Fredericktown, Ohio

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Coordinates: 40°28′47″N, 82°33′43″W
Village of Fredericktown
Location of Fredericktown in Ohio
Country	United States
State	Ohio
County	Knox County
Mayor	Roger Reed
Area
- City	1.5 sq. miles / 3.8 km²
- Land	1.4 sq. miles / 3.7 km²
- Water	0.04 sq. miles / 0.1 km²
Elevation	1090 ft. / 332.2 m
Population
- City (2000)	2,428 (city proper)
- Density	1,719.3/mi² / 664.9/km²
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Website: http://www.fredericktown.net

Fredericktown is a village in Knox County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,428 at the 2000 census.

1 History
2 Demographics
3 Transportation
4 External links

[edit] History

Long before white settlers entered the area, Mississippian Indians or more specifically Adena and Hopewell Indians inhabited the present day area of Fredericktown. Early settlers found three mounds and earthworks located on nearby hilltops. While the Raliegh Mound and Stackhouse Mound and Works are preserved today, the third mound, located by what is presently the Baptist Church, was demolished. Both preserved mounds were most likely ceremonial structures and they are oriented towards the Sun's movements. When settlers arrived, the sites were abandoned with few other traces of the Natives who lived there. There were a few scattered Native Americans living nearby along what was then the periphery of Indian Lands established by the Greenville Treaty Line.

The Fredericktown Grain Elevator, sight of the first mill.

The first white settler was John Kerr who in 1807 bought and platted the town and built a mill on the North Branch of the Kokosing River. Growth was sluggish until the Sandusky, Mansfield, and Newark Railroad came through the village in 1853. A grain elevator, foundry, and other small trading businesses were built, helping to establish Fredericktown more firmly as the local business center than the nearby crossroad settlements of Batemantown, Waterford, and Ankeneytown. Around World War II a small airplane paneling factory was built and later reverted to furniture manufacturing. In the last half of the 20th century, a few light manufacturing operations and the largest privately owned general construction contractor in Ohio, Kokosing Construction [1], were established locally.

Looking South on Main St.

The Future Farmers of America Jacket has its origins in Fredericktown. In 1933 FFA members from the local chapter arrived at the national convention in blue corduroy jackets with the FFA emblem on the back. That same year national delegates voted to adopt it as the official dress. Today more than 50,000 are manufactured yearly for FFA members. The jacket was worn in the 2004 motion picture Napoleon Dynamite by characters taking part in an agriculture competition. Fredericktown High School [2] is the graduating high school of actor Luke Perry, star of the early 90's drama of Beverly Hills, 90210.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 2,428 people, 1,021 households, and 681 families residing in the village. The population density was 664.9/km² (1,719.3/mi²). There were 1,103 housing units at an average density of 302.0/km² (781.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 98.64% White, 0.29% African American, 0.08% Native American, 0.08% Asian, 0.12% from other races, and 0.78% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.41% of the population.

There were 1,021 households out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.3% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.3% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the village the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.6 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $36,354, and the median income for a family was $45,345. Males had a median income of $34,028 versus $21,858 for females. The per capita income for the village was $19,138. About 5.7% of families and 7.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.2% of those under age 18 and 9.2% of those age 65 or over.