Editing Huron, Ohio (section)

==History==
Huron Township was at the center of the "[[Firelands]]" region of the [[Connecticut Western Reserve]].  The first permanent settler in the area that became Huron Township was a Quebec-born trapper, trader and interpreter named John Baptiste Flammand (or, "Flemming"; and often misspelled "Flemmond"), who established a trading post about 1805, approx. two miles inland upon the east bank of the Huron River. Other French traders had preceded him, including Gabriel Hunot in the 1780s.

[[Huron Township, Erie County, Ohio|Huron Township]] was established in 1809. Huron Village was later established between 1821 and 1824, when a town plat was surveyed, and port facilities at the mouth of the Huron River were developed; and the village quickly became a major shipbuilding center in the 1830s. [The current community of Huron is sometimes mistaken to have been the same as the "town plat of Huron" (also known as "the old County Seat" village), which was established about 1814, and was actually within the present [[Milan Township, Ohio|Milan Township]] (formerly known as Avery Township before 1821).<ref>Fire Lands Pioneer series; 1858-1913 Firelands Historical Society</ref>]

The [[Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad (1871-1886)|Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad]] greatly expanded Huron's port on the east bank of the [[Huron River (Ohio)|Huron River]] beginning in 1880.  The first cargo of [[iron ore]] at the W&LE docks was received May 21, 1884.  The port is still in use today, accepting cargoes of iron ore and [[limestone]] from [[lake freighter]]s.  Huron was also the home port of several commercial [[fishery|fishing]] fleets before unbridled lake pollution decimated the industry on [[Lake Erie]] by the early 1970s.  Water quality in Lake Erie has greatly improved as a result of strong environmental controls since then and [[Recreational fishing|sport fishing]] has increased in popularity in the area.  However, the Lake faces new threats from [[algal blooms]] and several [[invasive species]] such as [[zebra mussels]] and [[Asian carp]] that may impact sport fishing in the future.