Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
Ohio County
Putnam County, Ohio
Northwest Ohio's German Catholic heritage county and the Blanchard River valley - from Ottawa's Putnam County courthouse serving one of northwest Ohio's most productive agricultural counties to the dense network of German Catholic parishes that define the cultural landscape (every small town in Putnam County has a Catholic church of architectural quality far exceeding the community's size - St. Michael's in Kalida, St. Nicholas in Pandora, and dozens of others reflect the German immigrant investment in religious community) and the county's exceptional corn and soybean yields on former Black Swamp farmland.
Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
What do you need to do?
Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: Putnam County Office of Public Safety (Emergency Management/EMS) – 117 Dr. Thatye Drive, Glandorf, OH 45848 | (419) 538-7315 | Fax: (419) 538-7319; administers the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) and a Hazardous Materials Response Team drawn from county Fire and EMS departments.
Public Health After-Hours: Putnam County Health Department – 256 Williamstown Rd, Ottawa, OH 45875 | (419) 523-5608 | Fax: (419) 523-4171 | Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30 AM-4:30 PM; leads the Putnam County Healthcare Preparedness Coalition.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: SR-15, SR-65, and SR-190 serve Ottawa, the county seat, in northwest Ohio
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – confirm directly with the county or your city
Notes: Ottawa became the county seat in 1866 after the original courthouse in Kalida burned; the Putnam County Courthouse and the Blanchard River Greenway anchor downtown Ottawa today.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Putnam County Building/Permits – confirm current contact via putnamcountyohio.gov.
Notes: Putnam County sits at the heart of what is affectionately nicknamed the “Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches” – a distinctive rural region of northwest Ohio settled almost entirely by German Catholic immigrants beginning in the 1830s, whose towering church steeples remain visible for miles across the flat farmland. Kalida, founded 1834 and the county’s original county seat, was settled by German Catholic immigrant Samuel Myers and today is dominated visually by St. Michael’s Catholic Church. Glandorf’s founding is especially well documented: in 1834, Father Johann Wilhelm Horstmann led fellow immigrants from Glandorf, Germany to establish the town, building a log cabin that served as both church and rectory; the Neo-Gothic St. John the Baptist Catholic Church that replaced it (built 1875, architects Cudell & Richardson) is NRHP-listed. Fort Jennings, another Putnam County village, takes its name from a stockade built by Col. Jennings in 1812.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Putnam County Veterans Service Commission – a board of five appointed commissioners; provides healthcare/education benefits navigation, financial assistance, and other veteran support services.
State: Ohio Department of Veterans Services – dvs.ohio.gov
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Putnam County District Library – main Ottawa location, 136 Putnam Parkway, Ottawa, OH 45875 | (419) 523-3747; 8 locations total across the county, including Columbus Grove, Continental, Fort Jennings, Leipsic, and Ottoville.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: St. John the Baptist Catholic Church (Glandorf, NRHP-listed) and St. Michael’s Catholic Church (Kalida) are the county’s most visually iconic landmarks, alongside the Blanchard River Greenway in Ottawa.
Notes: The genuine “Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches” German Catholic heritage is one of the most distinctive regional-identity facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Putnam County Auditor – confirm current phone via putnamcountyohio.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Putnam County Dog Warden – 1035 Heritage Trail (also cited at 1490 E. Second St), Ottawa, OH 45875 | (419) 523-8617 | Fax: (419) 523-9213 | [email protected]; Chief Dog Warden Mike Schroth.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Putnam County Soil & Water / Recycling – confirm current contact via putnamcountyohio.gov.
NOTES: Putnam County is the sixth county in this batch (Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Portage, Preble, Putnam, Richland) of the Ohio v2 redo. The genuine “Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches” German Catholic heritage is one of the most distinctive regional-identity facts covered anywhere in this project. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Putnam County
Putnam County is northwest Ohio’s most distinctively German Catholic agricultural county – a flat, productive former Black Swamp community where the density and quality of Catholic churches in small towns reflects a profound immigrant investment in religious community.
Ottawa (the county seat, population ~3,800) is the county’s governmental hub – a modest Blanchard River community serving as the commercial center for the surrounding agricultural county.
The German Catholic parish network is Putnam County’s most distinctive cultural feature – immigrants from Germany, Luxembourg, and the Rhineland who settled the drained Black Swamp in the 1840s-1860s built churches of remarkable ambition in tiny communities. The result is a landscape dotted with handsome brick Gothic and Romanesque churches that dwarf their surrounding villages.
The county’s agricultural productivity on former Black Swamp tile-drained soils is among Ohio’s highest – flat, deep, moisture-retaining soils produce exceptional corn and soybean yields.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Putnam County Auditor at 245 E. Main Street, Suite 400, Ottawa, OH 45875, phone 419-523-3313. Appeal to County Board of Revision by April 1.
Courts & Legal
Putnam County Probate Court at 245 E. Main Street, Ottawa, OH 45875, phone 419-523-3110, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
PROBATE COURT
245 East Main St, Ottawa, OH 45875
(419) 523-3620
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Putnam County Probate Court, Ottawa (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
The 1912 Putnam County Courthouse, NRHP-listed, is a significant local landmark.
Local societies
No dedicated Putnam County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Putnam County Probate Court 245 East Main Street, Suite 301, Ottawa, OH 45875 (419) 523-3110
Putnam County was founded January 3, 1834, named for Israel Putnam, in northwestern Ohio, seated in Ottawa. The 1912 Putnam County Courthouse, Beaux-Arts in style, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Ohio has not adopted the Uniform Probate Code, but has incorporated some streamlined concepts into its own system under Title 21 of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC Chapters 2101-2131).
Summary Release from Administration (ORC § 2113.03) – available for very small estates valued at $5,000 or less. Lets the court release assets quickly, often to cover funeral expenses and support the surviving family, without a fiduciary being appointed.
Release from Administration (ORC § 2113.03) – Ohio’s broader small-estate shortcut. Available when the gross probate estate is $35,000 or less, OR up to $100,000 if the entire estate passes to a surviving spouse (by will or by Ohio’s intestacy law). No executor/administrator is appointed; the court releases the estate directly to the person(s) entitled to it.
Full Estate Administration – required when the estate exceeds these thresholds or the situation is otherwise contested or complex. The court appoints a fiduciary (Ohio’s term for executor/administrator), issues a Certificate of Appointment once any will is admitted, and the fiduciary inventories assets, publishes notice to creditors, pays debts, and distributes what remains under ongoing court supervision.
Step 2: filing for administration
File the will (if any) and an application with the Probate Court in the county where the decedent resided.
If pursuing Release from Administration or Summary Release, complete the applicable court forms (Form 5.0 for standard Release, Form 5.10 for Summary Release) along with a complete asset inventory and supporting documents.
For full administration, the court issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration to the appointed fiduciary.
The fiduciary publishes notice to creditors; claims generally must be presented within 6 months of the date of death.
The fiduciary inventories and manages estate assets, pays valid debts and expenses, and distributes what remains according to the will or Ohio’s intestacy law, reporting to the court along the way.
The estate is closed once a final account is filed and approved by the court.
What it costs
Filing fees vary by county – check with Putnam County directly for current fees.
No state estate tax, no state inheritance tax (repealed effective January 1, 2013). Only the federal estate tax could apply, and only to very large estates ($15,000,000 per individual as of 2026).
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
PROBATE COURT
245 East Main St, Ottawa, OH 45875
(419) 523-3620
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
234 East Main St, Ottawa, OH 45875
(419) 523-3208
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
BOARD OF ELECTIONS
202 East Main St, Ottawa, OH 45875
(419) 523-4988
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
General Health District
1206 East 2nd St, Ottawa, OH 45875
(419) 523-5608
Job and Family Services
202 East Main St, Ottawa, OH 45875
(419) 523-5314
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Putnam County Health Department – 256 Williamstown Rd, Ottawa, OH 45875 | (419) 523-5608 | Fax: (419) 523-4171 | Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30 AM-4:30 PM.
Editorial independence: CountyOffices maintains strict editorial independence from our affiliate partners. Our content is researched from official government sources. Affiliate relationships do not influence our recommendations or the information we publish.
Editorial Trust
5 official sources cited
Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Ottawa
Population: 34,000
Established: 1834
Tier: 3
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Putnam County residents.
