[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 127 (Tuesday, September 16, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1790]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        IN RECOGNITION OF PORT CLINTON, OHIO'S 175TH ANNIVERSARY

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                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 16, 2003

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, on September 20, 2003, Port Clinton, Ohio 
will mark its 175th anniversary. The town along the shores of Lake Erie 
will celebrate this milestone with a daylong party featuring historic 
re-enactors, old-fashioned food and contests, a parade and fireworks. 
The city will pay tribute to its fishing and boating heritage focusing 
on a display of vintage Lake Erie boats, fried fish dinners, and a 
giant walleye shaped birthday cake.
  In our nation's infancy, New York statesman and the father of the 
Erie Canal DeWitt Clinton suggested a canal from the Portage River in 
Northwest Ohio down to the Ohio River in Cincinnati. Although the canal 
was not built, four years later in June of 1828, Ezekiel Haines founded 
Port Clinton at the proposed canal's beginning. He named the town he 
founded in honor of DeWitt Clinton in tribute to Mr. Clinton's vision. 
The town lay on the Eastern edge of Northwest Ohio's Great Black Swamp 
and was home to many tribes of Native Americans who hunted and fished 
its marshes and waterways. Fishing was the mainstay of the town's first 
settlers, and remains so today.
  The city has many marinas, and boats were built in Port Clinton until 
1974. Although they are no longer built in the community, Port 
Clinton's marinas are home for many commercial and recreational boats 
and the docks of the Port Clinton Fish Company are still in service. 
Even though it has developed through the decades into a commercial 
center and home to business, industry, and tourism, Port Clinton has 
never lost its flavor as a small lake town. Superbly situated between 
Lake Erie and beautiful natural refuges, Port Clinton remains an 
idyllic waterfront community. I join with its residents in proudly 
sharing its 175th birthday.

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