The History of the Vermilion/Brownhelm Township Annexation

Have you ever wondered why people in certain portions of Vermilion are able to vote for Brownhelm Township Trustees and other issues?  Many thought Vermilion took over parts of Brownhelm but hopefully this will explain the story behind it.

The story goes back to the late 1950’s when the Ford Plant was to be built.  Brownhelm Twp. had lost the bid for the Ford plant to the City of Lorain in a heated court case when Lorain had annexed property out as far as Baumhart Road, which was then part of Brownhelm. The idea that Lorain could, and did, annex the Ford property made people in Brownhelm fearful that Lorain might possibly keep coming further west and annex even more Brownhelm property into the City of Lorain. To prevent this possibility, the Brownhelm decided to petition the Village of Vermilion for annexation to be safe.  

The thought was that if Vermilion were to become its own city, the danger of a “Lorain takeover” would be abated.  The main issue was that a village must have a certain amount of land area and population to become a city, something Vermilion Village did not have but…Brownhelm Township did.  In Ohio, a certain amount of acreage and population is required to be a city.  This is significant to understand because while cities cannot be forcefully annexed, villages and townships can be, so the threat could be real. 

However, many people in the southern part of Brownhelm Twp. did not want to be annexed by Vermilion. They feared a loss of their identity as a township. But without the northern section of the township annexed, southern Brownhelm self-governance would be difficult. 

And so, a deal was made. Vermilion would annex the northern end of Brownhelm Township to acquire the necessary acreage and population for city status and ‘protect’ Brownhelm from the fear of annexation from Lorain. On December 21, 1959, the Village of Vermilion passed legislation to accept the petition and approximately 4,300 acres of Brownhelm Township became a part of the City of Vermilion. The area that was annexed into Vermilion would still continue to identify as ‘Brownhelm Township”.  Today, residents in this “overlap area” are both residents of Brownhelm Township and the City of Vermilion, with the right to vote for Township Trustees and Vermilion issues. 

Both communities benefit from being able to solicit state funding. The process is done by district, with Vermilion in District 5 and Brownhelm Township in District 9. Brownhelm Township can accept funds in its region, while Vermilion can accept funds for its region.

When it comes to getting state funding for roads and water projects, the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) is the organization that grants funding to the local governments. 

A great deal of the money Brownhelm Township gets for its roads and drainage projects (including those in the overlap area) comes from the OPWC.  

As Paul Harvey would say: “And now you know the rest of the story!”

This document was revised from one originally written by former Brownhelm Trustee, Orrin Leimbach, with the additional history regarding the annexation was added by Brownhelm Township Brownhelm Trustee Dan DePalma (2024-2027) and Marcia DePalma, Brownhelm Historical Association.