New Riegel is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Seneca County, Ohio Seneca County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 55,069. Its county seat is Tiffin. The county was created in 1820 and organized in 1824. It is named for the S ...

, United States. The 2020 census enumerated 286 residents at that time.

History

Prior to 1850, New Riegel was variously known as Schindler (named for German immigrant Anton Schindler 790-1851 and as Wolf's Creek (purportedly due to the large number of wolves that roamed local woodlands). In 1850, Schindler subdivided his land into 43 lots, which he collectively named for his hometown of Riegel, Germany. Historically, New Riegel was inhabited by Roman Catholic immigrants from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, who created a mission community under the patronage of the famous eighth-century

Anglo Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to Ge ...

missionary to present-day

Boniface Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of the church i ...

. Local Roman Catholic immigrants from

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

were also drawn to the mission prior to creating their own church communities in nearby Frenchtown and Alvada. Beginning in 1844, the community was served for more than 150 years by the Precious Blood Missionaries and the Precious Blood Sisters of Switzerland. The latter began educating the children of the village in 1845 and continued that ministry for more than a century. Completed in 1878, the present-day Saint Boniface Catholic Church (now a chapel of All Saints Catholic Church) is the tallest feature in the village and resembles many of the churches built throughout rural northwest Ohio in the late 19th-century, including the churches in nearby Frenchtown and Alvada. For many years, Mary of the Crib Convent, an equally large structure occupied by the Precious Blood Sisters, stood to the north of the church, until it was destroyed by fire on June 24, 2001. Many of the nuns and some of the priests and brothers who served the community are buried at St. Boniface Catholic Cemetery, which contains more than 2,750 marked graves. The priests lived in a red brick rectory built in 1904 to the south of the church, and the elementary school completed just south of the rectory in 1927, still stands as well. This school was built to replace the old school house to the north of the church (on the site of the present-day church parking lot), which was razed in 1927. With the advent of public education in New Riegel in 1876, New Riegel Local Schools rented the church's elementary school until January 2003, when a new PK-12 school was completed. Prior to renting the parish facility, the public school system operated a German school on the site of the present-day city hall (to which the village jail was later attached in 1883), then at a brick school house built in 1911 just west of the present-day American Legion hall. Until the 1990s, the children of New Riegel were bused to the parish facility at 8:00 a.m., for daily mass or religious education, followed by public school instruction in the same facility beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the village has a total area of , all land.

Climate

New Riegel's climate features warm, muggy summers and cold, dry winters, and is classified as a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dfa'').

Demographics

2020 census

The 2020 decennial U.S. census of New Riegel enumerated 286 residents in 117 households, 276 of whom were Caucasian and 10 were Latinx. The 2020 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates state that 64.2% of residents are employed, the median household income in New Riegel is $55,417, that 18.5% of residents possess a bachelor degree or higher, and that 3.0% are without health care coverage.

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 249 people, 110 households, and 68 families living in the village. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

was . There were 116 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 98.8%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.8%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, and 0.4%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.0% of the population. There were 110 households, of which 25.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.2% were non-families. 36.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.90. The median age in the village was 41.9 years. 22.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24% were from 25 to 44; 25.6% were from 45 to 64; and 19.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 49.4% male and 50.6% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 226 people, 100 households, and 57 families living in the village. The population density was . There were 102 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 99.56%

, 0.44% from other races.

or Latino of any race were 0.88% of the population. There were 100 households, out of which 24.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.0% were

living together, 6.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.0% were non-families. 40.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 22.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.98. In the village, the population was spread out, with 21.7% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 23.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.3 males. The median income for a household in the village was $31,000, and the median income for a family was $46,667. Males had a median income of $32,500 versus $19,286 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $17,409. About 1.9% of families and 4.1% 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 ...

, including none of those under the age of eighteen and 22.0% of those sixty-five or over.

Landmarks

* A small "downtown district," containing the village post office, grocery store, restaurant, bar, bank and other small businesses. * New Riegel High School (occupied in 2003) * Saint Boniface Catholic Church (now All Saints Chapel (New Riegel) * Brick school house, built in 1911, to the west of the American Legion hall * New Riegel grain elevator

References

{{authority control Villages in Seneca County, Ohio Villages in Ohio