Erie

Formed March 15, 1838 (76^th county)

Erie County (75,619), Sandusky (25,103)

The masonry Art Deco look to the 1874 building was altered in 1939.  It is located on Columbus Avenue between Washington and Adams streets.  Ohio State Highway 4 passes in front of the courthouse.  Henry E. Myer is the building architect.  The building sits in a park environment and features a tower with a working clock.  The grounds have memorials to veterans, fire fighters, and police officers.  The county was established on March 15, 1838 from parts of Huron and Sandusky counties as the 76^th county.  Sandusky has always been the county seat.  Erie County is named for the Native American tribe.  The county seat name is Native American for “pure water.”  The source is also the same for Sandusky County. 

Erie County government consists of an auditor, a sheriff, an attorney, and a coroner (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Five Common Pleas Court Judges and a court clerk serve Erie County (judicial.)  Erie County is on the northern border with Canada.  Lake Erie forms its northern border.  Toledo, Ohio is northwest and Cleveland, Ohio is northeast of the county.  The county center is 4 miles East-Southeast of Sandusky nearer Huron.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Canada and Lorain, Huron, Sandusky, and Ottawa counties. 

The area of the county is 254.9 square miles.  It is 87 out of 88 in the state.  It ranks 33 out of 88 in population in the state.  It has a density of 296.7 persons per square mile making it 21 out of 88 in the state.  Erie County has 52.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highways 80/90 travel east to west through the county from Lorain County to Sandusky County.  United States Highway 6 parallels Interstate Highway 80 from Lorain to Sandusky counties.  United States Highway 250 originates and heads south, Huron County.  The county looks like the State of Vermont lying on its west side.  Sandusky is located on the northwest border of the county.  Sandusky is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 33.2% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced SAN-DUS-KEE.  This county is in the Sandusky Metropolitan Statistical Area.