Lancaster, Ohio
Encyclopedia
Fairfield County, Ohio
Fairfield County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of 2010, the population was 146,156. Its county seat is Lancaster. Its name is a reference to the Fairfield area of the original Lancaster....
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 38,780. It is located near the Hocking River
Hocking River
The Hocking River is a tributary of the Ohio River in southeastern Ohio in the United States.The Hocking flows mostly on the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau, but its headwaters are in a glaciated region...
, approximately 33 miles (53.1 km) southeast of Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
. It is the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Fairfield County
Fairfield County, Ohio
Fairfield County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of 2010, the population was 146,156. Its county seat is Lancaster. Its name is a reference to the Fairfield area of the original Lancaster....
. The current mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Lancaster is Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
David S. Smith, who took office in January 2004. In November 2007, Smith won reelection to a second four-year term commencing in January 2008.
History
The earliest known inhabitants of the southeastern and central Ohio region were the HopewellHopewell culture
The Hopewell tradition is the term used to describe common aspects of the Native American culture that flourished along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern United States from 200 BCE to 500 CE. The Hopewell tradition was not a single culture or society, but a widely dispersed set of related...
, Adena
Adena culture
The Adena culture was a Pre-Columbian Native American culture that existed from 1000 to 200 BC, in a time known as the early Woodland Period. The Adena culture refers to what were probably a number of related Native American societies sharing a burial complex and ceremonial system...
, and Fort Ancient
Fort Ancient
Fort Ancient is a name for a Native American culture that flourished from 1000-1750 CE among a people who predominantly inhabited land along the Ohio River in areas of modern-day Southern Ohio, Northern Kentucky, Southeastern Indiana and Western West Virginia. They were a maize based agricultural...
Native Americans, of whom little evidence survived, beyond the burial and ceremonial mounds built throughout the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. Many mounds and burial sites have also yielded archaeological artifacts. (See also: Serpent Mound
Serpent Mound
The Great Serpent Mound is a -long, three-foot-high prehistoric effigy mound located on a plateau of the Serpent Mound crater along Ohio Brush Creek in Adams County, Ohio. Maintained within a park by the Ohio Historical Society, it has been designated a National Historic Landmark by the United...
and Hopewell Culture National Historic Park, which though not located in Fairfield County proper, are close by.)
Prior to and immediately after European settlement, the land today comprising Lancaster and Fairfield County, Ohio was inhabited variously by the Shawnee
Shawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
, Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
, Wyandot, and other Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
tribes. It served as a natural crossroads for the inter-tribal and intra-tribal wars fought at various times. (See also: Beaver Wars) Noted frontier explorer Christopher Gist reached the vicinity of Lancaster on January 19, 1751, when he visited the small Delaware town of "Hockhocking" nearby. Leaving the area the next day, Gist rode southwest to "Maguck," another Delaware town near Circleville.
Having been ceded to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
after the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
by the Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...
, the lands north of the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
and west of the Appalachian Mountains became, in 1784, incorporated into the Northwest Territory
Northwest Territory
The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio...
. White settlers began to encroach on Native American lands in the Ohio Territory. As the new government of the United States began to cast its eye westward, the stage was set for the series of campaigns that culminated in the Battle of Fallen Timbers
Battle of Fallen Timbers
The Battle of Fallen Timbers was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between American Indian tribes affiliated with the Western Confederacy and the United States for control of the Northwest Territory...
in 1794 , and the Treaty of Greenville
Treaty of Greenville
The Treaty of Greenville was signed at Fort Greenville , on August 3, 1795, between a coalition of Native Americans & Frontiers men, known as the Western Confederacy, and the United States following the Native American loss at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. It put an end to the Northwest Indian War...
in 1795. With pioneer settlement within Ohio made legal and safe from Indian raids, developers began to speculate in land sales in earnest.
Knowing that such speculation, combined with Congressional grants of land sections to veterans of the Revolution, could result in a lucrative opportunity, Ebenezer Zane
Ebenezer Zane
Ebenezer Zane was an American pioneer, road builder and land speculator. Born in what is now Moorefield, West Virginia , Zane established the settlement known as Fort Henry in Wheeling, Virginia on the Ohio River...
in 1796 petitioned the US Congress to grant him a contract to blaze a trail through Ohio, from Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, to Limestone, Kentucky, (near modern Maysville, Kentucky
Maysville, Kentucky
Maysville is a city in and the county seat of Mason County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 8,993 at the 2000 census, making it the fiftieth largest city in Kentucky by population. Maysville is on the Ohio River, northeast of Lexington. It is the principal city of the Maysville...
) a distance of 266 miles (428.1 km). As part of the deal, Zane was awarded square-mile tracts of land at the points where his trace crossed the Hocking
Hocking River
The Hocking River is a tributary of the Ohio River in southeastern Ohio in the United States.The Hocking flows mostly on the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau, but its headwaters are in a glaciated region...
, Muskingum
Muskingum River
The Muskingum River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 111 miles long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States. An important commercial route in the 19th century, it flows generally southward through the eastern hill country of Ohio...
, and Scioto
Scioto River
The Scioto River is a river in central and southern Ohio more than 231 miles in length. It rises in Auglaize County in west central Ohio, flows through Columbus, Ohio, where it collects its largest tributary, the Olentangy River, and meets the Ohio River at Portsmouth...
rivers. Zane's Trace
Zane's Trace
Zane's Trace is a frontier road constructed under the direction of Col. Ebenezer Zane through the Northwest Territory of the United States, in what is now the state of Ohio. Many portions were based on traditional Native American trails...
, as it has become known, was completed by 1797, and as Zane's sons began to carve the square-mile tract astride the Hocking into saleable plots, the city of Lancaster formally came into being in 1800. It predated the formal establishment of the State of Ohio by three years.
The initial settlers were predominantly of German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
stock, and emigrated from Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Ohio's longest continuously operating newspaper, the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette
Lancaster Eagle-Gazette
The Lancaster Eagle-Gazette is a newspaper based out of Lancaster, Ohio in the United States. The newspaper is owned by Gannett.-External links:***...
was born of a merger of the early Der Ohio Adler, founded about 1807, with the Ohio Gazette, founded in the 1830s. The two newspapers were ferocious competitors since they were on opposite sides of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, as was the split populace of the city itself, until they merged seventy-two years after the war's end in 1937. This was shortly after the Gazette was acquired by glassmaker Anchor-Hocking. The newspaper is currently part of the Newspaper Network of Central Ohio, which is in turn a unit of Gannett Company, Inc
Gannett Company
Gannett Company, Inc. is a publicly-traded media holding company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia, United States, near McLean. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. Its assets include the national newspaper USA Today and the weekly USA Weekend...
.
Initially known as New Lancaster, and later shortened by city ordinance (1805), the town quickly grew; formal incorporation as a city came in 1831. The connection of the Hocking Canal
Hocking Canal
The Hocking Canal was a small 19th Century canal in southern Ohio that once linked Athens to Lancaster and the Ohio and Erie Canal, but was destroyed by flooding and never rebuilt...
to the Ohio and Erie Canal
Ohio and Erie Canal
The Ohio Canal or Ohio and Erie Canal was a canal constructed in the 1820s and early 1830s. It connected Akron, Summit County, with the Cuyahoga River near its mouth on Lake Erie in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, and a few years later, with the Ohio River near Portsmouth, Scioto County, and then...
in this era provided a convenient way for the region's rich agricultural produce to reach eastern markets.
Modern Lancaster is distinguished by a rich blend of 19th-century architecture (best evidenced in historic Square 13, part of Zane's original plot) and natural beauty (best evidenced by the famous Standing Stone, today known as Mount Pleasant) with all the typical modern accoutrements of a small-medium-sized American city.
Notable natives and residents
Lancaster is the birthplace and/or hometown of:- Allan Anderson, Minnesota TwinsMinnesota TwinsThe Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
baseball pitcher and 1988 American LeagueAmerican LeagueThe American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
ERAEarned run averageIn baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...
champion - Mark BaltzMark BaltzMark Baltz is an American football official in the National Football League since the 1989 NFL season. He has worked as a head linesman throughout his entire career in the NFL and has been assigned to 19 post-season games, including five conference championship games...
, NFLNational Football LeagueThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
Official 1989–present - Bobby Carpenter, former Dallas CowboysDallas CowboysThe Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
NFL linebacker, current Detroit LionsDetroit LionsThe Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
linebacker - Rob Carpenter, NFLNational Football LeagueThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
player New York GiantsNew York GiantsThe New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, Houston Oilers - Hugh Boyle EwingHugh Boyle EwingHugh Boyle Ewing, , was a diplomat, author, attorney, and Union Army general during the American Civil War. He was a member of the prestigious Ewing family, son of Thomas Ewing, the eldest brother of Thomas Ewing, Jr. and Charles Ewing, and the foster brother and brother-in-law of William T. Sherman...
, Union ArmyUnion ArmyThe Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
Major GeneralMajor GeneralMajor general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general... - Thomas EwingThomas EwingThomas Ewing, Sr. was a National Republican and Whig politician from Ohio. He served in the U.S. Senate as well as serving as the Secretary of the Treasury and the first Secretary of the Interior.-Biography:...
, first Secretary of the InteriorUnited States Secretary of the InteriorThe United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
, appointed by President Zachary TaylorZachary TaylorZachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States and an American military leader. Initially uninterested in politics, Taylor nonetheless ran as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election, defeating Lewis Cass... - Thomas Ewing, Jr.Thomas Ewing, Jr.Thomas Ewing, Jr. was an attorney, the first chief justice of Kansas and leading free state advocate, Union Army general during the American Civil War, and two-term United States Congressman from Ohio, 1877-1881. He narrowly lost the 1880 campaign for Ohio Governor.-Early life and career:Ewing...
, Union ArmyUnion ArmyThe Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
brigadier generalBrigadier GeneralBrigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000... - Rebecca A. Fannin, journalist and author
- David GrafDavid GrafPaul David Graf was an American actor, best known for his role as Sgt. Eugene Tackleberry in the Police Academy series of films...
, actor, best known as Sgt. Eugene Tackleberry in the Police Academy series of films. - Robert G. HeftRobert G. HeftRobert G. "Bob" Heft , born in Saginaw, Michigan, was a designer of the 50-star flag, and one of the proposed designs for a 51-star flag for the United States of America. He spent his childhood in Lancaster, Ohio, where he created the flag as a school project.He designed the current U.S. flag in...
, designer of the current 50-star flag of the United StatesFlag of the United StatesThe national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...
, adopted by the CongressUnited States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
in 1960 - James A. HillJames A. HillGeneral James Arthur Hill was a U.S. Air Force four star general who served as Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force.He was born in 1923 in Lancaster, Ohio Orphaned at sixteen, he graduated from St. Mary's High School in 1940 and attended Ohio State University in 1942...
, retired U.S. Air Force general and former Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force - James HydeJames HydeJames Hyde is an American actor, dancer, and former male fashion model who played the role of Sam Bennett on the television soap opera Passions. Full name is James Robert Hyde. He was born and raised in Lancaster, Ohio.-Biography:...
, actor, daytime television show PassionsPassionsPassions is an American television soap opera which aired on NBC from July 5, 1999 to September 7, 2007 and on The 101 Network from September 17, 2007 to August 7, 2008....
, plays the role of Sam Bennett - Ted H. Jordan, actor, Born in 1924, TV Show GunsmokeGunsmokeGunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
, character Nathan Burke (1966–1975) - Rex KernRex KernRex William Kern is a former American football player. He played quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes from 1968 to 1970, and played professional football in the National Football League at defensive back for the Baltimore Colts and Buffalo Bills...
, Football quarterback, Ohio State Buckeyes footballOhio State Buckeyes footballThe Ohio State Buckeyes football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of The Ohio State University. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the NCAA, playing at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A, level. The team nickname is derived from the state...
1968 National Championship team, All-American, College Football Hall of Fame (2007) - Gene Cole, 1952 Olympic Silver Medalist
- Dr. Marc Wolfgang Miller, author, explorer, known for his cryptozoologyCryptozoologyCryptozoology refers to the search for animals whose existence has not been proven...
expeditions - Clarence E. MillerClarence E. MillerClarence Ellsworth Miller, Jr. was a Republican Congressman from Ohio, serving January 3, 1967 to January 3, 1993....
, a Republican CongressmanUnited States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from OhioOhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, serving January 3, 1967 to January 3, 1993 - Mary MurphyMary Murphy (choreographer)Mary Ann Murphy is a ballroom dance champion, accredited dance judge, and a judge and choreographer on the Fox dance competition-reality show So You Think You Can Dance.-Biography:...
, ballroom dance champion, accredited dance judge, and a regular judge and choreographer on the television show So You Think You Can DanceSo You Think You Can Dance (U.S. TV series)So You Think You Can Dance is an American dance competition and reality show that airs on Fox in the United States.The series first premiered on July 20, 2005, and was created by American Idol producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe and is produced by 19 Entertainment and Dick Clark Productions... - Joe OgilvieJoe OgilvieNorman Joseph Ogilvie is an American professional golfer.Ogilvie was born in Lancaster, Ohio and graduated from Duke University. He currently plays on the PGA Tour and picked up his first win on tour at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee in 2007...
, PGAPGA TourThe PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
Golfer - Richard F. OutcaultRichard F. OutcaultRichard Felton Outcault was an American comic strip writer-artist. He was the creator of the series The Yellow Kid and Buster Brown, and he is considered the inventor of the modern comic strip.-Early life:...
, Cartoonist and creator of "Yellow Kid" and "Buster BrownBuster BrownBuster Brown was a comic strip character created in 1902 by Richard Felton Outcault who was known for his association with the Brown Shoe Company. This mischievous young boy was loosely based on a boy near Outcault's home in Flushing, New York...
"; who is known as the "Father of the American Comic Strip" - Jacob ParrottJacob ParrottJacob Wilson Parrott was the first recipient of the Medal of Honor, a new military award first presented by the United States Department of War to several soldiers for their participation in the Great Locomotive Chase....
, First recipient of the Medal Of HonorMedal of HonorThe Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her... - Stan Robinson, Television and radio personality; inducted into the Ohio Associated Press Broadcaster Hall of Fame in 2011
- John ShermanJohn Sherman (politician)John Sherman, nicknamed "The Ohio Icicle" , was a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Ohio during the Civil War and into the late nineteenth century. He served as both Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of State and was the principal author of the Sherman Antitrust Act...
, Secretary of StateUnited States Secretary of StateThe United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
, Secretary of the TreasuryUnited States Secretary of the TreasuryThe Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...
, and U.S. SenatorUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, author of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act - William Tecumseh ShermanWilliam Tecumseh ShermanWilliam Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
, Union Army general - Josh Kinniard, Football All-American
- Henry StanberyHenry StanberyHenry Stanbery was an American lawyer and Presidential Cabinet member.Born in New York, he was the son of Jonas Stanbery, a physician. The family moved to Zanesville, Ohio in 1814. Henry Stanbery graduated from Washington College in Washington, Pennsylvania and studied law...
, Attorney GeneralUnited States Attorney GeneralThe United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
, defender of President Andrew JohnsonAndrew JohnsonAndrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...
at his impeachment trialImpeachment of Andrew JohnsonThe Impeachment of Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States, was one of the most dramatic events in the political life of the United States during Reconstruction, and the first impeachment in history of a sitting United States president.... - Lancaster was the home of the first newspaper published by Malcolm ForbesMalcolm ForbesMalcolm Stevenson Forbes was publisher of Forbes magazine, founded by his father B. C. Forbes and today run by his son Steve Forbes.-Life and career:...
in 1941 - Additional Notables and Natives
Society and culture
- Lancaster is home to the Lancaster campus of Ohio UniversityOhio UniversityOhio University is a public university located in the Midwestern United States in Athens, Ohio, situated on an campus...
, offering a variety of two and four year baccalaureate degrees, and several master's programs. This continually expanding branch offers many courses in a variety of settings, including multi-site classes via the Ohio University Learning Network and online classes. - Lancaster is home to the Lancaster campus of Daymar CollegeDaymar CollegeDaymar College is a for-profit career training school based in Owensboro, Kentucky, USA. Founded in 1963 and operated as Owensboro Business College until 2001, Daymar offers over 35 career tracks in 13 different academic programs...
, offering two year degrees in various fields and career paths. - Lancaster is home to the Lancaster Festival, an 11-day arts and music festival.
- Lancaster is home to both the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio and the Ohio Glass Museum, both located within the downtown area.
- Lancaster is home to the Lancaster Eagle-GazetteLancaster Eagle-GazetteThe Lancaster Eagle-Gazette is a newspaper based out of Lancaster, Ohio in the United States. The newspaper is owned by Gannett.-External links:***...
newspaper. - The 1948 20th Century Fox movie Green Grass of WyomingGreen Grass of WyomingGreen Grass of Wyoming is a 1948 film starring Peggy Cummins and Charles Coburn. The film is based on the third book in the popular, "My Friend Flicka" trilogy, written by Mary O'Hara...
was filmed at the Fairfield County Fairground in Lancaster, making it the first community in Ohio to act as the setting for a feature length Hollywood movie. - Lancaster is home to the Fairfield County Fair, a week-long fair and the last (88th) county fair in Ohio each year, always on the second week of October. It features a variety of attractions including truck, tractor, and horse pulls, demolition derbies, concerts, bands, and horse races. The Fairfield County Fair also includes lots of food, exhibits, games, and rides for people of all ages.
Industry
Lancaster saw a dimunution of its industrial capacity during the 1980s. Industry in Lancaster includes:Mount Pleasant
A famous Lancaster landmark is Mount Pleasant, a 250 feet (76.2 m) high sandstone bluff called "Standing Stone" by earlier Native American peoples. It is located in Rising Park, a large city park on the city's north side. It is possible to climb to the top of Mount Pleasant by following a short marked trail from the park through the woods that cover the bluff's other sides. There is also a cave known unofficially as "Devils Kitchen" in the front in which braver people are willing to climb about 20 feet (6.1 m) using only shallow "bear claws". Experienced rock climbers have climbed the sandstone face of the bluff many times as well. Once one has reached the top, there is a lookout area from which one can see over great distances, and take in not just a panoramic view of the nearby Fairfield County fairgrounds and much of the city of Lancaster, but the changing landscape of Central Ohio as well—from the relatively flat farmlands north of Lancaster to the wooded hills lying south of the city.AHA! A Hands on Adventure
AHA! is a children's museum founded in 2006 whose sole mission is to surround children and the adults in their lives with a hands-on, interactive, playful and educational environment that invites curiosity, allows exploration, encourages participation and celebrates the child-like wonder in us all.Georgian Museum
Originally built in 1832 for the Maccracken Family, this Federal home is constructed predominantly of brick and local limestone. Converted into a museum, it is now furnished as it would have been in the 1830s with some original pieces and numerous early Fairfield County, OhioFairfield County, Ohio
Fairfield County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of 2010, the population was 146,156. Its county seat is Lancaster. Its name is a reference to the Fairfield area of the original Lancaster....
items. Located in one of Lancaster's three National Historic Districts, the structure mixes elements of American, Georgian and Regency architecture.
The Decorative Arts Center of Ohio
The Decorative Arts Center of Ohio is a not-for-profit museum whose mission is to foster knowledge and appreciation of the decorative arts; celebrate the architecture and heritage of the Reese-Peters House; and enhance the vitality and integrity of historic Lancaster. The Center provides exhibitions, public programs, art classes and workshops for all ages, and a focus for research and communication about the decorative arts of Ohio.Ohio Glass Museum
Opened in 2002, the Ohio Glass Museum is located in historic downtown Lancaster and dedicated to recording the history of the glass industry, which for over 100 years has been one of the mainstays of the economy of Fairfield County.Sherman House
Lancaster was the birthplace of Civil War General William Tecumseh ShermanWilliam Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
and his brother, Senator John Sherman
John Sherman (politician)
John Sherman, nicknamed "The Ohio Icicle" , was a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Ohio during the Civil War and into the late nineteenth century. He served as both Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of State and was the principal author of the Sherman Antitrust Act...
. The house in which they were born has been converted into a museum, housing both articles related to the life of General Sherman and Civil War artifacts. Originally built in 1811, this frame house was expanded by the Sherman family in 1816 and again with an additional brick front in 1870.
Geography
Lancaster is located at 39°43′9"N 82°36′19"W (39.719297, -82.605293).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 18.1 square miles (46.9 km²), of which, 18.1 square miles (46.9 km²) of it is land and 0.06% is water.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 35,335 people, 14,852 households, and 9,564 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,955.9 people per square mile (755.0/km²). There were 15,891 housing units at an average density of 879.6 per square mile (339.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.38% White, 0.61% African American, 0.47% Asian, 0.30% Native American, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.18% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.82% of the population.
There were 14,852 households out of which 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.9% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.6% were non-families. 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.91.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.6% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 16.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 89.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $33,321, and the median income for a family was $39,773. Males had a median income of $30,462 versus $23,023 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $17,648. About 8.7% of families and 10.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.8% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over.
External links
- City website
- Fairfield County Visitors and Convention Bureau
- LHS59.org, Notable Natives and Residents