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OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS
A Part of Genealogy
Express
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Welcome to
Van Wert County,
Ohio
History & Genealogy |
CITIES & TOWNSHIPS
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Delphos Village |
Delphos Village is located both in Van Wert and Allen
Counties.
Part of the city of Delphos is located in Southeastern Washington
Township, along the border with Allen County, and the Village of
Middle Point is located in the Western part of the township. |
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Harrison Twp |
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Hoaglin Twp. |
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Jackson Twp. |
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Jennings Twp. |
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Liberty Twp. |
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*Ohio City
Village |
The village of Ohio City is
located in central Liberty Township.
The village was platted on March 4-8, 1876 by Butler,
Patterson & Company as Van Wert Junction. On June 1, 1882 a vote was
taken with 28 for and 11 against to change the name to Enterprise. The
name Enterprise caused much confusion to the post office at the time
because there was another Enterprise in Pickaway County. Again, the
name was in need of being changed.
The town council met on June 1, 1890, and a man by the
name of Lewis J. Kiggins brought up the subject, and asked the rest of
the men if they liked Ohio City. The vote was taken and Ohio City
became the new name.
In 1910, Ohio City was a very prosperous town. It had
three churches, one union school, two dry goods stores, two hardware
stores, one clothing store, two millinery establishments, three
hotels, three restaurants, one bakery, four saloons, two shoe shops,
one tailor shop, one silversmith shop, one slack barrel factory, one
lumber yard, two blacksmith shops, two elevators, one tile factory,
one lumberyard, two blacksmith shops, one beet dump, two sawmills, one
harness shop, one ice-making house, and three railroads all using the
centrally located Union Depot.
Ohio City has seen three bank robberies, in 1925, 1930,
and 1996.
John William Lambert made his first gas-powered car in
Ohio City in 1891. Later that summer, Ohio City became the scene of
the first automobile accident in the United States, when Lambert's car
struck a tree stump in the road and bounced into a hitching rack.
The annual "Lambert Days" festival is held on the third
full weekend in July. This festival has activities such as ATV
stunt show, a car show, a wiffle ball tournament, softball, a parade,
and a Texas Holdum tournament. |
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Middle Point Village |
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Pleasant Twp. |
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* Van Wert City |
The majority of the city of Van Wert, the county seat
and largest city of Van Wert County, is located in the eastern half of
Pleasant township.
Part of the city of Van Wert, the county seat and largest city of Van
Wert County, is located in the western half of Ridge Township. |
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Ridge Twp. |
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Scott Village |
Part of the village of Scott is located in
Northwestern Union Township. |
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Ridge Twp. |
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Tully Twp. |
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* Convoy |
Located in Southeastern Tully Township |
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Union Village |
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Van Wert Village |
is named for Isaac Van Wart, one of the captors of
Major John Andre in the American Revolutionary War. Van Wert is
the home of the first county library in the United States, the
Brumback Library. It also has a thriving community art center
the Wassenburg Art Center and the award-winning Van Wert Civic
Theatre. Van Wert is the smallest city in the United States with
both a YMCA and YWCA.
The town is located in an area originally known as the Black
Swamp. Early pioneers had to deal with swampy ground, mud, and
malaria. They perservered, draining the swamp for agriculture and
eventually reclaiming enough dry land to establish the town. Van Wert
was the birthplace of aviation pioneer Walter Hinton.
At one time, Van Wert was the only place in the world
producing Liederkranz cheese. This pungent dairy product was made at
the now-closed Borden plant.
The people of Van Wert (400 of which called themselves
"Cheesemakers") contributed to the town of Vimoutiers, Orne, Lower
Normandy, France with help in the costs of reconstruction and
reparation of the town after it was mistakenly bombed by the US
airforce during the second world war. They volunteered to pay for the
replacement of Marie Harel's statue. This is recorded by a plaque in
the market square of Vimoutiers. Vimoutiers is a centre for local
making of Camembert, Livarot and Pont l'Eveque cheeses.
On November 10, 2002, an F4 tornado ripped through the
town, killing two people. This was one of many touchdowns during the
Veterans Day Weekend Outbreak. Van Wert's emergency warning system is
credited with saving many lives after several cars were thrown into a
movie theatre that had been packed with people just minutes earlier. |
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Willshire Twp. |
Willshire was founded by Captain James A. Riley.
Willshire served as the first county seat for Van Wert County, a
replica of the first courthouse sits in the village park. |
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* Glenmore |
an unincorporated community in eastern Willshire
Township. It lies at the intersection of the North-South
Glenmore Road with the East-West Glenmore Road. Twenty-seven
Mile Creek, a subsidiary of the St. Marys River, runs on the Western
edge of Glenmore after rising a short distance to the South of the
community. |
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* Wren Village |
is located in the Northwest part of Willshire. |
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Willshire Village |
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York Twp. |
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* Elgin |
is located in the Southeast part of York Township |
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* Venedocia |
is located in the Northeast part of York Township |
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