Tiffin is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Seneca County,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, United States. Developed along the Sandusky River, which flows to Lake Erie, Tiffin is about 55 miles southeast of Toledo. The population was 17,963 at the 2010 census.U.S. Census website
U.S. Census Bureau. February 4, 2011. Retrieved April 5, 2011. The

National Arbor Day Foundation The Arbor Day Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees. The Arbor Day Foundation has more than one million members and has planted more than 350 million trees in neighborhoods, communities ...

has designated Tiffin as a

Tree City USA The Arbor Day Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees. The Arbor Day Foundation has more than one million members and has planted more than 350 million trees in neighborhoods, communities ...

. It is the home of

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

and

Tiffin University Tiffin University is a private university in Tiffin, Ohio. It was founded in 1888 and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs at the main campus in Tiffin, Ohio; the Unive ...

. At one time the city was noted as a glass and porcelain manufacturing center. Tiffin has several public elementary schools, Tiffin Middle School, Columbian High School. In addition, Calvert Catholic Schools form a parochial system.

History

The European-American settled history of Tiffin dates back to 1812. The familiar bronze statue of "The Indian Maiden" on Frost Parkway, near Miami Street, marks the site of Fort Ball, a military depot of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. During a fighting engagement of that war, Erastus Bowe sighted the location where Tiffin later developed. In 1817, he returned to the site and built his Pan Yan Tavern, on the North Sandusky River. Its name was likely derived from

Penn Yan, New York Penn Yan is an incorporated village and the county seat of Yates County, New York, United States. The population was 5,159 at the 2010 census. It lies at the north end of the east branch of Keuka Lake, one of the Finger Lakes. Penn Yan, New York ...

, the seat of Yates County in the

Finger Lakes The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional ...

region and the origin for numerous migrants to Ohio. Early homesteaders followed soon after Bowe, and the settlement of Oakley sprang up around the Pan Yan on the north side of the river. The chief road of the area followed the path of the stagecoaches through Oakley, which was called Fort Ball after 1824. In 1821, Josiah Hedges purchased a piece of land on the south bank of the river opposite Oakley and founded another settlement. He named this village "Tiffin" in honor of

Edward Tiffin Edward Tiffin (June 19, 1766August 9, 1829) was an American politician from Ohio. A member of the Democratic-Republican party, he served as the first governor of Ohio and later as a United States Senator. Biography Sources indicate that he was ...

, first governor of Ohio and later a member of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. He had helped gain statehood for the Ohio Territory in 1803. Tiffin was incorporated by an act of the Ohio Legislature on March 7, 1835. These two communities, split by the Sandusky River, were rivals. In 1850, seeing that their interests lay together, the villages merged to form Tiffin, with Fort Ball becoming a part of Tiffin in March of that year. In 1824, with the establishment of Seneca County by the Ohio Legislature, Tiffin was designated as the county seat. The county was named after the

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

Indians, the westernmost of the

Iroquois League The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

of Six Nations, who dominated this territory for centuries. They were based in New York, from the Hudson River west along the southern edge of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

into Pennsylvania. They had conquered the Ohio Valley during the

Beaver Wars The Beaver Wars ( moh, Tsianì kayonkwere), also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars (french: Guerres franco-iroquoises) were a series of conflicts fought intermittently during the 17th century in North America throughout t ...

and preserved it as hunting grounds. The discovery of natural gas in the vicinity in 1888 gave new momentum to the city's industrial development. New enterprises located in Tiffin, making it a prosperous industrial city: *The National Machinery Company moved from Cleveland to Tiffin in 1882. *Webster Industries, Inc. moved from Chicago to Tiffin in 1906. *Tiffin Glass Works operated here from 1889 to 1980. *

American Standard Companies American Standard Companies was a manufacturer of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, plumbing fixtures, and automotive parts. The company was formed in 1929 through the merger of the American Radiator Company and Stand ...

(formerly Great Western Pottery), maker of ceramic kitchen and bath products, operated here from 1899 to 2007. It was the largest employer in the city. *Clifford O. Hanson founded The Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company in Tiffin. It was acquired by Pettibone in 1966. Pettibone LLC, which today is an affiliate of The Heico Companies, renamed the business unit Tiffin Parts in 1997. Operating at the same site since the 1920s, the building on Miami Street is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

."Our History"
Tiffin Parts In the spring of 1913, the Upper Mississippi and Ohio River valleys were ravaged by one of the most devastating floods in the region's history. Among those communities which suffered the consequences of that flood was Tiffin, located on the Sandusky River in northwest Ohio. During that three-day period, Tiffin sustained more than $1,000,000 in property loss, 46 houses and 2 factories swept away, 10 factories damaged, 69 places of business heavily damaged, 6 bridges within the corporate limits destroyed, and 19 people died. Ballreich's Bros., a potato chip company, has operated in Tiffin since 1920. While the company's retail market is Northern Ohio, its products have a reputation that extends beyond its local retail market; these are available for shipping anywhere via the company's website. The company was acquired by a group of local investors in 2019. Tiffin St. Paul's United Methodist Church was the first church in the world to be lit by

Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These invention ...

's light bulb, and the first public building in the United States to be wired for electricity. Tiffin is home to a large population of

German-Americans German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial Germans, German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by ...

, descendants of immigrants largely from the mid-19th century. In 1970 Tiffin's peak population was 21,896. Since the late 1970s and industrial restructuring, the city has lost industry, jobs and population. Many jobs have moved offshore. Tiffin is the home of the historic Ritz Theatre, built in 1928 as a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

house; it is in the Italian Renaissance style. The Ritz Theatre received extensive renovation and restoration in 1998. In 2002, an F3 tornado hit southeast Tiffin, destroying several homes outside city limits. A new Mercy Hospital of Tiffin was built and opened in July 2008. In 2022, Tiffin City Council elected the city's first female mayor, Dawn Iannantuono. Iannantuono is the 50th mayor of the City of Tiffin.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The

Sandusky River The Sandusky River ( wyn, saandusti; sjw, Potakihiipi ) is a tributary to Lake Erie in north-central Ohio in the United States. It is about longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Ma ...

flows through the center of the city. It is located on

U.S. Route 224 U.S. Route 224 (US 224) is a spur of US 24 that runs through the states of Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. It currently runs for from US 24 in Huntington, Indiana, east to US 422 Business (US 422 Bus.) and Pennsylvani ...

Climate

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2020, there were 17,953 people and 7,111 households residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was . The racial makeup of the city was 88.3%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 4.3%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.5% Native American, 1.7%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.7% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 2.2% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 3.3% of the population. 4.3% of residents were under the age of 5, 17.9% were under the age of 18, and 19.1% were 65 or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.7% male and 51.3% female.

2010 census

As of the

of 2010, there were 17,963 people, 7,086 households, and 4,115 families residing in the city. The

was . There were 8,007 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 93.9%

, 2.6%

, 0.2% Native American, 1.0%

, 0.7% from

, and 1.6% from two or more races.

of any race were 3.1% of the population. There were 7,086 households, of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 41.9% were non-families. 34.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.91. The median age in the city was 35.2 years. 20.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 17.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 21.5% were from 25 to 44; 24.6% were from 45 to 64; and 15.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.9% male and 51.1% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 18,135 people, 11,330 households, and 9,471 families residing in the city. The

was (10,792.4/mi) people per square mile (11,078.9/km). There were 17,862 housing units at an average density of 11,210.6 per square mile (467.7/km). The racial makeup of the city was 96.3%

, 1.5%

, 0.2% Native American, 0.5%

, 0.0%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 0.6% from

, and 1.00% from two or more races.

of any race were 2.1% of the population. There were 11,330 households, out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.2% were

living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.0% were non-families. 32.6% 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 2.31 and the average family size was 2.92. In the city the population was spread out, with 22.3% under the age of 18, 15.1% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $33,261, and the median income for a family was $41,329. Males had a median income of $31,207 versus $22,259 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $16,580. About 5.7% of families and about 11.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 9.4% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.

Sports

The Tiffin Saints were part of the Independent Baseball League that played an abbreviated single season at the

baseball field in 2014. The Saints were Tiffin's first "professional" baseball team since the Tiffin Mud Hens played in the

Ohio State League The Ohio State League was a minor league baseball league that operated in numerous seasons between 1887 and 1947, predominantly as a Class D level league. League franchises were based in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. Histo ...

from 1936 to 1941. The Tiffin Mud Hens won the OSL championship in 1936. The Saints and IBL, which initially began with six teams, folded before the end of the inaugural season due to financial woes and controversy over whether or not the players were paid. The Adrian Pioneers beat the Ohio Travelers to win the shortened IBL season. Tiffin is also home to the Tiffin Cross Country Carnival, a large-scale high school cross country meet.

Education

Tiffin is served by Tiffin City Schools:

Columbian High School Columbian High School is comprehensive public high school in Tiffin, Ohio, United States. It is the only public high school in the Tiffin City School District. Their nickname is the Tornadoes. A long time member of the Northern Ohio League ( ...

, Tiffin Middle School, and C.A. Krout, Noble, and Washington elementary schools. Tiffin is also served by the Calvert Catholic Schools: Calvert High School for grades 7-12, and one campus school, Calvert Elementary, for preschool through grade 6. Other schools in Tiffin include the Sentinel Career Center, one of two charters schools, Bridges Community Academy, and North Central Academy. Tiffin is the home of

, the Tiffin Academy of Hair Design, and formerly of the American Institute of Massotherapy. Tiffin also has two Catholic churches. St. Mary's Catholic Church, originally started with primarily Irish and Italian immigrants, has a cathedral appearance and stained glass windows; it once hosted a K-8 school. St. Joseph's Catholic Church, the tallest and one of the oldest churches in Tiffin, was originally started with primarily German immigrants. Tiffin has the county's only lending library, Tiffin-Seneca Public Library.

Media

Tiffin is served by The Advertiser-Tribune as its primary print newspaper, and TiffinOhio.net as its primary online news website. The city has 4 radio stations, 1600

WTTF WTTF (1600 AM) — branded as Oldies WTTF — is a commercial radio station licensed to Tiffin, Ohio broadcasting a full service oldies format, along with an emphasis on local news, talk and high school sports. Owned and operated by Tom Klein, t ...

AM, 103.7

WCKY-FM WCKY-FM (103.7 MHz, "Buckeye Country 103.7") is a radio station licensed to Pemberville, Ohio, serving the Toledo market. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station - branded as Buckeye Country 103.7 CKY - features a country music format. From its inc ...

, 103.3

WSJG-LP WSJG-LP ("St. John Paul The Great Radio") is a non-commercial low-power FM broadcasting station at 103.3 MHz in Tiffin, Ohio. It is the seventh Catholic station in the Toledo Diocese and is named in honor of Pope John Paul II who is now a canon ...

"St. John Paul The Great Radio," and 93.3 COOL FM. It is also served by its local news/sport/entertainment channel, WTIF (Channel 21 on Cable, and currently not carried by DirecTV or Dish Network).

Infrastructure

Transportation

Tiffin has one airport, Seneca County Airport (K16G). A flex-route bus service, the Shelton Shuttle, is provided b
Seneca-Crawford Area Transportation
Tiffin is currently on 5 state routes, as well as U.S. Route 224, which skirts the city's southern edge. Tiffin is located on the southern terminus of Northern Ohio and Western Railway. CSX operates a busy line that travels east and west through the city. The city is still a very busy railhub for CSX because of its closeness to CSX's Willard Yard and the "Iron Triangle" in Fostoria.

Notable people

Oliver Edwin Baker Oliver Edwin Baker (September 10, 1883 – December 2, 1949) was an American economic geographer. Education and early career Baker was born in Tiffin, Ohio. His father, Edwin Baker, was a merchant, and his mother, Martha Ranney Thomas, had b ...

, president of the Association of American Geographers * George H. Brickner, politician and businessman *

Oliver Cowdery Oliver H. P. Cowdery (October 3, 1806 – March 3, 1850) was an American Mormon leader who, with Joseph Smith, was an important participant in the formative period of the Latter Day Saint movement between 1829 and 1836. He was the first baptized ...

, early leader in the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...

. Practiced law and politics in Tiffin, 1842–1847 *

George Babcock Cressey George Babcock Cressey (December 15, 1896 – October 21, 1963) was an American geographer, author, and academic. Born in Tiffin, Ohio, he attended Denison University and then the University of Chicago, where he received a PhD in geology. After ...

, Geography *

Charles W. Foster Charles William Foster Jr. (April 12, 1828January 9, 1904) was a U.S. Republican politician from Ohio. Foster was the 35th governor of Ohio, and later went on to serve as Secretary of the Treasury under Benjamin Harrison. Biography Foster wa ...

, 40th Secretary of the Treasury, 35th

Governor of Ohio A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. * William Harvey Gibson, Union General,

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, and noted 19th century orator *

Lorenzo D. Gasser Lorenzo D. Gasser (May 3, 1876 – October 29, 1955) was a career officer in the United States Army. A veteran of the Spanish–American War, Philippine–American War, United States Military Government in Cuba, Pancho Villa Expedition, World War ...

, U.S. Army major general *

Paul Gillmor Paul Eugene Gillmor (February 1, 1939 – September 5, 2007) was an American politician of the Republican Party who served as the U.S. representative from the 5th congressional district of Ohio from 1989 until his death in 2007. Early life, ...

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

representing the Ohio 5th District from 1988 to 2007. * John R. Goodin, U.S. Representative from

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Bill Groman William Frederick Groman (July 17, 1936 – June 17, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver in the American Football League (AFL). He played college football at Heidelberg College, and played professionall ...

, professional football player in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL) *

Jay Gruden Jay Michael Gruden (born March 4, 1967) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is an offensive consultant for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach of the Washington ...

, former head coach of the

Washington Football Team The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

* Katrina Hertzer, Chief Nurse, U. S. Navy Nurse Corps, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Sue Wilkins Myrick Sue Myrick (née Wilkins; born August 1, 1941) is an American businesswoman and the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1995 to 2013. She is a member of the Republican Party. She was the first Republican woman to represent North Caroli ...

, U.S. Representative from North Carolina and former mayor of

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. * John Quinn, Tiffin native, lawyer, art patron, collector of historical manuscripts, and major supporter of

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

. * George E. Seney, U.S. Representative from Ohio *

Rodger Wilton Young Rodger Wilton Young (April 28, 1918July 31, 1943) was a United States Army infantryman from Ohio during World War II. Born in the small town of Tiffin, Ohio, in 1918, Young suffered a sports injury in high school that led to his becoming nearl ...

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

recipient,

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

References

External links

Official city website
{{Authority control County seats in Ohio Cities in Seneca County, Ohio Populated places established in 1812 Cities in Ohio 1812 establishments in Ohio