McClure

History

McClure was laid out in the late 1870s, and named after John McClure, an original owner of the town site. In the 1960s and the first half of the 1970s, McClure had the distinction of being the last place in Ohio with a manual telephone system. Since the installation of the first telephone system in the 1890s, by The Ohio Bell Telephone Co., residents used the same method to signal their town's operator; they turned a crank on their phone. The operator in most cases knew their voice or knew the person being called. When Ohio Bell refused to run lines to McClure's rural residents, they formed a separate company, with volunteer labor used to build lines connecting the residents. The new company in 1908 bought the Bell equipment, and in 1909 changed its name to the Citizens Mutual Telephone Co. Long Distance calls were routed via Bell System equipment in Napoleon to the toll center in Maumee, and onward. In the 1940s, the company opened a five-circuit toll line to Bowling Green, replacing the two-line circuit to Napoleon for long distance traffic. In February 1968, members of the Citizens Mutual Co. circulated a ballot asking members if they wished to modernize their system. In late 1969, the Citizen's Mutual board voted to be acquired by Otto Miller of Liberty Center. Otto Miller renamed the company to its present name: McClure Telephone Company. The Ohio Public Utilities Commission approved the $100,000 sale in August 1971. The company spent the next several years building a new central office and running new lines to its nearly 500 subscribers. In November 1975, McClure residents at last gave up their hand-cranked magneto telephones.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  3,223
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,207
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,203
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,507
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,451
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,291
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,169
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,144

Largest nearby schools

• Liberty Center Elementary School
  Other · Liberty Center · 375 students · 15:1 ratio
• Liberty Center Middle School
  Middle · Liberty Center · 320 students · 21.3:1 ratio
• Liberty Center High School
  High · Liberty Center · 303 students · 10.8:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.7 — 2026-05-04
  8 km N of Maybee, Michigan
• M 2.9 — 2024-12-29
  1 km SSE of Hicksville, Ohio
• M 2.5 — 2024-03-18
  4 km WSW of Millbury, Ohio
• M 2.6 — 2023-05-20
  3 km SSE of Walbridge, Ohio
• M 3.2 — 2020-08-21
  2 km SSE of Detroit Beach, Michigan
• M 2.5 — 2016-02-07
  6 km W of Put-in-Bay, Ohio