HISTORY OF

PAULDING COUNTY OHIO

Prldi"g Countyuas originallypan of the

territoryset aside forOhiot Indiars inthe
Treatyof Greenville. Through an act of
legislarurc in 1820, the terrirorywas divided
into counties. Ahhough laid ow in 1820,
Paulding C-ounry was not oryanized until
1839.

The coumyhas a total land area of 4t6.3

square miles and is723 feetabove sea level
It is noted as the flanest countyin the State
of Ohio due to the fact that Paulding
C-ounty, in its entirety, laid hneath the
Great BlackSwamp.

The swamp was created20,000 pars ago

when the last glacier rretreated lvhrch oithe
swamp wx covered wirh an alrnost
impenetrable forest of giant oal(, slrarnore,
hi.kory, walnrr, ash, elrq maple and

cottonndtrees.

Settlement of Paulding Countywx slow

due to the difficult living conditiors. Many
residents suffered fromthe ague, a disease
later determined to be malaria. The primary
industries were based on the derse forests.
The trees were so big that it is said one man
lived in a hollowtree. Logs were floated up
the Maumee River to Lake Erie to be used
as shipt masts. There were manystave

(narrowstrip of wood used in forming the

sides of barrels) mills throughout the county
and hoop and barrel opeftrtions as well.

Bythe 1850s the canals were losing business

to the railroads. Railroads could transport
people and supplies much quicker and soon
replaced the canals. The small canal towrs
such as Tate's Landing, Timberville, Canal

travel and the railroads, as a major mears of

transponation, started to decline.

Pon, Murat and Royal Oaksoon

Today,there is onlyone active railroad in

the counry nrnning east and west, the
Norfolk and Southem (the old Nickel Plate)

disappeared

Railroad.

The State, however, had refused to abandon

\X/ith the abandonment of the other

railroads, Paulding Countyagain suffered a
loss of several small towrs such as Batson,
Emmett and Dague.

Six Mile Reservoir, located east of Antwelp,

which had been created to supplywater to
the \Tabash Canal. It became a stagnant
menace to public health and u,{ren effons to
close the reservoir failed, a group of men,
marching under a banner irscribed "NO

@MPROMISE", blew a hole in the

reservoir dike and destroyed it during the
night of April25, 1887. In response, the
State militia was dispatched, but the guilty
panies were never identified.

The national government promoted the

building of canals to provide interior
transponation for the nation- The Miami
and Erie Canal ran from Lake Erie to the
Little Miami River near Cincinnati and the
Vabash and Erie Canal went west into
Indiana" meeting the Miami and Erie in
Junction, a communityin Auglaize
Toyrship, Paulding County. The.canal
excitement was so great that people were
leaving Fort \Wayne, Indiana forJunction,
feeling that it had a mq4

The Countymotro, "NO @MPROMISE"

speals of the unwavering pioneer spirit and
the legacyof hard work and perseverance
handed down byour forefathen uzho tamed
the BlackSwamp.
The first railroad in Paulding Countywas
the Toledo, Vabash &'W'estern Railroad
u,hich ran east and west through the
northern part of the county. At one time
there were four major railroads that ran
throughthe county. The boomofthe
railroads caued manysmall towns to spring
up along the tracls. Flourishing
communities with train depots, hotels,
general stores, post offices and other
btsinesses helpqd to further develop the
county.
Soon the automobile would provide people

with quicker, more convenient mears of

Estimated population ol Pa.Jdin5 Countq in

2007*as19,182.
The three lar6lest villa6es in the countg are:

Pa..ldir5 ("ountr; seat) population - 5,507 ;

Anfwerp - 1,040 a"dPag.r. -

1,110.

Pa.,.ldinEi Countu Pro{ile:

Median ho..sehold income

$40,5c17

Median age

505

Minoritg population
Mean travel time towork

4.9Vo

Media, ho-.val..e
Homes bt

ilt 19JO or.arli.t

Median 6lross rent

N.rmber o{ re6Sistered voters

Voted in 2000 election

24.0
$75,600
25SVo

$:s:
15,019
57.UVo

INTERESTING FACTS.
Pa"lding Countg was the {irst countg in the
United States to receive {undin5 {rorr steel
ma6nate An&ew Carne6lie to build a librarg.
Carne6lie also matched {unds to purchase the
pipe organ in the PatJdin6l Methodist Ch"rch.
Probate Jod6e Calvin L. Noble spent the
better part o{ his li{e as a Pauldin5 resident.
His claim to {ame is that he chan6led the name
o{ Cl.ar.larrd to Cleveland- Earlier in lile, as
a printer, he {orrnded the Cleav.larrd
Advertiser. The nr-ewas toobi5, tolit atop
pa{te one - so he omitted the letter "a" and it
stuc]c,

It

Iorever

chan61in61

the spelling.

said o{ Pa.Jding Co..ntg that durin6l the

Civil War she fiunished more men per capita
than ang other countg in the State o{ Ohio.
is

is the home o{ David Smith (19001905) American Abstract Expressionist

Parldiog
sculptor.

Compiled and written by:

Kim IC Sutton

Ei5htg-tLree percent o{ Paul&n5, Countg's

residents live outside named communities.
I" 2007 Paolding Countg was named the most
allordabl" rur"l countg in America bg Pro6gressive

Far-.r -.61ario..
Countg has {oor listiu6s ou the National
Redister ol Historic Placei:
A:rt*"rp Nololk and Western De1rct
Pa,rldio5 Coontg Carnellie,Librarg
Parrldio5 Coontg Courthouse
TheRo"nd Baru located in E,nerald Towuship
Pa..ldin61

PAULDING COUNTY COURT

Tiffany Reighter-Beckman, Judge
201E,. Caroline St., Suite 2
Paulding, OH 45879
PH: (419) 399-2792

www.p auldingc ountyc ourt. c om