Erie County, Ohio

Founding: March 16, 1838
Parent county: Huron

Namesake: Lake Erie
Seat: Sandusky (1838–)

Land area: 252 square miles

Population (2010): 77,079

Population (historic): 12,599 (1840); 32,640 (1880); 42,133 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1840–1880; 1940–1970

Subdivisions: Three cities; six villages; four CDPs; nine townships

National Register listings: 178

Income (per capita): $25,290

Income (median household): $46,593
Business establishments: 1,859 (41.5 people per business)
Pre-1939 residences (estimated): 9,220 (24.4%)
Vacant houses: 5,779 (15.3%)
Sources of settlement: New York, Germany, England, and Ireland

Sandusky

Namesake: The Wyandot word saundustee ("water" or "cold water")

Founding: 1817 (platting, as Portland)

Population (2010): 25,793

Population (historic): 593 (1830); 8,408 (1860); 19,664 (1900); 24,022 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1830–1890; 1910s; 1940s
Typology: Grid (modified, with diagonal streets and parks)

First Courthouse

Photo from the Sandusky Library collection.

Location: Sandusky

Construction: 1830s

Years of service: 1838–1872

Typology: Side-gabled; stone; three-story

Style: Federal

Builder: Unknown

Cost: Unknown

Status: Razed

Features of note: Octagonal central cupola; stepped gables; five-by-two bay arrangement; rectangular lintels and sills; twelve-over-twelve windows. A repurposed school.

Second Courthouse

Photo from the collection of B.W. Smith.

Location: 323 Columbus Avenue (Sandusky)

Construction: 1872–1874 / 1936–1939

Years of service: 1874–

Typology: Axial; stone; three-story (with elevated basement)

Style: Art Deco

Architects: Myers and Holmes / Henry Millott

Cost: $142,026 ($3,127,409 in 2017 dollars)

Status: Extant; functional

Features of note: Central clock tower; paneling between windows; projecting central bay; first-floor rusticated walls; round-arched windows with vermiculated keystones.

Sources: Wikipedia; Courthouse History; United States Census Bureau; A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio (Lewis, 1916).