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History · Bay

Bay’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Bay. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Bay Township is one of the twelve townships of Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 1,142 people in the township.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,458 to 1,142 (-22%). Half of its homes were built before 1982.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bay yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Bay’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bay’s history is told.

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
By decade

Bay, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Bay is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Bay has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Ottawa County Courthouse in Port Clinton, 4.3 miles away.

Bay and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Bay. Tap a dot.
Ottawa County CourthouseIsland HouseSt. Thomas Episcopal ChurchPort Clinton City HallGill-Luchsinger-Bahnsen House and BarnCarroll Township Hall

Closest to Bay

Ottawa County CourthousePort Clinton · Richardsonian Romanesque4.3miIsland HousePort Clinton · Italianate4.4miSt. Thomas Episcopal ChurchPort Clinton · Building4.5miPort Clinton City HallPort Clinton · Neo-Classical Revival4.5miGill-Luchsinger-Bahnsen House and BarnPort Clinton · Building4.6mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Ottawa County Courthouse’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Bay?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Bay’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Erie📜 Port Clinton📜 Salem📜 Rice
The coffee’s on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Bay, OHOttawa CountyView boundary

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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