Perrysburg, Ohio facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Perrysburg, Ohio
City
Downtown Perrysburg
Motto(s):  "Embracing Our Past. Poised For The Future."
Location of Perrysburg in Ohio
Location of Perrysburg in Wood County
Country	United States
State	Ohio
County	Wood
Area
• Total	11.93 sq mi (30.91 km2)
• Land	11.89 sq mi (30.80 km2)
• Water	0.04 sq mi (0.11 km2)
Elevation	630 ft (192 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	25,041
• Density	1,818.53/sq mi (702.15/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP codes	43551–43552
Area code(s)	419
FIPS code	39-62148
GNIS feature ID	1066139

Perrysburg is a city located in Wood County, Ohio, United States, along the south side of the Maumee River. The population was 25,041 at the 2020 census. Part of the Toledo metropolitan area, the city is 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Toledo. Perrysburg is the second largest city in Wood County, after the county seat of Bowling Green.

History

Perrysburg is home to Fort Meigs, the largest wooden walled fortification in North America.

Perrysburg lies near the center of the Twelve Mile Square Reservation, a tract of land ceded by the Odawa people to the United States of America by the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 following the end of the Northwest Indian Wars. They had occupied this territory since the turn of the 18th century, after having settled in the region of the French trading post at Fort Detroit. The Odawa had controlled much of the territory along the Maumee River in present-day northwestern Ohio.

In 1810, early European-American settlers here were Major Amos Spafford (1753-1818), his wife Olive (1756-1823), and their four children. In 1796, Spafford, a native of Connecticut, was a surveyor for the Connecticut Land Company. He drew the first map laying out Cleveland and named the city. He left there in 1810 following appointment as custom's collector and postmaster for the new port at the foot of the rapids of the Maumee River, Port Miami of Lake Erie. Spafford was granted a 160-acre land patent on River Tract #64 in Waynesfield township, signed by President James Monroe. Two years later, 67 families lived in the area, but most fled at the outbreak of the War of 1812. After the war and the 1817 Treaty of Fort Meigs, which extinguished Odawa claim to this area, Spafford purchased the land.

When the war clouds of 1812 began to creep upon Northwest Ohio, General William Henry Harrison ordered the construction of the fort, beginning in February 1813. Harrison was General Anthony Wayne's former aide-de-camp. Later he was elected as the country's ninth president. The installation was named Fort Meigs in honor of Ohio's fourth governor, Return Jonathan Meigs. Fort Meigs was constructed on a bluff above the Maumee River, and built from a design by the army engineer Captain Eleazer D. Wood, for whom the county would be named. Two critical battles with the British were fought at the fort during the War of 1812.

Early settlers in the area fled to Huron during the War of 1812. They returned to settle in the floodplain below Fort Meigs, calling the settlement Orleans. They moved to higher ground after being flooded out. Perrysburg was located by a surveying team led by Alexander Bourne, appointed to that position by Edward Tiffin, Surveyor General of the United States. Contrary to numerous Internet postings, Charles Pierre L'Enfant did NOT survey and plat Perrysburg, Ohio on April 27, 1816; this survey was performed in late June / early July, 1816 by surveyors Joseph Wampler and William Brookfield under the auspices of Alexander Bourne and Josiah Meigs, Surveyor General of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri.

The town soon became a center for shipbuilding and commerce on Lake Erie. It was named after Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, naval commander during the War of 1812.

In 1833, Perrysburg contained a court house and jail, a school house, two stores, two taverns, two physicians, two lawyers, about 60 houses, and 250 inhabitants.

In 1854, an epidemic of cholera decimated the population. The town closed down for two months in that summer, trying to contain the epidemic at a time when people did not understand how it was transmitted. More than 100 people died. Other towns along the Maumee also suffered high losses from the epidemic, and Providence, Ohio was abandoned. It has suffered a disastrous fire less than a decade before.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.51 square miles (29.81 km²), all land.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 20,623 people, 8,246 households, and 5,504 families living in the city. The population density was 1,791.7 inhabitants per square mile (691.8/km²). There were 8,845 housing units at an average density of 768.5 per square mile (296.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.9% White, 1.4% African American, 0.1% Native American, 3.1% Asian, 0.8% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.2% of the population.

There were 8,246 households, of which 34.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.5% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 2.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 33.3% were non-families. 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.10.

The median age in the city was 38.4 years. 26.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.1% were from 25 to 44; 27.6% were from 45 to 64; and 12.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.4% male and 51.6% female.

Notable companies

Owens-Illinois building in Perrysburg.

• Owens-Illinois Inc., global glass container manufacturer
• Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment, metalworking machinery dealer, specializing in tube mills, roll forming and coil processing equipment.
• Fox Software, creator of FoxPro (Defunct after being acquired by Microsoft in 1992)

Education

Perrysburg is home to The Islamic School of Greater Toledo, Saint Rose School and Perrysburg Schools, which includes a preschool, four elementary schools, one intermediate school, one junior high school and Perrysburg High School.

In the year 2016, 51% of Perrysburg residents over the age of 25 had a bachelor's degree or a higher level of education, compared to 31.7% of Wood County residents, 23% of residents in the Toledo MSA, 26.7% of Ohioans, and 30.3% in the U.S.

Library

The Way Public Library serves Perrysburg area. In 2016, the library loaned 639,113 items and provided 726 programs to its 34,336 registered borrowers. Total holdings in 2016 were 93,416 print materials and 182 print subscriptions.

Images for kids

• 

  Map of Perrysburg, Ohio

• 

  Statue of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, after whom Perrysburg is named.

See also

In Spanish: Perrysburg (Ohio) para niños