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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 109
It is said that in the early days a number of physicians were attracted
to Huron by the marshes, which were supposed to be unhealthy; but as
the marshes are on a level with the lake the water is pure, and they
failed to supply the expected business, so these gentlemen moved away
again.
That part of the mail line of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern
Railroad known as the northern division which runs from Elyria via
Sandusky to a junction with the southern division at Alilbury, near
Toledo, runs through the town east and west. The Lake Shore Electric
also passes through Huron, giving direct trolley connection with Cleveland
and the East and through Sandusky with Toledo, Lima and the
West. Besides these a branch of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad,
leaving the main line at Norwalk, terminates here.
Before the completion of the Milan Canal, the natural advantages of
the harbor and the improvements made by the United States Government
TUGS IN WINTER QUARTERS, HURON, 1915
made the prospects of the village very bright, except for the cholera epidemic
in 1834, when the growth aud business of the place were seriously
checked. All industry was given up for the care of the sick. In that
year there was a heavy tide of immigration from Europe, and many of
the immigrants arrived sick or dying. Of the five physicians in Huron,
one died of the disease, when three others gave up and left, leaving
Doctor Haskin to labor alone.
When the plague was checked by the early winter frosts business and
immigration both increased until within the next decade a population of
more than 2,000 had settled here; but from the completion of
the canal business men began moving up to the new head of navigation,
and a great shrinkage in real estate values followed. Property that had
been worth thousands of dollars was sold for taxes, and destructive fires
(said in some cases to have been set for the insurance) were quite common.
The records of the village were burned, which is quite an incon-