Toledo War - Subsequent History

Subsequent History

At the time of the Frostbitten Convention, it appeared that Ohio had won the conflict. The Upper Peninsula was considered a worthless wilderness by almost all familiar with the area. The vast mineral riches of the land were unknown until the discovery of copper in the Keweenaw Peninsula and iron in the Western Upper Peninsula; this discovery led to a mining boom that lasted long into the 20th century. Given the current value of the port of Toledo to Ohio, it can be reasonably suggested that both sides benefitted from the conflict.

Consequently, the only state that definitively lost was not even involved in the conflict. The mineral-rich land of the western Upper Peninsula would have most likely remained part of Wisconsin had Michigan not lost the Toledo Strip.

Differences of opinion about the exact boundary location continued until a definitive re-survey was performed in 1915. Re-survey protocol would ordinarily require the surveyors to follow the Harris line exactly, but in this case, the surveyors deviated from the line in places. This prevented the situation of certain residents near the border being subject to changes in state residence, or land owners having parcels on both sides of the border. The 1915 survey was delineated by 71 granite markers, 12 inches (30 cm) wide by 18 inches (45 cm) high. Upon completion, the two states' governors, Woodbridge Nathan Ferris of Michigan and Frank B. Willis of Ohio, shook hands at the border.

Traces of the original Ordinance Line can still be seen in northwestern Ohio and northern Indiana. The northernmost boundaries of Ottawa and Wood counties follow it, as well as many township boundaries in Ohio border counties. Many old north-south roads are offset as they cross the line, forcing traffic to jog east while traveling north. The line is identified on USGS topographical maps as the "South Michigan Survey", and on Lucas County and Fulton County, Ohio road maps as "Old State Line Road."

While the border on land was firmly set in the early-20th century, the two states were still in disagreement on the path of the border to the east, in Lake Erie. In 1973, the two states finally obtained a hearing before the United States Supreme Court on their competing claims to the Lake Erie waters. In Michigan v. Ohio, the court upheld a special master's report and ruled that the boundary between the two states in Lake Erie was angled to the northeast, as described in Ohio's state constitution, and not a straight east-west line. One consequence of the court decision was that tiny Turtle Island just outside of Maumee Bay and originally treated as being wholly in Michigan, was split between the two states. This decision was the last border adjustment, putting an end to years of debate over the official boundary line.