Clyde

Clyde is home to the world's largest washing machine manufacturing plant and its citizens proudly proclaim their hometown as 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 Clyde's 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 and both cultures seemed to tolerate the other.

Municipal Building, 222 N. Main Street, Clyde

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 a big cash crop here for more than a 100 years and is the reason several sauerkraut plants are located in Sandusky County and in nearby Fremont.

The name Clyde came from a village in New York state named Clyde and that town was named in honor of a river in Scotland named Clyde. Many of the inhabitants of that village actually came from Scotland and then some of their descendents moved to Sandusky County. 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, then there were other references to it being called Centerville (halfway between Yorks Crossing later changed to Bellevue and Lower Sandusky, later changed to Fremont).

James Birdseye McPherson

Deeply seated in Clyde's culture is the fact that James B. McPherson, one of the earliest men to actually be born in what would become Clyde. His father and some friends arrived in in 1823 and began the process of claiming title to sections of land, clearing that land, and all the steps necessary to set up a homestead. Once those basic steps were accomplished, they traveled back to New York state, brought their wives, families and friends back with them Sandusky County.

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

William McPherson brought his wife back to Hamer's Corner in 1824. Four years later James was born in the wood frame house that still stands today at the corner of Maple Street and McPherson Highway. He was named for William's good friend, James Birdseye who came with him to Hamer's Corner in 1823.

The reason why James B. McPherson is so much a part of this community even today, even though he left Clyde before he was 20 years old, is because James B. McPherson would become a general in the War of the Rebellion, commonly called the Civil War today. Not only was he a great general, but he was the highest ranking Union officer to be killed in that war. But that's not the end of the story.

After his death in the Battle of Atlanta, James body was returned to Clyde and his mother and family buried him in the family cemetery across from his home. So tragic was this event that the citizens of Clyde wanted to erect a statue, but they were lacked the necessary funds. Meanwhile James military comrades also wanted to honor the man by erecting a grand statue in Washington D.C., which they did. This statue was on a large stone pedestal designed so that it could hold the body of James B. McPherson. So they requested permission from his mother if he could be re-interred in Washington D.C. She granted them permission, but when the citizens of Clyde found out about this, they posted guards at James grave site around the clock to prevent anyone from stealing away with his body.

Eventually, after some funding from the citizens of Clyde, some state funds, and donations from James' Army of the Tennessee, a statue was cast and placed over his grave site in Clyde.

Sherwood Anderson

Another person of interest to the culture of Clyde is Sherwood Anderson. Sherwood Anderson had a troubled childhood mostly because of his father's problems. He was born in 1876 in a small town in southwest Ohio named Camden. It was about halfway between Oxford and Eaton. Not long after his birth, his father ran into problems which lingered with the family even after moving multiple times. By the time the family arrived in Clyde in 1884, the Anderson family was in dire straits. Anderson's father couldn't keep a job and his mother did washing to keep food on the table.

Eventually his father left the Anderson household and never returned. In 1895 his mother died of tuberculosis and at the age of 20 Sherwood left Clyde and moved to Chicago where his older brother lived.

Before leaving Clyde, Sherwood had enlisted in the Ohio National Guard and when it appeared the country would soon be at war with Spain, his unit was called up to active duty. Sherwood returned to Clyde for additional training and then was sent to Cuba. After the war he returned to Clyde where he remained only for a short time before moving to Springfield to live with his brother and attend school, while working odd jobs.

Over the next 10 years or so, Sherwood moved around a bit, held a variety of jobs, was married, began to write and had a nervous breakdown. Once his psychological became tolerable, Sherwood began writing seriously and having his work published. He also began putting together novels that were successful and in 1919 he had his 3rd novel published titled Winesburg, Ohio, which was actually an interwove collection of short stories.

Winesburg, Ohio would be his most recognized work although he would go on to publish 9 novels, 4 short story collections (which included Winesburg, Ohio). As his writing career expanded, he also became an influence to other writers like William Faulkner, Carl Sandburg, and Ernest Hemingway.

Tragically, in 1941 Sherwood accidentally swallowed a toothpick which punctured his intestine which killed him. He was 64 at the time.

A town by any other name is still Clyde
Novelist and short story writer, Sherwood Anderson grew up in Clyde, today one of his most famous works was a series of short stories in an 1890s small town attributed to Winesburg, a small Amish community in northeastern Ohio. But in reality, Mr. Anderson was telling tales on his troubled boyhood home in Clyde.
Anderson's style of writing influenced a number of American writers that came after him including Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck and Thomas Wolfe.

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.