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Ohio Counties

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Ohio Counties

There is eighty-eight counties in the state of Ohio. The Ohio Constitution allows counties to set up a charter government as many cities and villages do, but only Summit County has done so.

Van Wert County, Ohio

Van Wert County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Van Wert
Year Organized: 1820
Square Miles: 410

Court House:

120 East Main Street
County Courthouse
Van Wert, OH 45891-1725

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Residents named the county in honor of Isaac Van Wert, a hero of the American Revolution. Van Wert helped capture Benedict Arnold, the most notorious traitor in American history.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

On February 12, 1820, the Ohio government authorized the creation of Van Wert County. Residents named the county in honor of Isaac Van Wert, a hero of the American Revolution. Van Wert helped capture Benedict Arnold, the most notorious traitor in American history. Van Wert County was originally part of territory set aside for Ohio’s Indian people by the Treaty of Greeneville.

Van Wert County is located in the northwestern part of Ohio. Its western border helps form the boundary between Ohio and Indiana. The county seat is Van Wert, which is the largest community in the county with a population of 10,690 people in 2000. Just over one percent of the county’s 410 square miles are deemed to be urban. The county averages seventy-two people living in each square mile. Between 1990 and 2000, the county experienced a 2.6 percent decrease in population. This is typical of Ohio’s more rural counties, as residents seek better opportunities in the state’s larger cities. In 2000, the county’s residents numbered 29,659 people.

Most of Van Wert County’s residents find employment in agricultural positions, with ninety percent of the county’s acreage under cultivation. The county ranks ninth in the state in soybean production. Manufacturing, retail, and service positions finish second, third, and fourth respectively. In 1999, the county’s per capita income was 22,916 dollars, with 6.4 percent of the county’s residents living below the poverty level.

Most voters in Van Wert County claim to be independents, yet in recent years, they have overwhelmingly supported Republican Party candidates at the national level.

Van Wert is home to the Brumback Library. Founded in 1890, the Brumback Library is the first county-wide public library to exist in the United States.

Sources
Van-Wert County, Ohio History Central, July 24, 2008,
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2023&nm=Van-Wert-County

Neighboring Counties:

Paulding County (north)
Putnam County (northeast)
Allen County (east)
Auglaize County (southeast)
Mercer County (south)
Adams County, Indiana (southwest)
Allen County, Indiana (northwest)

Cities and Towns:

- Convoy	village	Incorporated Area
- Elgin	village	Incorporated Area
- Hoaglin	township
- Jennings	township
- Liberty	township
- Middle Point	village	Incorporated Area
- Ohio City	village	Incorporated Area
- Pleasant	township
- Ridge	township
- Scott	village	Incorporated Area
- Tully	township
- Van Wert (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Venedocia	village	Incorporated Area
- Willshire	village	Incorporated Area
- Wren	village	Incorporated Area
- York	township

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."