Lancaster, Ohio

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City of Lancaster, Ohio
Lancaster as viewed from Mount Pleasant in 2006
Lancaster as viewed from Mount Pleasant in 2006
Location of Lancaster, Ohio
Location of Lancaster, Ohio
Coordinates: 39°43′9″N 82°36′19″W / 39.71917, -82.60528
Country United States
State Ohio
County Fairfield
Government
 - Mayor David S. Smith (R)
Area
 - Total 18.1 sq mi (46.8 km²)
 - Land 18.1 sq mi (46.8 km²)
 - Water 0.0 sq mi (0.02 km²)
Elevation 879 ft (268 m)
Population (2000)
 - Total 35,335
 - Density 1,955.5/sq mi (755.02/km²)
Time zone EST (UTC−5)
 - Summer (DST) EDT (UTC−4)
ZIP code 43130
Area code(s) 740
FIPS code 39-41720GR2
GNIS feature ID 1048903GR3
Website: www.ci.lancaster.oh.us
West Main Street in downtown Lancaster in 2006
West Main Street in downtown Lancaster in 2006

Lancaster is a city in Fairfield County, Ohio, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 35,335. It is located near the Hocking River, approximately 33 miles (53 km) southeast of Columbus, Ohio. It is the county seat of Fairfield CountyGR6. The current mayor of Lancaster is Republican David S. Smith, who took office in January 2004 serving a four year term.

Contents

The earliest known inhabitants of the southeastern and central Ohio region are the Hopewell, Adena, and Fort Ancient Native Americans, of whom little evidence today exists beyond the extravagant burial mounds these peoples left scattered around Ohio, and the archaeological artifacts left therein. (see also: Serpent Mound, Hopewell Culture National Historic Park, which though not located in Fairfield County proper, are very close by.)

Prior to and immediately after European settlement, the land today comprising Lancaster and Fairfield County, Ohio, was inhabited variously by the Shawnee, Iroquois, Wyandot, and other Native American tribes. (see also: Beaver Wars) The lands surrounding Lancaster and Fairfield County in this region of Ohio were inhabited earlier in prehistory by the Hopewell peoples.

Having been ceded to the United States by Great Britain after the American Revolution by the Treaty of Paris, the lands north of the Ohio River and west of the Appalachian Mountains became, in 1784, incorporated into the Northwest Territory. As white settlers (illegally) began to encroach on their ancestral lands in the Ohio Territory, and as the nascent 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 in 1794 , and the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. With settlement within Ohio now legal, and safe from Indian raids, land speculation began 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 in 1796 petitioned the US Congress to grant him a contract to blaze a trail through Ohio, from Wheeling, West Virginia, to Limestone, Kentucky, (near modern Maysville, Kentucky) a distance of 266 miles. As part of the deal, Zane was awarded square-mile tracts of land at the points where his trace crossed the Hocking, Muskingum, and Scioto rivers. Zane's Trace, 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 , thus predating the formal establishment of the State of Ohio itself by three years.

The initial settlers were predominantly of German stock, and emigrated from Pennsylvania. Ohio's longest continuously operating newspaper, the Lancaster Eagle Gazette, was born of a merger of the early Der Ohio Adler, founded about 1807, with the Ohio Gazette, founded in the 1830's. The two newspapers were ferocious foes--they were on opposite sides of the Civil War, as was the split populace of the city itself--until they merged in 1937, 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, Inc.

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 to the Ohio and Erie Canal 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.

Lancaster is the birthplace and/or hometown of:

  • Lancaster is home to the Lancaster campus of Ohio University, offering a variety of two and four year baccalaureate degrees, and several master's programs.
  • Lancaster is home to the Lancaster Festival, an 11-day arts and music festival.
  • Lancaster hosts two notable events sponsored annually by the Fairfield Heritage Association: the Pilgrimage Tour of Homes in which visitors can tour several of the area's historic houses, and the Christmas Candlelight Tour wherein downtown Lancaster's historic churches open their doors to the touring public.
  • Each October the Fairfield County Fair takes place at Lancaster's fairgrounds, in the shadow of Mount Pleasant. The Fair is the last county fair of the year in Ohio, and also one of Ohio's oldest.
  • In 1947 Lancaster was the first community in Ohio to act as the setting for a feature length Hollywood movie involving the principal cast (20th Century Fox's Green Grass of Wyoming).
  • Lancaster is home to both the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio and the Ohio Glass Museum, both located within the downtown area.

Lancaster saw a dimunution of its industrial capacity during the 1980s. Industry in Lancaster includes:

  • Ralston Foods is the industry leader in private label ready-to-eat and hot cereals.

A famous Lancaster landmark is Mount Pleasant, a 250 foot 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 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. In addition, on very clear days, one is able to see the Columbus skyline.

Another landmark is the Mudhouse Mansion, a 19th-century home connected with numerous local legends.

City records, according to historian Charles Goslin, show the building site was part of the Emanuel Carpenter Jr. Addition, purchased from the Zane family for $6,784.28, and laid out in 1814. The addition consisted of 437 acres of 110 lots and was also known as Carpentertown. A Nov. 21, 1970, Eagle-Gazette history column by Charles Goslin claims the current tavern site was sold by Carpenter at a cost of 3,324 gallons of whiskey from George Ring and James Rice in 1817. Carpenter died in 1818 and his addition's circular pattern was designed to become Lancaster's downtown district but failed to materialize with the arrival of railroads to the city in the 1850s. An 1891 city directory lists the site as the possible location for the (Thomas and John) Benadum Brothers coal supply firm. An 1915 city directory has the site as location for the Continental Supply Co. grease and oil business. City directories from the mid-1940s do not list specific firms, but several area oil companies are listed as having operations in that area in the 1940s and early 1950s. Around 1975, it was home to Eggs & Stuff dairy store and also in various years housed such assorted businesses as Brill's bakery, Messingers Produce, Fish-N-Chicks, Old Mill Market and Tipp's rent-a-car during the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The site was purchased by current owner Ron Hawk in the late 1990s for his present Tavern at the Mill.

Information from: Lancaster Eagle-Gazette - October 31, 2003


Lancaster was the home of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman and his brother, Senator John Sherman. The house in which they were born is still standing and may be toured.[2]

Lancaster is located at 39°43′9″N, 82°36′19″W (39.719297, -82.605293)GR1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.1 square miles (46.8 km²), of which, 18.1 square miles (46.8 km²) of it is land and 0.06% is water.

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 35,335 people, 14,852 households, and 9,564 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,955.9 people per square mile (755.0/km²). There were 15,891 housing units at an average density of 879.6/sq mi (339.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.38% White, 0.61% African American, 0.30% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.18% from other races, 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 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 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.


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