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Port Clinton, Ohio

Cities in OhioCities in Ottawa County, OhioCounty seats in OhioOhio populated places on Lake Erie
Madison south of Perry in Port Clinton
Madison south of Perry in Port Clinton

Port Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Ottawa County, Ohio, United States, located at the mouth of the Portage River on Lake Erie. The population was 6,025 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Port Clinton micropolitan area, about 34 miles (55 km) southeast of Toledo. The city has been nicknamed the "Walleye Capital of the World", due to the productive fishing waters for the species lying offshore in Lake Erie's Western Basin. The annual Walleye Drop on New Year's Eve in downtown Port Clinton reflects this nickname.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Port Clinton, Ohio (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Port Clinton, Ohio
Jefferson Street,

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Wikipedia: Port Clinton, OhioContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 41.509722222222 ° E -82.940277777778 °
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Address

Ottawa County Courthouse

Jefferson Street
43452
Ohio, United States
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Madison south of Perry in Port Clinton
Madison south of Perry in Port Clinton
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Portage River (Ohio)
Portage River (Ohio)

The Portage River branches run northeast from Wood County & north from Hancock County to Pemberville in eastern Wood County, where it becomes one river, then into Sandusky County, and meanders across Ottawa County through Elmore & Oak Harbor before it empties into Lake Erie at what is now Port Clinton. It most likely derives its name from early explorers who were forced to portage or carry their canoes and boats around the river's intermittent shallows and rapids. It is approximately 41.5 miles (66.8 km) in length.Native Americans were the first to use the river as a food source and for transportation. In 1782, a trader wrote to a merchant in Detroit, "it is expected there will be two French traders at or near Little Island or the Portash [sic] River." In 1850 the Ohio legislature passed the first of several laws mandating the draining of the Great Black Swamp into the Portage and Maumee rivers. This led to the creation of many of the tributaries, streams, and ditches feeding the Portage River. Drainage system changes have caused the Portage River to shift the location of its mouth at least twice in the past three hundred years. Maps recorded in 1754 show the mouth near the present location of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. Prior to that, the river emptied into Lake Erie near West Harbor. Despite its shallow depth, the river is relatively clean, reaching 76 percent of Ohio EPA standards. Environmental concerns include nonpoint pollution sources, inappropriate land use, and sewage discharge. Due to PCB contamination, the Ohio EPA recommends no more than one meal per month of channel catfish and common carp caught in the Portage River.

Sandusky River
Sandusky River

The Sandusky River (Wyandot: saandusti; Shawnee: Potakihiipi ) is a tributary to Lake Erie in north-central Ohio in the United States. It is about 133 miles (214 km) long and flows into Lake Erie at the southwest side of Sandusky Bay. The Sandusky River, like the Maumee River to the west, is home to the annual walleye run in the spring, specifically March–April. The river also receives a run of white bass around the same time in the spring. The numbers of walleye that return to spawn upstream are not as great as those that return to the Maumee River. The Ballville Dam, built on the Sandusky River in Fremont, Ohio, blocked migration for walleye and other fish. As fish can swim farther upstream in the Maumee, they have access to more spawning areas and have developed a larger population than in the Sandusky River. Opponents of the dam projected that its removal would improve access for walleye and other migratory fish to areas upstream and lead to an increase in their population, as has happened on other rivers where dams have been removed. The Ballville Dam was no longer used for power generation or navigation improvements. The city of Fremont undertook a study to explore the options of tearing it down or repairing it. A 2014 study found that removal would have little adverse effect on city conditions and would strongly improve the fisheries. In 2016 voters approved taking down the dam. (Note: The Balville dam was demolished in July 2018). The river's name derives from the Wyandot words saandusti, meaning "water (within water-pools)" or from andusti, meaning "cold water". It was transliterated in various spellings by French and English colonists.