Vermilion Historical Society
Preserving The History Of Vermilion Ohio

Vermilion Historical Society

History Living On In Vermilion Ohio

The Vermilion Historical Society diligently works to preserve and protect the fascinating history of Vermilion, Ohio by cataloging collections of historical documents, photographs and artifacts. The Vermilion History Museum promotes an appreciation of Vermilion's history through featuring historical artifacts and photos available for public viewing in Vermilion, Ohio's historic downtown, Harbour Town.  Learn More....

Commercial Fishing – A Family Affair Featured

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Glen Cutcher will present “Great Lakes Commercial Fishing – A Family Affair”, the heritage of fishing in his family, for the Vermilion Historical Society on Tuesday, March 24 at 7 PM.

The Vermilion Historical Society in partnership with the Vermilion History Museum and the Ritter Public Library will host a program featuring the history of fishing from the techniques used by the early American Indians to those used by commercial fisherman in Vermilion and the Great Lakes.

Glen Cutcher, a director of the Historical Society, has compiled his father’s collection of photos and videos of commercial fishing into a video narrative titled “Lake Erie Commercial Fishing – A Family Affair”. The family connection stretches several generations from Cutcher’s great-great-grandfathers to his father who were all involved in the fishing industry.

The video explains how fishing nets were made, repaired and maintained. Original videos shot with a 16mm camera and photos of Vermilion’s commercial fishing history will also be featured.

The program will be presented on Tuesday, March 24th at 7:00 PM in the Ritter Public Library, 5680 Liberty Avenue - lower level. Refreshments will be served following the program.

The program is free and open to the public to enjoy. For more information contact: [email protected]

1000151708.jpgLawrence Lacourse, Cutcher’s great uncle, operates a fish tug in the 1930s.
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Vera Cutcher stands next to the H.B. Kishman of the Kishman Fish Company in the 1940s.

Vermilion Historical Society Celebrates 20th Calendar Edition

1000058184.jpg“Linwood Park - A Vermilion Treasure” is the 2026 theme of the Vermilion Historical Society’s 20th calendar. Historic photos included are the Old Bell Tower,  Bath House, Wahl’s Souvenir Stand, Merry Go Round, German Tabernacle, Chapel and more. Linwood Park is like entering another world filled with history and nostalgia.

The calendar committee meets in February to decide on the theme for the calendar.  Once a subject has been chosen the committee members are given assignments to find photos and write descriptions for them. Committee members are Walter Baughman, Glen Cutcher, Candy Fischer, Judy Gutman and Margaret Wakefield Worcester.

Glen Cutcher creates the print-ready graphic layout for the calendar.  Judy Gutman and Candy Fischer, the proofreaders, remember the rules of grammar and spelling instilled in them by their high school English teacher, Lorna Schroeder. Gutman said, “She definitely left an impression on us!”

The Society sells the calendars for $5.00 as a fund raising project. Proceeds are used to purchase archival quality supplies to preserve historical materials in their collection. This year 38 businesses and individuals sponsored the printing of the calendar which enables the sale of calendars to be pure profit.

Calendars are available for sale at Brummers Chocolates, Vermilion History Museum and Linwood Park Store/Museum. Calendars are also available by mail for $8.50 by sending a check to the Vermilion Historical Society, 5680 Liberty Avenue, Vermilion, OH 44089.


Vermilion History Museum

The Vermilion History Museum, in downtown Vermilion, served as a print shop and a weekly newspaper from 1905 to 1964. The print shop houses two linotypes (c.1915), and 4 letter presses: A Stonemetz 2 revolution newspaper press (c.1919); a Kelly press (c.1917); a Chandler & Price 8"x12" Gorden Jobber Press (c.1900); and a Heidelberg windmill Press (c.1954). There is a book bindary and storage room with a manual paper cutter, electric stapler, and a manual hole punch machine.


VERMILION HISTORY MUSEUM


Historic Vermilion Walking Tour

Take a walk back through time in historic downtown Vermilion, Ohio. Our tour begins in The Commons area of the Ritter Public Library at 5680 Liberty Avenue in downtown Vermilion, Ohio.


Historic Vermilion Walking Tour

Historic Photos of Vermilion Ohio

Discover Vermilion, Ohio's fascinating history in photos. Explore a small sampling of the Vermilion Historical Society's photo archive collection.


Historic Vermilion Photo Gallery

Stories of Vermilion

Oral History Videos Series

Stories of Vermilion, Oral History Video Series, is a series of local history interview video programs by Ritter Public Library hosted by Rich Tarrant, local historian and curator of the Vermilion History Museum.


ORAL HISTORY VIDEO SERIES

Discover the History of Vermilion Ohio

Settlers & Incorporation

Between 1808 and 1811 the first settlers struggled into the Township to claim land already surveyed by Almon Ruggles.  The area was part of a tract offered by the State of Connecticut to the Fire Sufferers whose property had been plundered by the British during the Revolutionary War. A section of Connecticut's Western Reserve, it was appropriately called the Firelands. And using the name the Indians had given the river; the Firelands Company named Township No. 6, Range 20, Vermilion.  However, so many years had passed and so much red tape was involved...


SETTLERS & INCORPORATION

Vermilion River & Industries

Captain William Austin was a man of energy and built the first schooner along the river in 1812. She was the FRIENDSHIP, a schooner of the times, about a fifty footer registered at 57 tons in Cleveland in 1817. Solomon Parsons built the second schooner, the VERMILION, in 1814 and registered in Detroit at 36 tons about 40 feet. Where these ships were built is not exactly known but the builders chose a flat place along the riverside. This most certainly had to be near the foot of Huron Street where the later shipyard stood when ship building became the main industry in the village. Small schooners were ideal for scudding along the lake shore bringing in supplies from Buffalo and other ports. They were as large as the natural river bars would allow and enough cargo capacity to supply the needs of the early settlements. The schooner was the "work horse" and a very important transportation means in the opening of the vast Great Lakes Country. They reigned supreme until a new form of transportation arrived along shore - the steam railroad...


River & Industry

Railways

With the first trains running through Vermilion starting in 1853, we have been hearing whistles ever since. In fact, our town has been a railroad town for a long time now, over 140 years of rumbling, roaring, shaking, screaming tornados rushing through the quiet village. Ships have come and gone but they were never the acoustic monsters like the trains which roll along like wild demons in a race; freight of all kinds flies through the city, and as far as we can foresee, it will continue for 140 more years. Such is life in a railroad town...


Railways

Recreation

The year 2002 marks the 118th birthday of Linwood Park, originally Evangelical United Brethren, now United Methodist-oriented; it is a semi-private family park, owned and operated by the Linwood Park company, maintained by the Park Superintendent with admittance gate fees collected by the Board of Directors during the season from early June until Labor Day. Just east of downtown Vermilion on Rt. 6 on the north side of the road are an easily overlooked apartment complex, a gas station and a bank. On this acreage, as early as 1870 stood a picnic grove called Shadduck Lake Park. This pleasant grove became popular because the tree shaded area was accessible to horse-drawn buggies. In 1906 George Blanchat purchased the park and named it Crystal Beach Park after his wife, Josephine's, description of the "crystal-like" sand on the beach. With rides and concessions added, Crystal Beach opened on Decoration Day, 1907. Along with the transition of ownership and name...


RECREATION 

Historical Society Online Collections Database


Online Archives Collections

Vermilion Historic Register


Vermilion Historic Register


Discover Vermilion Ohio