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.
At a Glance
- County: Ottawa County
- County seat of Ottawa County
- State: Ohio
History of Port Clinton
Established in 1828, the town was named after New York governor DeWitt Clinton, who was instrumental in creating the Erie Canal, which connected the Midwest along the Great Lakes to the markets of the Hudson River and New York.
The city saw small population growth throughout 19th century, with a population of 1,600 in 1880 and 2,049 residents in 1890. By 1886, Port Clinton contained three newspaper offices, four churches, and one bank. Several manufacturing businesses existed in the town, with the largest being A. Couche & Company, a sawmill that employed ten workers. Most businesses provided services or products to farmers in the surrounding countryside.
During the 20th century, Port Clinton’s population grew, especially in the second half of the century with the expansion of the Vacationland region as a whole with increasing tourism. In 2000, 6,391 residents lived in the community.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Port Clinton, Ohio, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.