Piqua, Ohio
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Piqua ( ) is a city in Miami County, southwest
Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
, United States, 27 miles north of
Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...
. The population was 20,522 at the 2010 census. It is part of the
Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...
Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...
. It was founded as the village of Washington in 1807 by a soldier under Gen.
Anthony Wayne Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796) was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his mil ...
.


History


Etymology

The word 'Piqua' is believed to be derived from a
Shawnee language The Shawnee language is a Central Algonquian language spoken in parts of central and northeastern Oklahoma by the Shawnee people. It was originally spoken by these people in a broad territory throughout the Eastern United States, mostly north of ...
phrase: ''Othath-He-Waugh-Pe-Qua,'' translated as "He has risen from the ashes," related to a legend of the people. It became associated with the ''
Pekowi Pekowi was the name of one of the five divisions (or bands) of the Shawnee, a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people, during the 18th century. The other four divisions were the Chalahgawtha, Mekoche, Kispoko, and Hathawekela. ...
'', one of the five divisions of the Shawnee people, who were eventually known as the Piqua.


Fort and trading post

In 1749, Fort Pickawillany was constructed by the British to protect their trading post at a
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
village of the same name. It was located at the confluence of
Loramie Creek Loramie Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 19, 2011 tributary of the Great Miami River in western Ohio in the United States. Via the Great Miami and Ohio r ...
and the
Great Miami River The Great Miami River (also called the Miami River) (Shawnee: ''Msimiyamithiipi'') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accesse ...
. (The present city of Piqua developed about a mile to the southwest). In 1752 Charles de Langlade, an
Odawa The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ), said to mean "traders", are an Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, commonly known as the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. They h ...
war chief of partial French Canadian descent, attacked the fort. He led more than 240 Odawa and
Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
warriors allied with French forces against the British and the Miami village in the Battle of Pickawillany. The Miami chief and a British trader were killed in the conflict. After the battle, the British and Miami abandoned this site. The Miami rebuilt Pickawillany, and Piqua later developed near their village. The British soon took over the area after defeating the French in the
French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...
. Until 1780, Piqua had been the capital town of the Shawnee located on the Mad River about 23 miles southeast of the modern town (near Springfield). That year, an expedition by Gen.
George Rogers Clark George Rogers Clark (November 19, 1752 – February 13, 1818) was an American Surveying, surveyor, soldier, and militia officer from Virginia who became the highest-ranking American patriot military officer on the northwestern frontier duri ...
culminated in the
Battle of Piqua The Battle of Piqua, also known as the Battle of Peckowee, Battle of Pekowi, Battle of Peckuwe and the Battle of Pickaway, was a military engagement fought on August 8, 1780 at the Indian village of Piqua along the Mad River in western Ohio Cou ...
, after which the town and surrounding fields were burned. The Shawnee relocated north and west to the Great Miami River. Piqua was settled as two separate Shawnee villages late in 1780, known as Upper Piqua and Lower Piqua. In 1790, General Harmar found the site on the Great Miami River abandoned and in ruins, as did General Wayne in 1794. As Gen. Anthony Wayne's
Legion Legion may refer to: Military * Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army * Spanish Legion, an elite military unit within the Spanish Army * Legion of the United States, a reorganization of the United States Army from 179 ...
was returning to Greenville via Loramie's trading post and Piqua at the termination of their Indian Country campaign in fall 1794, Wayne wrote a letter to Henry Knox dated Oct. 17, 1794, in which he recommended that forts be built at those two locations as waystations along the Miami River. A detachment of Wayne's forces from Greenville built or repaired a small fort and supply depot named Fort Piqua in Upper Piqua on the same site as the (later) farm of Col. John Johnston in winter 1794–95. Capt. J.N. Visher was made commander of the garrison. The fort was garrisoned through 1794 and 1795, and abandoned after the signing of the
Treaty of Greenville The Treaty of Greenville, formally titled Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., was a 1795 treaty between the United States and indigenous nations of the Northwest Territory (now Midwestern United States), including the Wyandot and Delaware peoples ...
in 1795. By 1795, most of Ohio's Shawnee had moved to Missouri and those that remained migrated north to the Auglaize - the southwestern Indian towns were no more. Piqua itself was well below the Greenville Treaty line and would remain abandoned until white settlers arrived.


Settlement and incorporation

The first European settlers arrived in 1798, after the signing of the
Treaty of Greenville The Treaty of Greenville, formally titled Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., was a 1795 treaty between the United States and indigenous nations of the Northwest Territory (now Midwestern United States), including the Wyandot and Delaware peoples ...
ending the
Northwest Indian War The Northwest Indian War (1786–1795), also known by other names, was an armed conflict for control of the Northwest Territory fought between the United States and a united group of Native American nations known today as the Northwestern ...
and opening much of Ohio to settlement. In 1807 the village, consisting of seven houses, was surveyed by Armstrong Brandon, a soldier under Gen. Anthony Wayne, and named Washington. It was about a mile southwest of the old Indian villages of Piqua. By 1816 the Shawnee village of Piqua had been long abandoned; the state legislature, acting on citizen petition, changed the name of Washington village to Piqua. Piqua was incorporated as a town by the Ohio General Assembly in 1823. During the war of 1812, Piqua was a waystation for men and supplies moving north. In 1819, a land office was established in Piqua which facilitated its growth. Piqua developed along with construction of the
Miami and Erie Canal The Miami and Erie Canal was a canal that ran from Cincinnati to Toledo, Ohio, creating a water route between the Ohio River and Lake Erie. Construction on the canal began in 1825 and was completed in 1845 at a cost to the state government of $ ...
between 1825 and 1845.


Rossville

Rossville, Ohio Rossville is an unincorporated community in Miami County, in the U.S. state of Ohio. History Rossville was plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. U ...
was the first free-black enclave in the region. Virginia planter
John Randolph of Roanoke John Randolph (June 2, 1773May 24, 1833), commonly known as John Randolph of Roanoke,''Roanoke'' refers to Roanoke Plantation in Charlotte County, Virginia, not to the city of the same name. was an American planter, and a politician from Virg ...
, who served as a U.S. representative and senator, arranged for the emancipation of his nearly 400 slaves in his will of 1833. He also provided money for his executor to relocate the
freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom ...
to the free state of Ohio, and to buy land and supplies to help them establish a settlement. The will was challenged but in 1846, his 383 slaves gained their freedom. Most of these freedmen settled in
Rumley, Ohio Rumley is an unincorporated community in Shelby County, in the U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdic ...
. Some eventually founded Rossville and an associated cemetery, known as the
African Jackson Cemetery The African Jackson Cemetery is a historic cemetery in the western part of the U.S. state of Ohio. Formed by a colony of more than 300 freedmen from Virginia, who were freed in the will of John Randolph of Roanoke, it has been the resting pla ...
. These are located on the northeast side of the Great Miami River; they may be accessed by nearby North County Road 25-A. The community has since been incorporated into Piqua.


Flood of 1913

Piqua was one of the cities that suffered severe flooding during the
Great Dayton Flood The Great Dayton Flood of 1913 resulted from flooding by the Great Miami River reaching Dayton, Ohio, and the surrounding area, causing the greatest natural disaster in Ohio history. In response, the General Assembly passed the Vonderheide Act to ...
of 1913. Piqua is nestled in a sweeping "S" bend of the Miami River and experienced regular flooding before the "Great Flood of 1913." A cupboard door on a home on East Water Street, just up from the river shows the various heights of water in that home. *The 1913 flood was marked in the middle of an upstairs window.


Causes of the 1913 flood

Back to back storms laden with heavy rains created the setting for the overwhelming amount of floodwaters descending upon cities and towns in the Miami and Ohio River Valleys, including Piqua.  On 22 March 1913 a moderate storm moved down the St. Lawrence basin into the Ohio basin, with enough rain to moisten the soil upriver from the Miami River and its tributaries. The soil in that upper region is predominantly clayey glacial till, transitioning to mostly Loamy glacial till.  Clay soil absorbs water at a slow rate of approx. ¼ inch pe
hour
Starting on 23 March 1913, rain began to fall for five days. The heaviest rainfall occurred on 25 March with anywhere from  2” in the southeast corner of Ohio to 5” in the area between Piqua and Troy. All together, the total amount of precipitation for this five day period was recorded from 5” in the southeast of Ohio to 11” in the swatch between Piqua and Troy.


Aftermath of the 1913 flood

The flood waters came with such speed and force as to move homes off their foundations, depositing untold amounts of mud in others and claiming forty- nine lives in Piqua and neighboring Rossville alone. In places, streets were damaged or washed out to varying degrees of severity. Public utilities (gas, sewer and water) were hampered to provide services, due to mud clogging up the pipes. The estimated property damage/loss in Piqua reached $1,000,000 ($26.2M in present-day dollars), excluding public utilities and farm losses. The
Ohio and Erie Canal The Ohio and Erie Canal was a canal constructed during the 1820s and early 1830s in Ohio. It connected Akron with the Cuyahoga River near its outlet on Lake Erie in Cleveland, and a few years later, with the Ohio River near Portsmouth. It a ...
, which for 81 years had served as an important connection point from Ohio to the East Coast, was permanently closed to commercial traffic because of extensive flood damage.


'Atomic City'

Piqua was home to the first municipally operated
nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces ...
, the
Piqua Nuclear Generating Station The Piqua Nuclear Power Facility was an organic cooled and moderated nuclear reactor which operated just outside the southern city limits of Piqua, Ohio in the United States. The plant contained a 45.5-megawatt (thermal) organically cooled and mo ...
. It operated from 1962 to 1966, leading to Piqua being nicknamed "The Atomic City." This major demonstration project was a failure. The
United States Atomic Energy Commission The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President ...
(now US Department of Energy) bought out the contract with the City of Piqua, in order to terminate the operations early. During this period a name brand automotive battery was manufactured and marketed locally as the "Piqua Atomic Power Plant."


Historic Fort Piqua Plaza, hotel and library

Fort Piqua Plaza began as the "Orr-Statler Block" building at the corner of Main and High Streets was erected in 1891 and long dominated downtown. For many years its core tenant was a hotel of more than 100 rooms, first known as the "Plaza," later as the "Favorite," and finally as the "Fort Piqua." The hotel closed in the 1980s. The building's street-level commercial spaces were occupied by a variety of businesses over the years, including a barbershop, grocer, bank, the local telephone company business office,
Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company cha ...
, a combination bus station and taxi office with a very popular soda fountain and lunch counter, and others. Just prior to the start of the
Prohibition era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic be ...
, the hotel's bar was moved to the basement level. It is rumored to have closed only its outside entrance during those years, operating as a
speakeasy A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States ...
. The building suffered disrepair and neglect for a period, and renewal plans seemed unable to secure funding. In a public-private redevelopment, the building was fully renovated during a two-year project. Since 2008, its major tenant has been the city's public library. In addition, the building is the location of The Scottish Thistle, a full-scale restaurant and bar, complete with a patio for live entertainment. The building is now known as Fort Piqua Plaza.Hartley, Susan
"Piqua Public Library dedicated in renovated Fort Piqua Plaza"
''
Piqua Daily Call The ''Piqua Daily Call'' was an American daily newspaper that was consolidated with the ''Troy Daily News'' in April 2019 to form ''Miami Valley Today'', which is published Tuesday through Friday in Troy, Ohio. Its Sunday edition is called the ''Mi ...
'', 20 October 2008


Road and railroad access

Piqua has two Main Streets, one being north and southbound along Miami County Road 25-A (the former
U.S. Route 25 U.S. Route 25 (US 25) is a north–south United States Highway that runs for in the southern and midwestern US. Its southern terminus is in Brunswick, Georgia, from where it proceeds mostly due north, passing through the cities of Augusta, Georg ...
, also known as the
Dixie Highway Dixie Highway was a United States auto trail first planned in 1914 to connect the Midwest with the South. It was part of a system and was expanded from an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final system is better understood as a network of ...
); the other running east through Shawnee. U.S. 36 also runs through much of the city, cutting the town almost directly in half. Main and Ash streets (U.S. 36) converge in Piqua's downtown. Also running through downtown is the east–west
Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do bus ...
corridor; originally built as the
Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
two-track throughway, this track was abandoned in 1985 during restructuring of the railroad industry. A section of it was renovated as a bike trail in the summer of 2001, and it is now known as Linear Park. The remaining rail line serving Piqua is the north and southbound
Baltimore and Ohio The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...
line, now operated by
CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
(CSXT).


Geography

Piqua is located at (40.147474, -84.247968). 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 th ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The
Great Miami River The Great Miami River (also called the Miami River) (Shawnee: ''Msimiyamithiipi'') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accesse ...
runs through Piqua. The area at the south end of town on the east side of the river is known as Shawnee.


Demographics


2010 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 inc ...
of 2010, there were 20,522 people, 8,318 households, and 5,425 families 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 RosenberPopu ...
was . There were 9,311 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 92.4%
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 ...
, 3.3%
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 ...
, 0.2% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.4% 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 2.9% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties for ...
or Latino of any race were 1.4% of the population. There were 8,318 households, of which 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.9% 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 ...
living together, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 34.8% were non-families. 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.96. The median age in the city was 38.1 years. 24.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.6% were from 25 to 44; 26.2% were from 45 to 64; and 14.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.0% male and 52.0% female.


2000 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 inc ...
of 2000, there were 20,738 people, 8,263 households, and 5,585 families 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 RosenberPopu ...
was 1,939.2 people per square mile (749.0/km). There were 8,886 housing units at an average density of 830.9 per square mile (320.9/km). The racial makeup of the city was 94.21%
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 ...
, 3.38%
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 ...
, 0.33% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.27% 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 1.37% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties for ...
or Latino of any race were 0.74% of the population. There were 8,263 households, out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.4% 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 ...
living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 27.3% 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 2.47 and the average family size was 2.99. In the city the population was spread out, with 26.5% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $35,681, and the median income for a family was $41,804. Males had a median income of $31,808 versus $22,241 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 $18,719. About 9.6% of families and 12.2% 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 18.0% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.


Economy

The city of Piqua is the home of
Hartzell Propeller Hartzell Propeller is an American manufacturer that was founded in 1917 by Robert N. Hartzell as the Hartzell Walnut Propeller Company. It produces composite and aluminum propellers for certified, homebuilt, and ultralight aircraft. The comp ...
, a producer of small aircraft propellers. Evenflo (formerly Questor Juvenile Furniture) is the leading manufacturer of infant and toddler car seats, and has become one of Piqua's leading employers and industries. In the late 1890s, Southwest Ohio was the heart of the US flaxseed growing area. There were some 13
linseed oil Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colourless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant (''Linum usitatissimum''). The oil is obtained by pressing, sometimes followed by ...
mills in Piqua, where the flaxseed was "crushed" to extract the vegetable oil, named linseed oil. The flax fiber was used to make both cloth and paper. The oil had a variety of industrial uses. ''
Linoleum Linoleum, sometimes shortened to lino, is a floor covering made from materials such as solidified linseed oil (linoxyn), pine resin, ground cork dust, sawdust, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a burlap or canva ...
'' is a manufactured flooring product for which linseed oil is the binder. One of the vegetable oil mills in Piqua burned down in the 1890s, a common fate for wooden buildings soaked with vegetable oil. Its owner, American Linseed Oil Company, dispatched Alfred Willard French, their Chief Engineer, from Brooklyn, New York, to organize and supervise the rebuilding of the oil mill. During the rebuilding of the mill, French included a machine he had invented and patented in 1898, a "cake trimmer", and purchased the most modern equipment then available. He met the leading citizens of Piqua. They were impressed with French, who had graduated from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...
in three years, and had entrepreneurial spirit. They decided to invest in a new company he wanted to start. The French Oil Mill Machinery Company was founded 25 May 1900, with French as president, to make "improved oil mill machinery". By 1905 the company was exporting its patented and rugged vegetable oil mill extraction machinery all around the world. Today, the company has customers in over 80 countries, still serving the vegetable oil extraction market (to press such seeds as soybeans, cottonseed, rapeseed, canola, and many others). In addition, the company is a world leader in synthetic rubber dewatering and drying machinery, and in hydraulic molding presses for rubber, thermoplastic and composite materials. During the late 19th century and much of the 20th century, Piqua was a major center of underwear production. A yearly Outdoor Underwear Festival was held downtown from 1988 until shortly after the demise and demolition of the factory owned by Medalist-Allen A, a direct descendant of the
Atlas Underwear Company An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...
. Originally the festival had a serious historical focus. In later years it attracted adventurous types from surrounding towns, and Piqua residents discouraged their children from attending. Heritage Green Park now occupies the former Medalist factory site. The Meteor Motor Car Company had a brief run as an independent record label and phonograph manufacturer in the 1920s. Acquired by Wayne Corporation of
Richmond, Indiana Richmond is a city in eastern Wayne County, Indiana. Bordering the state of Ohio, it is the county seat of Wayne County and is part of the Dayton, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 36,812. Situ ...
, which manufactured school buses, it operated as the Miller-Meteor division. Miller-Meteor produced ambulances and hearses before closing down in 1979. The Piqua
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance bar, temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pembe ...
Bottling Company, owned by the Lange family, was located on the downtown square at the northeast corner of Main and High streets. It produced its signature product along with Sprite, Tab and
Fresca Fresca is a grapefruit-flavored citrus soft drink created by The Coca-Cola Company. Borrowing the word ''Fresca'' (meaning "fresh") from Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, it was introduced in the United States in 1966. Originally a bottled sugar- ...
in glass bottles for the Upper Miami Valley; metal canned products were shipped in from a plant in Speedway, Indiana. In the mid-1970s, the plant was bought by the Dayton Coca-Cola Bottling Company. The increased demand for Coke products in two-liter plastic bottles and cans made the aging local plant obsolete; it was closed down and razed by the end of the decade. A newer bottling plant was constructed in
Huber Heights Huber Heights is a suburb of Dayton in Montgomery and Miami counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. Its origins trace back to the now- defunct Wayne Township, which was settled in the early-mid 1800s. Wayne Township was incorporated as the City of H ...
. A statue of pilot
Don Gentile Dominic Salvatore "Don" Gentile (December 6, 1920 – January 28, 1951), also known as "Ace of Aces", was a World War II USAAF pilot who surpassed Eddie Rickenbacker's World War I record of 26 downed aircraft. He later served in the post-war U.S. ...
was erected at the site of the defunct plant. The Val Decker Packing Company, which operated until 1981, was a local producer of hams, hot dogs, and other meats and lard under the tagline "Piquality." The large red steel cans, which contained the lard product, are now sought-after as collectors' items. The building which housed the meat packing plant was renovated in 1987 for office use by the Piqua Board of Education and several small businesses. Piqua's industrial past produced a prosperity reflected in residential areas near downtown, which contain numerous large mansions and homes. Most notable is the Leo Flesh Mansion, built in the Chateauesque style. It looms over many of the surrounding buildings in the neighborhood. A "sister" house in Dayton, Ohio, was designed by the same architect. Piqua's shopping mall, Miami Valley Centre Mall, opened in 1988 and was renovated in the mid-1990s. Its anchor stores include
JC Penney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...
, Elder Beerman, and
Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
. Miami Valley Crossing (formerly Piqua East Mall, opened in 1970) was redesigned and updated in the late 1990s as a plaza with anchor stores,
Big Lots Big Lots Stores, Inc. (stylized as Big Lots!) is an American retail company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio with over 1,400 stores in 47 states. History The Big Lots chain traces its history back to 1967 when Consolidated Stores Corporation ...
,
Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
,
Jo-Ann Fabrics Jo-Ann Stores, LLC, more commonly known as Jo-Ann (stylized as JOANN), is an American specialty retailer of crafts and fabrics based in Hudson, Ohio. It operates the retail chains ''JOANN Fabrics and Crafts'' and ''Jo-Ann Etc''. The headquarter ...
, El Sombrero Restaurant, and
The Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement re ...
.


Top employers

According to Piqua's ''2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,'' the top employers in the city are:


Education

The Piqua City School District operates two elementary schools, one intermediate school, one middle school, a junior high school, and
Piqua High School Piqua High School is a public high school in Piqua, Ohio, United States, and is the only high school in the Piqua City Schools district. The current high school was completed in 1981 and sits adjacent to Alexander Stadium, completed in 2001. The ...
. Piqua is also home to the Upper Valley Career Center. Piqua is also home to several private schools, including Piqua Catholic School, the Piqua Seventh Day Adventist School, and the Nicholas School. Piqua is home to
Edison Community College Edison State Community College is a public community college in Piqua, Ohio. It was established as Ohio's first general and technical college in 1973. The college was named after Thomas Alva Edison. The college's main campus is located in Piqu ...
.


Media

The city and surrounding areas are served by a
daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...
based in Piqua, *''
The Piqua Daily Call The ''Piqua Daily Call'' was an American daily newspaper that was consolidated with the ''Troy Daily News'' in April 2019 to form '' Miami Valley Today'', which is published Tuesday through Friday in Troy, Ohio. Its Sunday edition is called the ''M ...
'' along with several radio stations: *
WPTW WPTW "The Voice of the Upper Miami Valley, Ohio" (for Piqua, Troy and West Milton) is a commercial AM radio station in Piqua, Ohio, United States, on 1570 kHz with a power output of 250 watts. It is owned by Muzzy Broadcasting Group. ABC Rad ...
1570 AM and 98.1 FM * WPLC 95.1 low-power FM as a repeater of
Three Angels Broadcasting Network The Three Angels Broadcasting Network, or 3ABN, is a Christian media television and radio network which broadcasts Seventh-day Adventist religious and health-oriented programming, based in West Frankfort, Illinois, United States. Although it is ...
aka:"3ABN" airing
Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...
programming.


In popular culture

*
Dav Pilkey David "Dav" Murray Pilkey Jr. (; born March 4, 1966) is an American cartoonist, author, and illustrator of children's literature. He is best known as the author and illustrator of the children's book series, ''Captain Underpants'', and the ch ...
's ''
Captain Underpants ''Captain Underpants'' is an illustrated children's novel series by American author and illustrator Dav Pilkey. The series revolves around two fourth graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, living in Piqua, Ohio, and Captain Underpants, a ...
'' children's book series is set in Piqua. It was chosen because of its now discontinued annual "Underwear Festival" and history of manufacturing.


Notable people

* Kenneth W. Benner - Brigadier general, USMC and veteran of World War II * Brock Bolen - football player. *
Mills Brothers The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed the Four Mills Brothers, and originally known as the Four Kings of Harmony, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies a ...
- jazz musicians, inducted into the
Vocal Group Hall of Fame The Vocal Group Hall of Fame (VGHF) is an American-based hall of fame that honors vocal groups throughout the world in every genre of music. Headquartered in the Columbia Theatre in Sharon, Pennsylvania, it includes a theater and a museum. It was ...
in 1998. * John W. Daniels - co-founder and former CEO of Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) born and raised in Piqua and buried in Piqua *
Matt Finkes Matthew Scott Finkes (born February 12, 1975) is an American former professional football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Jets in 1997. He was selected in the sixth round of the 1997 NFL Draft The ...
-
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
defensive end. *
Dominic Salvatore Gentile Dominic Salvatore "Don" Gentile (December 6, 1920 – January 28, 1951), also known as "Ace of Aces", was a World War II USAAF pilot who surpassed Eddie Rickenbacker's World War I record of 26 downed aircraft. He later served in the post-war U.S. ...
- World War II ace. * Charles Blue Jacket - 19th-Century Shawnee chief in Kansas, and Methodist minister. * Girard Edward Kalbfleisch - U.S. federal judge. * Ollie Klee - baseball player. *
Terri Hemmert Terri Hemmert (born April 28, 1948) is an American radio personality, musicologist, and instructor at Columbia College Chicago. She is a long-term presence at WXRT-FM in Chicago, Illinois where she became the first female drive time host for a roc ...
- Chicago disc jockey at
WXRT-FM WXRT (93.1 FM), also known as XRT and 93-XRT is an adult album alternative (AAA) radio station in Chicago, Illinois. For many years, their slogan has been "Chicago's Finest Rock". "Chicago's Home For Music Lovers" has been used as its slogan si ...
. *
James Kaiser James Frederick Kaiser (Dec. 10, 1929 – Feb. 13, 2020) was an American electrical engineer noted for his contributions in signal processing. He was an IEEE Fellow and received many honors and awards, including the IEEE Centennial Medal, the I ...
- electrical engineer who developed the
Kaiser window The Kaiser window, also known as the Kaiser–Bessel window, was developed by James Kaiser at Bell Laboratories. It is a one-parameter family of window functions used in finite impulse response filter design and spectral analysis. The Kaiser wi ...
for
digital signal processing Digital signal processing (DSP) is the use of digital processing, such as by computers or more specialized digital signal processors, to perform a wide variety of signal processing operations. The digital signals processed in this manner are ...
, winner of the IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal *
Kristin King Kristin T. King (born July 21, 1979) is an American ice hockey player. She won a bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics. She graduated from Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshir ...
- player on the bronze medal-winning Ladies' U.S. Hockey team at the
2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...
. *
Bill Lear William Powell Lear (June 26, 1902 – May 14, 1978) was an American inventor and businessman. He is best known for founding Learjet, a manufacturer of business jets. He also invented the battery eliminator for the B battery, and developed the ...
- inventor and businessman, founder of Lear Jet and inventor of the
8-track cartridge The 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8; commonly called eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, and eight-track) is a magnetic tape sound recording technology that was popular from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when the compact cassette, whi ...
. * William McCulloch - lawyer, member of U.S. House of Representatives, and an author of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...
. * John F. McKinney - U.S. Representative from Ohio. *
Rich McKinney Charles Richard McKinney (born November 22, 1946) is an American former professional baseball player. He played all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between and . Originally an infielder when he came up with the Chicago Wh ...
- baseball player. * John G. Mitchell - General in the Union Army. * J. T. Patterson - geneticist. *
Quinn Pitcock Quinn Michael Pitcock (born September 14, 1983) is a former American football defensive tackle who played in the NFL. He played college football for Ohio State University, and earned consensus All-American honors. He was drafted by the Indi ...
- former starting defensive tackle for the
Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
football team and retired member of the
Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
. * William H. Pitsenbarger - Air Force
pararescueman Pararescuemen (also known as PJs) are United States Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) and Air Combat Command (ACC) operators tasked with recovery and medical treatment of personnel in humanitarian and combat environments. These spec ...
posthumously awarded the
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. ...
. *
Louis Joseph Reicher Louis Joseph Reicher (June 14, 1890 – February 23, 1984) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the first bishop of the new Diocese of Austin in Texas from 1948 to 1971. Biography Early life Louis Reicher was born on ...
- first Bishop of Austin, Texas (1948-1971). *
Harry Reser Harrison Franklin Reser (January 17, 1896 – September 27, 1965) was an American banjo player and bandleader. Born in Piqua, Ohio, Reser was best known as the leader of The Clicquot Club Eskimos. He was regarded by some as the best banjoist of ...
- banjo player and bandleader of the Clicquot Club Eskimos. * Stephen Clegg Rowan - Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy. * Brandon Saine - 2006 Ohio Mr. Football Award winner and running back for
The Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publi ...
football team *
Helen Schelle Helen M. Schelle (1893 in Piqua, Ohio Piqua ( ) is a city in Miami County, southwest Ohio, United States, 27 miles north of Dayton. The population was 20,522 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was ...
- founding partner of Fisher-Price, toy manufacturer. * Lawrence Yates Sherman - U.S. Senator, 28th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, and Speaker of Illinois House of Representatives. * Tanya Thornton Shewell - member of the Maryland House of Delegates. * Hiram Y. Smith - lawyer and
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 ...
from
Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
. * Mike Smith - baseball player. * Jack Snow - fantasy and horror author. *
Muffin Spencer-Devlin Muffin Spencer-Devlin (born October 25, 1953) is an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. She was born in Piqua, Ohio and joined the LPGA in 1979. She is openly gay and, in 1996, became the first LPGA player to come out as g ...
- professional golfer. * Joseph J. Spengler - economist, statistician, and historian of economic thought. * Aileen Cole Stewart (1893-1997), prominent, pioneering African American
United States Army Nurse Corps The United States Army Nurse Corps (USANC) was formally established by the U.S. Congress in 1901. It is one of the six medical special branches (or "corps") of officers which – along with medical enlisted soldiers – comprise the Army Medica ...
nurse 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 ...
.Sagas of She. “Aileen Cole Stewart.” Posted on 13th Nov 2019. https://sagasofshe.wordpress.com/2019/11/13/aileen-cole-stewart/#:~:text=Aileen%20Cole%20Stewart%20%281893-1997%29%20was%20one%20of%20the,be%20a%20nurse%20in%20Maryland%20and%20Washington%20DC. *
Joseph Widney Joseph Pomeroy Widney, M.D. D.D. LL.D (December 26, 1841 – July 4, 1938), was an American doctor, educator, historian, and religious leader. After the American Civil War led him to medicine, he followed his brothers to California where ...
- doctor, educator, historian, and religious leader. *
Robert M. Widney Robert Maclay Widney (December 23, 1838 – November 14, 1929) was an American lawyer, judge, and one of the founders of the University of Southern California (USC). History He was born in Piqua, Ohio. He was the older brother of Joseph Widne ...
- founding father of the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
. * James P. Wisecup - Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy. * Lester J. Whitlock, U.S. Army major general. *
Patrick Zircher Patrick Zircher () is an American comic book artist and penciller. Career Zircher's early career as an illustrator began with production of several completed works for '' Villains and Vigilantes'', ''Champions'' and other pen-and-paper role-pl ...
- artist, Marvel and DC comics.


References


External links


Official website
{{authority control Cities in Ohio Cities in Miami County, Ohio Populated places established in 1807