inhabitants of that village came actually came from Scotland and then some of those people moved to Sandusky County Ohio. During those early days there was some confusion as to what is the actual name of this loosely connected community. Some folks called it Hamer's Corners, and then there were other references to it being called Centerville.

At some point the local citizens decided it was time to come to terms on a village name. Those that were interested met at the Whitcher Hotel. This was in 1852. Some suggested they keep the name Centerville, other names included Ayer, Plainville, and Livonia. In the end it was Mr. Woodward's motion that they make Clyde the official town name. In 1866 the town was incorporated as a village.

McPherson Family home across the street from the McPherson Family Cemetery.

There were a few other settlers here and there that settled along some of the Indian trails that crossed through the area. One of those was William McPherson, who would later become the father of General James Birdseye McPherson. James was born here when it was still called Hamer's Corners on November 14, 1828 in the above house. His mother said during a memorial ceremony honoring his son, said that when he was just 3 weeks old, some Seneca Indians visited their house and looked carefully at her baby son and delared "He will be a great man." At age 13 he went to work in Green Springs about 6 miles southwest of here. Later He then attended Norwalk Academy.

In 1837 a financial panic struck the United States and it had a devastated effect up William. To try and compensate for the financial problems the family now faced, he overworked, fretted and his health deteriorated to a point where he could no longer work. This forced 12 year old James to help bring in additional income. His father would finally die of his illness 10 years later and in 1849 James B. McPherson left Clyde to become a cadet at West Point Military Academy.

General James Birdseye McPherson was only 35 years old when he was killed by a Confederate scouting party near Atlanta in 1864. Not only was he the highest ranking Union officer to be killed in the war, he was unquestionably one of the most adored by his men. His mother said during a ceremony honoring his son, that when he was just 3 weeks old, some Seneca Indians visited their cabin and looked at the baby and said "He will be a great man."

After General McPherson was killed not far from Atlanta, his body was returned to Cyde for burial which happened.  Not long after his burial here, citizens of Clyde began discussing having a sculture made that befitted the general. In 1867 the Ohio Senate appropriated $5,000 for the erection of a monument in Clyde in honor of General McPherson, but that wasn't enough. Twelve years after James death, during the first reunion of the Army of the Tennessee, which James was attached, decided that since no lasting memorial had been created to date, they wanted to donate enough money to erect a monument in Washington D.C. They quickly raised more than $20,000 for the memorial and the U.S. Congress appropriated an additional $25,000 for the memorial.

This memorial also included a crypt built into its base and President Ulysses S. Grant, a good friend of McPherson, sent one of McPherson's closest friends to Clyde to speak with Jame's mother and bring James body to Washington D.C.

monument was never realized. . McPherson Sculpture work of Louis T. Rebisso, an Italian artist.

In 1941 the Ohio Sentate enacted legislation that named U.S. Route 20 through Ohio as "General McPherson Highway" in honor of the general.

Hamer's Corners

Family homesite of General James McPherson-- 2nd highest ranking union officer killed during the Civil War in the battle for Atlanta..

Fiance Emily living in Baltimore never married and died in 1891 at the age of 57.

Sherman denied James B. McPherson a temporary leave of absence to marry Emily. Sherman later wrote a letter to Emily apolgizing for his denial.

In 1881 the people of Clyde and Sandusky County combined with donations from the Army of the Tennessee, completed the statue of James B. McPherson, standing located over his grave site in the McPherson graveyard.

Cabbage Growing around Clyde

The area around Clyde is ideal for growing cabbage.

Whirlpool Plant

In a day when manfacturing plants are leaving the country, Whirlpool was bringing back manufacturing to their Clyde plant. In 2013 Whirlpool announced that it was bringing the manufacture of its front loading commercial washing machines to Clyde from Mexico during a corporate plan to build its product line in the regions where its products are being sold. With the addition of the commercial washing machine line to the Clyde Plant making it the largest washing machine plant in the world. Whirlpool came to Clyde in 1952 when the corporation acquired the Clyde Porcelain Steel Company of Clyde in 1952 and that plant was converted over to producing washing machines.

Twistee Treat

This iconic ice cream shop is located on the west side of town on SR 101 almost next door to the Whirlpool washing machine plant. The unusual cone shaped building is part of the national Twistee Treat franchise that has it's headquarters in Orlando, Florida. They began in 1983 producing not only homemade ice cream but also their fiberglass buildings which come in a variety of configurations. The original company when out of business in the 90s, but has since been revived with the promise of becoming an even larger brand.

The Twistee Treat in Clyde, Ohio was once located in Jacksonville Florida. When the Twistee Treat went backrupt back in the 1990s, the existing buildings began to be sold off and that's when Bill Tea and Bill Warnecke made the decision to buy one of the franchise buildings and move it to Clyde. That was more than 20 years ago. Although the original Bill's no longer operate the landmark ice cream shop, it is still in the family at the time of this writing.

Besides tasty ice cream, the little shop also serves fat-free yogurt, and a variety of hot foods and ready-to-go box lunches. If you're in Clyde, and the weather is warm, make the quick trip out McPherson Highway.

A town by any other name is still Clyde
Novelist and short story writer, Sherwood Anderson grew up in Clyde. At the age of 36 he began writing stories many of which were based upon his childhood. One of those was a series of stories that were attributed to Winesburg, a small Amish community in northeastern Ohio. But in reality, Mr. Anderson was telling tales on his boyhood home town of Clyde. It was Anderson's style of writing that influenced a number of American writers that came after him including Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck and Thomas Wolfe.