St. Paris, Ohio

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This article is about the Ohio village St. Paris. For other uses, see Paris (disambiguation).

St. Paris is a village in Champaign County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,998 at the 2000 census.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 History
4 Notable residents
5 High School Sports
6 References
7 External links
8 See also

[edit] Geography

St. Paris is located at 40°7′41″N, 83°57′36″W (40.128173, -83.959863)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 2.3 km² (0.9 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,998 people, 781 households, and 556 families residing in the village. The population density was 886.7/km² (2,302.5/mi²). There were 809 housing units at an average density of 359.0/km² (932.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 98.55% White, 0.10% African American, 0.60% Native American, 0.15% from other races, and 0.60% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.65% of the population.

There were 781 households out of which 38.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.8% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.8% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the village the population was spread out with 29.1% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 87.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.8 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $39,917, and the median income for a family was $47,014. Males had a median income of $35,417 versus $22,326 for females. The per capita income for the village was $16,811. About 8.8% of families and 8.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.8% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] History

The area where St. Paris now stands was originally inhabited by Native Americans. The first European settlers arrived in 1797 and the village was founded in 1831 by David Huffman, who originally named it New Paris. Upon learning that another town in Ohio already had that name, he changed the name to St. Paris. There is apparently an actual Saint Paris (also known as Amasius, Bishop of Teano; d. 356) among the saints recognized by the Catholic Church, though it is unclear whether Huffman intended the village's new name as a tribute to this saint.

Long time St. Paris citizen's take on history (date unknown):

"The flourishing and enterprising town bearing the above name is prettily situated, in a basin as it were, on a very high elevation of ground. It was named after the metropolis of France by David Huffman, who laid it out in 1831. On learning of a "New, Paris” in Ohio, he prefixed to it the Saint, to avoid any difficulty that might occur in mail matter. The lots were surveyed by the old pioneer surveyor, John Arrowsmith. The first house in the town was built by David Huffman; a hewed-log house, standing on the northwest corner of Springfield and Main streets. It was a very neat piece of work, carefully made by Huffman himself, and was the pride of the neighborhood. The first frame house of any note was built by John Falkner, soon after the town had been laid out. It then became the American Hotel, on Main Street. Huffman was the first merchant, inn-keeper and Postmaster. William Rosebro was one of the early tavern-keepers, occupying the house known as the old La Rue Tavern. Jacob Protsman was the first blacksmith, and occupied a log shop on Main Street. Dan Putman was an early grocer, located on West Main Street. The town grew quite rapidly, and in the year 1845 it numbered nearly twenty houses. In 1846 or 1847, the Columbus & Piqua Railroad was built through St. Paris, which gave it great advantages over neighboring villages, and it began steadily to increase, until it is now known as one of the live towns of Champaign County, and bids fair to rival others, its seniors in years. Through the efforts of its many enterprising citizens it has become a town of fair population, studded with numerous churches, fine residences, business houses, banks and a good school. It also supported several manufacturing interests, among them carriage manufacturing, a tile factory, steam saw-mill, grist-mill, etc. It has its three grain ware rooms, where 300,000 bushels of grain are annually shipped to the markets of the country. The American House and "U. S." were the hotels of the town. The proprietor of the former is Joe A. Hellings. We were unable to get at the exact date of its incorporation as a town, but the year 1858 will not miss it far. Its first Mayor was John F. Riker, by whom a Bed and Breakfast, The Riker house on Walnut Street, is now named."

[edit] Notable residents

St. Paris was the hometown of the rapper Mr. Pit (Steven Zorn, 1983-2005), who died on November 19, 2005 after accidentally shooting himself with a gun in the shape of a pen.[1]

[edit] High School Sports

Graham High School is Division III in football. All other sports are Division II. Graham's colors are black and white. The Falcon is their mascot. Graham's major rivals are the Hillclimbers of the neighboring town of Urbana, Ohio. Graham is a member of Central Buckeye Conference (CBC). The conference is divided into two divisions: The Kenton Trail Division, which includes Bellefontaine, Indian Lake, Shawnee, Tecumseh, Tippecanoe, Urbana. The Mad River Division includes Benjamin Logan, GRAHAM, Greenon, Kenton Ridge, Northwestern, Stebbins.
In 2007-2008, Stebbins and Kenton Ridge move into the Kenton Trail Division. In 2007-2008, Indian Lake and Urbana move into the Mad River Division.
Graham's Alma Mater:

"We hail thee Graham High School, to thee, we sing our praise. To honor and be loyal, in this pledge our voices raise. You give us faith and courage. To thee we will be true. Our banner waves for Graham High; for ever true to you."

Graham's Fight song:

"We are the Graham Falcons Fighting all the way. We are the Graham Falcons This will be our day - hey, hey, hey. Black and white are our colors. White for honesty, Black is for our valor That will lead us to victory."