History of the

Ottawa County Museum

1840s

• 1840 - March 6, Ottawa County was officially founded.

1930s

• 1931 - Emil Hostrup, a Councilman from the Port Clinton Village Council, asked the local DeLery chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution to organize and establish a museum for Ottawa County. Subsequently, the first Ottawa County Historical Society was founded to fulfill this mission.

• The initial collections were composed of textiles, glassware, China, firearms, Native American artifacts, pioneer equipment, paintings, pictures, collection cases, geological specimens, literary contributions, and maps associated with the founding of Port Clinton.

DAR Sponsors

DAR Sponsors

May Hasselbart

• 1932 - Feb 23, volunteer workers officially opened the museum within the Port Clinton City Hall.

• 1932 - May 21, May Hasselbart was officially hired as the first curator. The Port Clinton Council provided the salary, approx $8.40 per month, plus a budget for supplies and additional supply cases. During its first year, the museum recorded 171 visitors.

• 1935 - in May, The Ottawa County Historical Society and Museum was registered in Columbus by the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society (today, they are known as Ohio History Connection).

• 1937 - The museum saw a massive increase in visitation and in donations. By spring, the museum hosted visitors from 31 states and several foreign countries. The number of exhibits increased from 56 to 205.

1940s

• The museum continued to see consistent increases in visitation throughout the decade, with the exception of 1944 which saw a decrease due to the polio outbreak.

1950s

• 1957 - May 17, The museum celebrated its 25th Anniversary, where coverage of the celebration was featured in both the Toledo Blade and the Port Clinton Herald.

1960s

• 1963 - Marion Cleary was hired as curator by Mayor Wilbur Peterson. During her tenure, she made several trips to museums in Cincinnati, Ohio, researching the life of William Lytle, Surveyor General of the Northwest territory.

25th Anniversary Event

Elizabeth Denney

1970s

• 1973 - Elizabeth Denney became the curator.

• 1975 - The museum was moved downstairs in the Port Clinton City Hall to newly redecorated basement rooms. Even though it was a larger space, the museum suffered several flooding incidents.

• 1979 - A very successful exhibit during the city's sesquicentennial celebration prompted a group of friends to incorporate as the Port Clinton Area Heritage Foundation with the dedicated mission of finding a home for the museum.

1980s

• 1980-1990s - Throughout the decade the Museum acquired several iconic pieces of its collection including the anchor in front of the museum, a 17-foot Matthews fishing skiff, a desk from the county courthouse, a rib from Commander Perry's ship the Niagara, artifacts from the Success, and Native American artifacts.

• 1986 - Resulting from the efforts of years of donation campaigns and $10,000 worth of certified deposits, the John Belknap building on Third Street was purchased.

• 1987 - Remodeling of the building took place.

• 1988 - May 15, The museum officially opened in its new location.

• Late 1980s - The Ottawa County Historical Society resigned from administering the museum and eventually the museum and the society became separate organizations. The P.C. Area Heritage Foundation became the brand for overseeing the museum.

Tom Day

1990s

• 1992 - Museum closed down for a couple of months following the sudden passing of curator Elizabeth Denney. August 10, 1992 Barbara J Bailey was employed as the new curator / administrator.

• Circa 1997 - Jane Beckett served as the curator.

• 1999 - Eugene Van Voorhis served as the curator.

2000s

• Circa 2002 - Vicki Ashton served as the curator.

• 2005 - Tom Day was hired as curator.

• 2008 - Peggy Debien was hired as curator, the museum hosts an open house celebrating its 75th anniversary.

• 2009 - July 18, ground broken on building expansion, a 1180 sq. foot single-story room called the Zeis Wing, named after long-standing curators Lockwood and Mary Jane Zeis. The expansion was funded primarily by the Paul Fox Estate. Artifacts that had been kept in Portage Township were returned to the museum.

2010s

• 2010 - The anchor was installed outside of the museum, thanks to the efforts of board member T. Park McRitchie and his team QuickStir from Erie Township.

• 2010 - Ottawa County Historical Museum changed to Ottawa County Museum by the museum's board to reduce confusion with the Ottawa County Historical Society.

• 2011 - Museum acquires famous collection piece "Matthews Boat".

2020s

• 2025 - Ottawa County Museum hired an assistant curator and made its collection available online.