Wapakoneta (, locally , commonly shortened to “Wapak”) is a city in Auglaize County, Ohio, United States, and its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

. Located along the Auglaize River, the city is about north of

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

and south of Toledo. The population was 9,957 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Wapakoneta micropolitan area, which is included in the Lima–Van Wert–Celina combined statistical area.

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations, first person to walk on the Moon. He was al ...

, the first man on the Moon, grew up in Wapakoneta, which is now the home of the Armstrong Air & Space Museum.

History

In 1748, the French built a trading post (Fort au Glaize, also known as "Wapakoneta Trading Post" or "AuGlaize Trading Post") about a half-mile northeast of the future site of Wapakoneta. After being re-established in 1760 as "Francis Duchouquet's Trading Post," the British later took over this territory after the French ceded it following defeat in the Seven Years' War. Neither they nor the later Americans (after independence) built a succeeding fort here. French-Canadian traders later reestablished a trading post at the site in 1784, which was abandoned after the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. The city itself was established in the 1780s as a Shawnee settlement called "Waughpaughkonnetta" (possibly derived from the Shawnee word "Wa-po'kanite," meaning "the place of white bones"). After the Shawnee tribe was removed to Kansas in 1831, Wapakoneta was platted in 1833 and later named as the seat of Auglaize County in 1848. The Armstrong Air & Space Museum opened in Wapakoneta in 1972.

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 city has an area of , of which is land and is water. Wapakoneta is on the Auglaize River and includes parts of Duchouquet, Pusheta, and Moulton Townships.

Demographics

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 9,867 people, 4,037 households, and 2,614 families residing in the city. 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 4,332 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.1%

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 ...

, 0.4%

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 ...

, 0.3% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.6% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races.

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 1.6% of the population. There were 4,037 households, of which 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% 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, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 35.2% were non-families. 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.95. The median age in the city was 37 years. 25.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26% were from 25 to 44; 24.4% were from 45 to 64; and 15.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.8% male and 52.2% female.

Education

Wapakoneta is home to Wapakoneta High School. The city has a public library, the main branch of the Auglaize County Public Library.

Notable people

, NASA

Gemini 8 Gemini 8 (officially Gemini VIII) With Gemini IV, NASA changed to Roman numerals for Gemini mission designations. was the sixth crewed spaceflight in NASA's Project Gemini, Gemini program. It was launched on March 16, 1966, and was the 14th crew ...

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

astronaut, first man on the Moon * Lloyd Bitzer, rhetorician and professor * Kent Boyd, dancer, runner-up SYTYCD * Charles Brading, pharmacist and politician * Jennifer Crusie,

romance novel A romance or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primarily focuses on the relationship and Romance (love), romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed ...

writer * George Russell Davis, Associate Justice of the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court * Bob Ewing, Major League Baseball player * Dan Newland, journalist, translator, and writer *

Dudley Nichols Dudley Nichols (April 6, 1895 – January 4, 1960) was an American screenwriter and film director. He was the first person to decline an Academy Award, as part of a boycott to gain recognition for the Screen Writers Guild; he would later accept ...

, Oscar-winning screenwriter

Sister cities

Wapakoneta has one sister city, as designated by the

Sister Cities International Sister Cities International (SCI) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) with the goal of facilitating partnerships between communities within the United States and other countries by establishing sister cities. Sister cities are agreements of ...

: Lengerich,

Nordrhein-Westfalen North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

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 ...

. Lengerich's neighboring municipalities, Ladbergen and Lienen, are sister cities with Wapakoneta's neighbors New Knoxville and Saint Marys, respectively.

References

External links

City WebsiteWapakoneta Area Economic Development CouncilWapakoneta Area Chamber of Commerce''Wapakoneta Daily News''
{{Authority control County seats in Ohio Populated places established in 1782 Cities in Auglaize County, Ohio 1782 establishments in North America Cities in Ohio