SANDUSKY

city, seat (1838) of Erie county, northern Ohio, U.S. It lies along Sandusky Bay (Lake Erie's largest natural harbour [there bridged to Port Clinton]), 63 miles (101 km) west of Cleveland. In the 18th century the French and British established trading posts in the area, and Fort Sandusky was burned in 1763 during Pontiac's War (an Indian uprising). Sandusky was a supply depot during the War of 1812; Commodore Oliver Perry's naval victory (Sept. 10, 1813) over the British occurred about 25 miles (40 km) northwest, near Put-in-Bay. Previously known as Ogontz Place, after an Ottawa Indian chief, the site was settled (1816) by Connecticut residents who had been awarded the land for losses suffered from British raids during the American Revolution. It was also briefly known as Portland. The present name (from a Wyandot Indian word meaning cold or pure water) was adopted in 1845. The first railroad arrived in 1838. In the 1850s Sandusky was a terminus of the Underground Railroad, an escape route for slaves. Johnson's Island in Sandusky Bay was a prison for Confederate officers during the American Civil War. Its harbour location south of Marblehead Peninsula and a cluster of offshore islands (notably Kelleys Island) has made Sandusky a focal point for a popular summer recreation area, and tourism is a major economic asset. Fish markets, the lake trade (especially coal shipping), wineries, and industry (notably food processing and the manufacture of steel, iron castings, auto parts, and plastic and paper products) are basic to the economy. The Firelands Campus (1968) of Bowling Green State University is in Huron, 10 miles (16 km) east. Inc. city, 1824. Pop. (1990) 29,764.