Shortly after the War of 1812, Israel Harrington (1779-1841) established a tavern at Lower Sandusky, now Fremont. As a judge and land speculator, he influenced the organization of much of northwestern Ohio. In 1824 he traded the tavern for land a short distance from this site, where an Indian trail crossed the Portage River, and Elmore grew from this settlement. Harrington and his father, also Israel Harrington, a veteran of the American Revolution, are interred here along with many pioneers who transformed this section of the Black Swamp into productive farmland.