Paulding, Ohio

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The Paulding County Courthouse

The village of Paulding is the county seat of Paulding County, Ohio, in the United States, located predominantly in Paulding Township.

Paulding was a planned community, founded in 1848 at the center of the county, and named after the county by speculators who expected to profit by moving the county seat. In 1851, the county seat was moved from Charloe, which had been county seat for a decade; prior to that, court was held at Rochester.

The town square is devoted to the courthouse, a rather attractive orange brick structure surrounded by majestic trees upon a spacious lawn. In the centennial year of 1876, the county commissioners determined to build a new courthouse, and visited many courthouses, finally deciding to erect a duplicate of the courthouse in Jackson, Michigan at a cost of $40,000. The courthouse was finished in 1886.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Transportation and Communications
4 Industry
5 Education
6 Trivia
7 External links

[edit] Geography

Paulding is located at 41°8′30″N, 84°34′53″W (41.141689, -84.581503)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 6.2 km² (2.4 mi²). 5.9 km² (2.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (4.20%) is water. It is 723 feet above sea level.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 3,595 people, 1,466 households, and 988 families residing in the village. The population in July 2004 was 3,415, a 5.0% drop since the start of the decade.[1] is estimated at The population density was 608.8/km² (1,577.1/mi²). There were 1,583 housing units at an average density of 268.1/km² (694.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 91.04% White, 2.56% African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.28% Asian, 3.81% from other races, and 2.09% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.93% of the population.

There were 1,466 households out of which 33.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.7% were married couples living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.6% were non-families. 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the village the population was spread out with 25.6% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 90.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.0 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $35,943, and the median income for a family was $41,962. Males had a median income of $33,042 versus $22,103 for females. The per capita income for the village was $17,383. About 6.3% of families and 9.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.1% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Transportation and Communications

Paulding is at the intersection of US Highway 127 and Ohio Highway 111 and the terminus of Ohio Highway 500. Formerly on the Cincinnati Northern Railroad, the tracks were removed in the 1980s. Paulding Airport, located 2 miles northeast of town, has one grass runway, 3056 x 80 ft[2]

The dominant daily newspaper is the Defiance Crescent-News[3] with some readers choosing the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette[4], Toledo Blade[5], and Lima News[6], in that order. The local weekly is the Paulding County Progress[7], Paulding residents are part of the Fort Wayne, Indiana television market.

[edit] Industry

Paulding is largely a bedroom community.

At one point, Paulding had a factory processing sugar from beets, and another processing ketchup from tomatoes, but both factories have ceased production and neighboring farms no longer produce those crops. At one point, Paulding boasted of three local elevators - Equity Exchange, Paulding Grain and Seed, and the Farm Bureau - but the loss of rail service, most grain is trucked elsewhere. Paulding was once home to Betty Zane popcorn, but that disappeared in the early 20th century.

Many manufacturing facilities have come and gone, producing such products as glass mailboxes, ink wells, and brake linings. A number of small factories exist, but the largest single employer in the Village is the government, with Paulding Exempted Village Schools being the largest organization. Many residents commute to industrial jobs, often in neighboring counties.

[edit] Education

Paulding high school sports participate in the Northwest Conference, an athletic body sanctioned by the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) which includes the Ada Bulldogs, Allen East Mustangs, Bluffton Pirates, Columbus Grove Bulldogs, Convoy Crestview Knights, Delphos Jefferson Wildcats, Lima Central Catholic T-Birds, Lincolnview Lancers, Paulding Panthers, and Spencerville Bearcats.

[edit] Trivia

Paulding has achieved an internet fame of sorts for supposedly having a law saying that a policeman may bite a rabid dog to bite him. No such law exists. However, a town councilman moved to disarm a town officer much as fictional deputy Barney Fife did not carry a loaded weapon in fictional Mayberry, another community where stolen bicycles were pretty much the extent of major crime. The officer, objecting to this indignity, pointed out that if a rabid dog were to threaten the community, he would need a gun to deal with the dog. The councilman directed the officer to proactively deal with rabid dogs by biting them first, to quiet them.
When the Paulding Democrat and the Paulding Republican merged, there was no obvious name for the new newspaper. Editor/publisher Ralph Reinhart held a contest to choose a new name, and selected Paulding Progress as the winner.
Miles Street is named for Paul Miles, 1970 Paulding High School graduate, who was the third running back in NCAA history to rush for 3 consecutive 1000 yard seasons at Bowling Green State University. His high school number # 44 and college #29 were the first football jerseys retired at either establishment. Freshmen weren't able to play varsity when he went to college. He was also 3-time unanimous 1st team All Mid American Conference.
Sculptor David Smith, whose Cubi XXVIII became the most expensive work of contemporary art ever sold at auction, selling for $23.8 million at Sotheby's Manhattan auction house in 2005, grew up in Paulding, where his father Harvey ran the Paulding Telephone Company and mother Golda taught school.
A book of maps of Ohio cities published in the 1990s included a map of the Village of Paulding, even though it's hardly a city. An ordinary north-at-the-top map was published upside down, with an arrow indicating north was to the side. Locals speculated whether the bizarre inclusion was a joke or vandalism by a disgruntled employee, or if it was included deliberately as a trap for those who might wish to violate the copyright of the publisher.
The school on Water Street is one of the largest schools in the state providing elementary education. In many districts, elementary schools are kept small so students can walk to school. The graduating class of 1970 included the last Paulding students who experienced a one-room schoolhouse, as they had attended the first grade at Emerald. That was a fairly pleasant transition, unlike 1971, when many county residents were outraged to learn Dr. Martin Essex of the Ohio State Board of Education had revoked the charters of 4 of the 6 Paulding County schools, asserting that they were too small to offer a good education. Auglaize-Brown asked to join the Paulding Exempted Village School district, while the Grover Hill, Blue Creek, and Payne Local School Districts merged into the new Wayne Trace school district.