Huron’s First Inhabitants

Huron and Erie County have a rich Native American history. During construction of the nearby Ohio Route 2 bypass in 1976-77, archaeologists uncovered three Native villages and burial sites. The Anderson site, overlooking the Old Woman Creek estuary, contains artifacts dating to the fifteenth century A.D. and was once a permanent village, with remains of bowls, fire pits, and traces of food among its artifacts. The Jenkins site, also near the estuary, was a winter camp where excavators found several pieces of pottery carbon dated to 1470 A.D. The Enderle site, west of the Huron River, was strictly a burial site, and European objects in its graves suggest it was created by a more recent people such as the Delaware or Wyandot Indians. In 1805, Native Americans in the Firelands signed a land cession treaty at Fort Industry, modern Toledo, and in succeeding years were compelled to leave the region.

Huron, Ohio · United States