Now there's a Name to Remember! Better known simply as "The Trader/Gazette" this heritage tourism publication was born way back in the summer of 1997. Then Co-Editors Ro Chapman and Karin Messner were fresh off a 10 year stint as re-enactors portraying the first Keepers of the Marblehead Lighthouse, Benajah and Rachel Wolcott. They had discovered that visitors were more interested in the everyday, personal details of ordinary people and places than they were in grand and glorious tales recorded in dusty history books.

Along about that same time, the State of Ohio held its first state-wide symposium encouraging the creation of Heritage Corridors … co-operative efforts linking together the unique historical attributes of smaller communities. One of the side benefits of such geographical "subdivisions" would be the preservation and/or rebirth of many tiny towns which had long since fallen prey to strip malls and shopping centers.

An idea was born as a result of that meeting. Why not create a publication that would cover the highways and byways of the six counties situated between what was once The Great Black Swamp to the west and The Firelands to the east, namely .. Ottawa, Erie, Huron, Richland, Seneca and Sandusky Counties? (Hence the name on the Masthead!)

Realizing that one of rural America's biggest assets is the uniqueness of place and that each community has its own specific culture, the founders set out on their first great "Adventure". The idea was that by grouping the stories of these communities together as mini-heritage corridors on the pages of the paper, readers would be provided with brand new places to explore, and towns large and small would enjoy a new vitality.

So well did the idea succeed, that three more counties have been added in the years since the first "brown ink broadsheet" rolled off the presses. Crawford, Wyandott, and Wood Counties are now also represented on the pages of The Trader/Gazette each month. Although modern printing presses have dictated a slight change in the width of the original paper, the "Brown Ink" remains our trademark. The Trader/Gazette is an advertising supported publication which can be spotted at news drops across the nine county area. Subscriptions are also available for those who don't want to chance missing an issue.

The Trader/Gazette has also expanded in another important direction. It soon became obvious that readers interested in discovering fascinating new historical destinations are also often culturally inclined. Theatre and entertainments features were added. These same people are generally mindful of the world around them, prompting the addition of articles concerning our fragile ecology.

More than 50 authors from across the State contribute to the pages of this monthly publication, which reaches approximately 39,000 readers each issue. Advertisers are grouped by community within their county pages, thereby further establishing the "importance of place".

New contributors, advertisers and readers are welcomed with open arms. Above all, The Black Swamp Trader and Firelands Gazette is a paper about People and the Places in which they gather. We invite you to join us each month as we adventure out into the eleven county territory. You can be sure that every town has its own special tale to tell … no matter how large or small the community. (And if you know any good "best kept secrets" we haven't yet discovered, let us hear from you!!)