Firelands
Historical region of Ohio, United States
title: "Firelands" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["former-regions-and-territories-of-the-united-states", "history-of-connecticut", "pre-statehood-history-of-ohio", "western-reserve,-ohio"] description: "Historical region of Ohio, United States" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firelands" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Historical region of Ohio, United States ::
The Firelands, or Sufferers' Lands, tract was located at the western end of the Connecticut Western Reserve in what is now the U.S. state of Ohio. It was legislatively established in 1792, as the "Sufferers' Lands", and later became named "Fire Lands" because the resale of the land was intended as financial restitution for residents of the Connecticut towns of Danbury, Fairfield, Greenwich, Groton, New Haven, New London, Norwalk, and Ridgefield. Their homes had been burned in 1779 and 1781 by British forces during the American Revolutionary War. However, most of the settlement of the area did not occur until after the War of 1812. "Fire Lands" was later spelled as one word: "Firelands."
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Western_Reserve_Including_the_Fire_Lands_1826.jpg" caption="Map of the Western Reserve in 1826: the Firelands are on the west end (left)."] ::
History
In 1792 the Connecticut legislature set aside 500000 acre at the western end of the "Western Reserve" for the Connecticut "Sufferers". The area consisted of nearly all of the present-day Huron and Erie counties, as well as Danbury Township (Marblehead Peninsula) and much of Catawba Island Township now in Ottawa County; and Ruggles Township now in Ashland County. (The 1792 legislative decree should not be confused with the actual pioneer settlement of these lands, which began to occur about 1807.)
It is not known if any of the actual "Sufferers" eventually settled in the Firelands. Prior to any settlement here, land speculators had purchased all of the original claims for re-sale. On April 15, 1803, the investor-proprietors formed a corporation to manage the lands to which they were entitled in the newly formed state of Ohio. The land was later divided into 30 square survey townships, 5 mi on a side, which were further subdivided into 120 quarters, each containing 4,000 acre. (Although the standard for U.S. survey townships in the Northwest Territory was 6 mi square at that time, the older standard for survey townships in the Western Reserve was employed.) A drawing was held to determine which land each individual investor share-holder would receive.
Some of the original townships in the Firelands took their names from locations in Connecticut, or from the land-speculators who had purchased them. (In some cases the pioneer settlers took a dislike to these speculators, and so changed their township names.) Later, after the War of 1812, when villages began to be established here, many of these villages were also named for Connecticut villages.
In 1811, Huron County encompassed the entire Firelands (and also included a portion of later Lorain County). Until 1837, all of the Firelands would lie within—and therefore co-exist with—Huron County.
Modern sign-posts erected within this area have the "established 1792" designation date, as mentioned above. The lands were physically surveyed from 1806 to 1808, and very slowly settled after 1808. No villages had developed within the Firelands until about the end of the War of 1812. (The 1806–1808 surveys were not entirely accurate and exceeded the legislative parameters for the entire "Western Reserve" boundaries, resulting in "surplus lands" directly east of the boundary line of the Firelands.)
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/frldsign.jpg" caption="Firelands sign along [[Ohio State Route 4]] in Sherman Township, Huron County, Ohio"] ::
Municipalities
::data[format=table]
| Ashland County |
|---|
| none |
| :: |
::data[format=table]
| Erie County |
|---|
| Bay View |
| Bellevue (part) |
| Berlin Heights |
| Castalia |
| Huron |
| Milan (part) |
| Sandusky |
| Vermilion (part) |
| :: |
::data[format=table]
| Huron County |
|---|
| Bellevue (part) |
| Greenwich |
| Milan (part) |
| Monroeville |
| New London |
| North Fairfield |
| Norwalk |
| Plymouth (part) |
| Wakeman |
| Willard |
| :: |
::data[format=table]
| Ottawa County |
|---|
| Marblehead |
| :: |
Townships
::data[format=table]
| Ashland County |
|---|
| Ruggles |
| :: |
::data[format=table]
| Erie County |
|---|
| Berlin |
| Florence |
| Groton |
| Huron |
| Margaretta |
| Milan |
| Oxford |
| Perkins |
| Vermilion |
| :: |
::data[format=table]
| Huron County |
|---|
| Bronson |
| Clarksfield |
| Fairfield |
| Fitchville |
| Greenfield |
| Greenwich |
| Hartland |
| Lyme |
| New Haven |
| New London |
| :: |
::data[format=table]
| Ottawa County |
|---|
| Catawba Island (part) |
| Danbury |
| :: |
Unincorporated places
::data[format=table]
| Ashland County |
|---|
| Hereford |
| Ruggles |
| :: |
::data[format=table]
| Erie County |
|---|
| Anderson |
| Avery |
| Axtel |
| Berlin Heights Station |
| Berlinville |
| Beulah Beach |
| Birmingham |
| Bloomingville |
| Bluebird Beach |
| Bogart |
| Cedar Point |
| Ceylon |
| Chaska Beach |
| Columbus Park |
| Crystal Rock |
| Fairview Lanes |
| Florence |
| Franklin Flats |
| Heidelberg Beach |
| Joppa |
| Kimball |
| Mitiwanga |
| North Milan |
| :: |
::data[format=table]
| Huron County |
|---|
| Bismarck |
| Boughtonville |
| Celeryville |
| Centerton |
| Clarksfield |
| Collins |
| Delphi |
| East Norwalk |
| East Townsend |
| Fitchville |
| Guinea Corners |
| Hanville Corners |
| Hartland |
| Hartland Station |
| Havana |
| Holiday Lakes |
| Hunts Corners |
| :: |
::data[format=table]
| Ottawa County |
|---|
| Danbury |
| Harbor Acres |
| Lakeside |
| Mineyahta-on-the-Bay |
| :: |
References
References
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::