Delaware, Ohio, United States

🇺🇸 Delaware is a city in and the county seat of Delaware County, Ohio, United States. Delaware was founded in 1808 and was incorporated in 1816. It is located near the centre of Ohio, is about 30 miles (48 km) north of Columbus, and is part of the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area and the Columbus-Marion-Chillicothe, OH Combined Statistical Area.

History While the city and county of Delaware are named for the Delaware tribe, the city of Delaware itself was founded on a Mingo village called Pluggy's Town. The first recorded settler was Joseph Barber in 1807. Shortly afterward, other men started settling in the area (according to the Delaware Historical Society); namely: Moses Byxbe, William Little, Solomon Smith, Elder Jacob Drake, Thomas Butler, and Ira Carpenter. In 1808, Moses Byxbe built the first framed house on William Street. Born in Delaware County in 1808, Charles Sweetser went on to become a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1849 to 1853. On March 11, 1808, a plan of the city was filed, marking the official founding of the town. Byxbe and the others planned the city to be originally on the east bank of the river, but it was switched to the west bank only a few days after the first plan was filed.

Even though Delaware was still a small community, in 1812, when the capital of Ohio was moved from Chillicothe, Delaware and Columbus were both in the running and Delaware lost by a single vote to Columbus. However, following the War of 1812, settlers began arriving in Delaware in greater numbers. Among some of the earliest settlers were the parents of Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th President of the United States. The Hayes home no longer stands, but a historical marker in front of a BP station marks the location. As of 2018, the Rutherford B. Hayes Comes Home committee is trying to raise $125,000 to get a statue of Hayes placed at the corners of William and Sandusky streets and a bust of Hayes to be placed at Rutherford B. Hayes High School. The statue would be a 125% scale depiction of the president, which would stand at about 10 feet with its pedestal. Committee Chairman Bill Rietz said that the committee would like to raise the money by October 4, 2019, Hayes' 197th birthday.

In the early days of the town, a sulfur spring was discovered north-west of Joseph Barber's cabin. By 1833, a hotel was built as a health spa near the spring. However, the Mansion House Hotel was a failure, and by 1841, citizens began raising funds to purchase the hotel property with the intent of giving it to the Ohio and North Ohio Methodist Episcopal Conference of the Methodist Church for the purpose of a Methodist college. With that effort, Ohio Wesleyan University was founded in 1844.

Railroads came to the area in April, 1851 as Delaware served as a stop on the Cleveland Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad. Additional rail lines were added to serve Delaware providing access to major cities and markets throughout the country by the late 1890s. At the turn of the century, Delaware could boast of its own electric street railway system. In the early 1930s, electric inter-urban service was provided by the Columbus, Delaware and Marion system.

During the Civil War During the Civil War, Delaware was the home to two Union training camps. The first on the west side of the Olentangy River for white recruits of the 96th and 121st Ohio Volunteer Infantry were mustered into service. The second, on the east side of the Olentangy River was for African-Americans joining the army in Ohio in the 127th Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry - later renamed the 5th Regiment United States Colored Troops.

Geography The city is located approximately 24 miles north of Ohio's capital city, Columbus, due north along U.S. Route 23.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 19.07 square miles (49.39 km²), of which 18.95 square miles (49.08 km²) are land and 0.12 square miles (0.31 km²) is water.

The Olentangy River runs through the city.

Demographics As of the census of 2010, there were 34,753 people, 13,253 households, and 8,579 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,833.9 inhabitants per square mile (708.1/km²). There were 14,192 housing units at an average density of 748.9 per square mile (289.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.6% White, 4.5% African American, 0.2% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 0.8% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.5% of the population.

There were 13,253 households, of which 35.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.7% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 35.3% were non-families. 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.04.

The median age in the city was 33.2 years. 25.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 11.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 30.5% were from 25 to 44; 21.1% were from 45 to 64; and 11.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.0% male and 52.0% female.

Notable places Delaware is the location of Ohio Wesleyan University, one of the Five Colleges of Ohio. The city is famous for The Little Brown Jug, an internationally famous harness race which is part of the Triple Crown of harness racing for Pacers.

Other notable places include: • The Methodist Theological School in Ohio • Perkins Observatory, offers many educational lectures, lessons in stargazing, and a library complete with astronomical computer programs. • Delaware Municipal Airport Annual Air Fair • The Strand Theatre.

Historic Northwest District The Historic Northwest Neighborhood houses more than 500 homes and carriage houses listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Sport The Little Brown Jug, an internationally famous harness race which is part of the Triple Crown of harness racing for Pacers, takes place annually at the Delaware City Fairgrounds during the Delaware County Fair. The race attracts tens of thousands of fans, holding the record for the largest crowd to see a harness race with 56,000 spectators.

The city also has Its own minor-league soccer club, Delaware Rising F.C. The men’s team competes in the Northern Ohio Soccer League (NOSL) across the state of Ohio with the majority of players from around the Delaware County area. Their home field is just outside of Downtown Delaware at Buckeye Valley High School’s stadium.

Delaware schools also feature numerous sports teams. These include Ohio Wesleyan University competing in the NCAA, Delaware Hayes High School competing in the OHSAA, and Delaware Christian High School competing in the OHSAA, as well as some of the local middle and elementary, public and private schools competing in various central Ohio leagues.

Ohio Wesleyan’s Selby Field was once home to the Ohio Machine, men’s professional lacrosse team from 2012-2015.

Media The dominant local newspaper in Delaware is a morning daily, The Delaware Gazette, founded in 1818. The paper is owned by Ohio Community Media. Other local print publications include ThisWeek Delaware News, owned by the Columbus Dispatch and the Transcript, the student paper at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Transport U.S. Route 23, U.S. Route 36 and U.S. Route 42 pass through Delaware. Ohio Route 37 also passes east-west through Delaware.

The Delaware Municipal Airport, a public general aviation airport is at the south-west part of the city.

The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, New York Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad operated passenger trains through separate stations in Delaware. The Pennsylvania Railroad ended its Columbus-Sandusky passenger trains by the early 1930s. The New York Central's Night Special (Cincinnati-Columbus-Cleveland) operated through its passenger station until 1965. The Chesapeake and Ohio's final train, a Detroit-Ashland, Kentucky train segment that met in Ashland with the main part of the George Washington, ran until April 30, 1971, on the eve of Amtrak.

Law and government The City of Delaware operates under a council–manager form of government. Council, as the legislative body, represents the entire community and is empowered by the city charter to formulate policy. City council has seven members: three elected at-large by all city residents, and four representing the four city wards and elected only by those ward residents. All council members serve four-year terms. The mayor and vice mayor are selected by council from among the at-large members and serve two-year terms.

The city manager handles the day-to-day administration of the city and is appointed by the city council.

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan is a private independent liberal arts college located in the heart of Delaware. Ohio Wesleyan University enrolls approximately 1,950 students from 40 states and more than 50 countries. Due to high enrollment of minority and international students at the university, it has influenced the international, ethnic and religious diversity of Delaware.

The Methodist Theological School in Ohio The Methodist Theological School in Ohio is a graduate school seminary located between Delaware and Columbus, Ohio.

Delaware City School District The Delaware City School District, which encompasses Delaware and the surrounding area, enrolls about 5,700 PreK-12 students. Frank B. Willis Education Center (formerly the Intermediate School and High School) is home to the administrative offices of the district.

High schools • Rutherford B. Hayes High School (Delaware, Ohio); Middle school • John C. Dempsey Middle School; Elementary schools • Ervin Carlisle Elementary • James A. Conger Elementary • Robert F. Schultz Elementary • David Smith Elementary • Laura Woodward Elementary; Private schools K-8 • St. Mary School; K-12 • Delaware Christian School.

Economy There is a true economic mix in the area. The economic mix of the county reveals a balance of the following main economic activities: Manufacturing (18%), Trade (27%), Government (15%), and Service (23%) according to statistics published by Delaware Area Chamber of Commerce in 2000. The largest employers are in automobile coatings, plastics, copper products, education, insurance, automobile parts and distribution, sports apparel, retail, services, and government. Delaware County is a net importer of workers from throughout Ohio. Packaging company Greif, Inc. is headquartered in Delaware.