Formed 1838 from the northern part of Huron County and a portion of Sandusky County · county seat Sandusky. Repository addresses, online record links, and a free printable record checklist below.
Short episodes that walk through Erie County's records, one record type at a time.
Formation · Settlers & Migration · Probate · Land · Tax · Churches · Newspapers · Where to Look
Watch on YouTube323 Columbus Ave., 2nd Floor, Sandusky, OH 44870 · (419) 627-7750
eriecounty.oh.gov/ProbateCourt
Wills/estates, guardianships, adoptions, marriage licenses, name changes, and birth/death records before December 20, 1908.
247 Columbus Ave., Suite 225, Sandusky, OH 44870 · (419) 627-7686
eriecounty.oh.gov/recorder_home
Deeds, mortgages, and land conveyance records. Online index only back to 1987 — older records must be requested directly.
323 Columbus Avenue, Sandusky, OH 44870 · (419) 627-7705
eriecounty.oh.gov/ClerkofCourts.aspx
Divorces, civil suits (including partition suits that divide land among heirs), and Common Pleas journals. Before 1852, this court also handled wills and estates.
247 Columbus Avenue, #210, Sandusky, OH 44870 · (419) 627-6653
Current tax lists and property transfer records. Early tax duplicates are on FamilySearch and at the Ohio History Connection.
114 W. Adams St., Sandusky, OH 44870 · (419) 625-3834
sanduskylib.org/local-history-and-blog
Photographs, maps, historic newspapers on microfilm, the Oakland Cemetery interment index, the Hayes Obituary Index, and remote NewspaperArchive/Ancestry/Fold3 access with a library card.
PO Box 923, Norwalk, OH 44857 · meets at 9 Case Ave., Norwalk
The dedicated Erie County OGS chapter is no longer active — this Norwalk-based society expanded to cover both Huron and Erie counties, and directed a 1980s Erie County cemetery transcription project now partly held at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library.
PO Box 944, Sandusky, OH 44871 · (419) 702-0001
A different organization from the genealogical society above — an umbrella group coordinating the county's many local museums (Follett House, Maritime Museum, Merry-Go-Round Museum, and more) rather than a single central archive.
420 Superior St., Sandusky, OH 44870 · (419) 626-5623
eriecohealthohio.com/birth-death-records
Certified birth/death certificates for events on or after December 20, 1908. Earlier records are at the Probate Court above.
Not sure which office has what? See Which County Office Holds What.
Many Erie County record books are filmed and free to view at FamilySearch (free account required).
In Full-Text Search, add Erie County, Ohio as the place to find names inside handwritten deeds, wills, and court books. How to use it.
Erie County was formed in 1838 from Huron and Sandusky Counties. For records made before then, search the parent counties:
All of Erie County lies in the Connecticut Western Reserve, land Connecticut kept when it gave up its western claims, sold privately through the Connecticut Land Company. There are no federal land patents here, so start with the earliest deeds at the county Recorder (or the parent county's Recorder).
All of Erie County lies in the Firelands, the western end of the Western Reserve, set aside for Connecticut families whose towns were burned by the British during the Revolutionary War. Claims and early deeds name those families.
Titles that covered Erie County, historic and current, with where to search each one. Not every historic title has been digitized — several survive only on microfilm.
| Title | Years | Where to Search |
|---|---|---|
| Sandusky Clarion | 1822–1852 | Chronicling America |
| Sandusky Daily Register | 1851–1894 | Chronicling America; Ohio Memory |
| Sandusky Register | 1869–current | Chronicling America (historic); Newspapers.com (1849–1968); current at sanduskyregister.com |
| Sandusky Star-Journal | c. 1900s–1941 | Chronicling America |
| Norwalk Reflector | 1854–current | norwalkreflector.com — historic runs microfilm only, check local library |
Fill in what you're looking for, print it, and take it with you to the courthouse or library.
Brick Walls & Buckeyes
brickwallsbuckeyes.com · Erie County, Ohio
Addresses and links last checked October 2026.
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