A History of Wood County

Eleazer D. Wood

Lower Maumee Treaty

Fort Meigs

Historical Center and Museum

Cities, Townships, & Villages

Wood County Courthouse

Wood County Jail

Wood County was organized on February 12, 1820, when the legislature carved 14 counties from the lands purchased from the Wyandot, Seneca, Delaware, Shawnee, Potawatomi, Ottawa, and Chippewa tribes as a result of the Lower Maumee Treaty of September 28, 1817.

In May 1822, the Commissioners designated Perrysburg as the first County Seat.  It remained so until 1868 when the Seat of Justice was moved to Bowling Green

Lucas County was then a part of Wood County and Maumee was named by law as the temporary Seat of Justice.  The Act further provided that the unorganized counties of Hancock, Henry, Putnam, Paulding, and Williams should be attached to Wood County for civil purposes until further provisions were made by law.

The County lines were the same as now, except that the northern boundary extended to Michigan.  In 1835, Wood County was dismembered when Lucas County was formed and the Maumee River became its northern boundary.

Wood County was named for Colonel Eleazer D. Wood, a graduate of West Point, a gallant soldier, and the engineer who planned Fort Meigs.

Out of the Great Black Swamp of yesterday emerged a well drained, rich, fertile, and productive county.

Wood County has nineteen townships, twenty-one villages and five cities.

Visit the Wood County Historical Center and Museum to learn more information about Wood County and Northwest Ohio.