Business
The Port of Toledo moves grain from farms like those around Bellevue to the world
Ohio's busiest Great Lakes port handles grain, iron ore, coal and project cargo. Its grain elevators connect northwest Ohio farms to overseas…
SundayNov. 152026
Huron · Sandusky · Seneca · Erie counties
Tom Brandt
Writer, The Bellevue Gazette
Tom Brandt covers business, agriculture and the railroad for The Bellevue Gazette, from the Norfolk Southern yard to grain elevators and Main Street storefronts.
91 stories
Business
Norwalk’s uptown and the businesses that keep a county seat busy
The Huron County seat, 15 miles east of Bellevue, mixes courthouse traffic, family-owned shops and a drag strip that draws national crowds.
Business
Whirlpool’s Clyde plant, the washing machine factory next door
The Sandusky County plant is one of the largest washing machine factories in the world and one of the region's biggest employers.
Business
Tiffin’s two universities and the water lab that tracks the Sandusky River
Heidelberg University and Tiffin University anchor the Seneca County seat. Heidelberg's water-quality lab has measured farm runoff for more than 50 years.
Community
A Flat Rock sailor in Tokyo Bay, 1945: Willis Lodge and the USS Monterey
A letter home from a Seneca County sailor aboard the light carrier USS Monterey described the end of the war in the…
Schools & Sports
NASA’s test facility near Sandusky and the science careers it offers local students
The former Plum Brook Station tests spacecraft in some of the world's largest vacuum chambers, and it hires engineers and technicians from…
Business
Honda’s Ohio EV hub and what it means for parts suppliers in the north
Honda is retooling its central Ohio plants for electric vehicles and building a battery plant with LG. Suppliers across the state are…
Business
Celeryville’s muck farms grow vegetables for half the Midwest
South of Willard in Huron County, a Dutch-settled farming community built one of Ohio's biggest vegetable-growing areas on drained marshland.
Business
Huron’s harbor, from ore docks to a waterfront city
The Erie County city at the mouth of the Huron River was once a busy industrial port. Its harbor and lighthouse now…
News
Lake Erie’s algal bloom season: how the forecast works and what it means for water
Each summer, NOAA and Heidelberg University predict how big the western basin's bloom will be. Here is how to read it.
Business
The Lake Erie shoreline north of Bellevue runs on a summer economy
From Marblehead Lighthouse to the island ferries, Erie and Ottawa counties depend on visitors, and many of the workers drive up from…
Farm & Rail
Rail safety after East Palestine: what changed, and what it means in a rail town
The 2023 derailment in Columbiana County prompted investigations, a settlement and new state rules. Bellevue sees hundreds of rail cars a day.
Business
Sandusky’s downtown waterfront has filled in. Here is what changed
A rebuilt pier, a restored hotel and new restaurants brought life back to Water Street and Washington Park after years of empty…
Business
Cedar Point after the Six Flags merger: what changed for Sandusky
Cedar Fair and Six Flags combined in July 2024 and moved headquarters to North Carolina. The park remains the region's tourism engine.
Farm & Rail
The Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum keeps Bellevue’s rail history on display
Run by volunteers, the museum near downtown displays locomotives, cabooses and passenger cars from the railroads that built the town.
Business
Fremont, the Sandusky County seat, runs on ketchup, a river and a presidential library
Bellevue's neighbor to the northwest has one of the largest ketchup plants in the country, a working downtown and the Hayes Presidential…
Business
How the Norfolk Southern yard keeps Bellevue on the freight map
Bellevue's classification yard is one of the largest in the Norfolk Southern system. Here is how it works and why it matters…
Business
The Marblehead quarry and the limestone business along Sandusky Bay
Limestone from the Marblehead Peninsula has gone into steel mills, roads and buildings for nearly two centuries.
Business
Kalahari’s Sandusky resort gave the lakeshore a winter season
The indoor waterpark resort on U.S. 250 opened in 2005 and brought year-round tourism to an area that used to empty out…
Business
The Ohio Turnpike’s northern Ohio stretch and what it brings to Bellevue’s doorstep
The 241-mile toll road passes a few miles north of Bellevue. Its interchanges near Sandusky and Fremont shape where warehouses and truck…