Perrysville 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 ...

in Ashland County,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, United States. The population was 729 at the 2020 census.

History

The area was first permanently settled in 1810, but the village was not laid out until 1812. One of the settlers, Judge Coulter, picked the most beautiful spot for a village with the intentions of laying out a village, and although he had no name planned his neighbors jokingly called it "Coulterville." Perrysville was originally called Freeport, and under the latter name was laid out in 1815. The present name honors

Oliver Hazard Perry Oliver Hazard Perry (August 23, 1785 – August 23, 1819) was a United States Navy officer from South Kingstown, Rhode Island. A prominent member of the Perry family naval dynasty, he was the son of Sarah Wallace Alexander and Captain Christo ...

, remembered for leading American forces in a decisive naval victory at the

Battle of Lake Erie The Battle of Lake Erie, also known as the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, on Lake Erie off the shores of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of the British ...

. A post office called Perryville was established in 1820, and the name was changed to Perrysville in 1883.

Geography

Perrysville is located along the Black Fork of the Mohican River. 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. The village is the third largest municipality in the county after Ashland and Loudonville. The Black Fork of the

Mohican River The Mohican River is a principal tributary of the Walhonding River, about long, in north-central Ohio in the United States. Via the Walhonding, Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area ...

passes the southwestern edge of the village. Perrysville is roughly 30 miles from the cities of Mansfield, Ashland, Wooster, and Mt. Vernon. Nearby attractions include Mohican Forest, Pleasant Hill Lake,

Malabar Farm Malabar Farm State Park is a state park in Richland County, Ohio, United States, located near Lucas and the Mohican State Park. History Nestled in the hills of Pleasant Valley, Malabar Farm was built in 1939 by Pulitzer Prize-winning author ...

, and St. Gregory Palamas Monastery. The geography of the area, especially the multiple branches forming the Mohican River, make Perrysville and neighboring Loudonville premier locations for camping, canoeing, and eco-tourism.

Demographics

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 735 people, 326 households, and 186 families residing 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 372 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 97.3%

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 ...

, 0.3%

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 ...

, 0.1% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.7% 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 1.5% of the population. There were 326 households, of which 28.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.8% 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, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.9% were non-families. 36.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.4% 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 2.98. The median age in the village was 37.8 years. 24.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.7% were from 25 to 44; 27.1% were from 45 to 64; and 14.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 48.8% male and 51.2% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 816 people, 329 households, and 231 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 356 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 98.53%

, 0.49%

, 0.12%

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 ...

, 0.25% from other races, and 0.61% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.37% of the population. There were 329 households, out of which 37.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.2% were

living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.5% were non-families. 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.97. In the village, the population was spread out, with 29.4% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 91.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males. The median income for a household in the village was $29,408, and the median income for a family was $35,781. Males had a median income of $27,031 versus $20,208 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 $12,603. About 14.9% of families and 18.3% 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 26.4% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Perrysville is part of the Loudonville-Perrysville Exempted Village School District and was home to Perrysville Junior High until 2012, when the school was closed and the school merged with Loudonville High School.Loudonville-Perrysville Exempted Village School District - Perrysville Junior High
Public schooling in Perrysville began in 1816 with the construction of the first schoolhouse, taught by Asa Brown on what was then a farm. For the previous two years, education had been offered in private homes by Betsy Rice Coulter and then by William Maxwell Adolphus Johnson. During this time, school was taught only during the summer because of transportation limitations.Sally Zody Spreng. ''Perrysville School Days, 1890-1961.'' Loudonville, Oh: Truax Printing, 1988 On November 14, 1865, an academy opened in Perrysville. At the time, academies served as a popular source of higher learning that was a step above traditional public schooling but a step below formal colleges. This school, located in what is now a Presbyterian church, taught a class of 45 enrolled students, although only 11 attended. In 1869 a separate building was built for the academy, and it operated there for twenty-six years. In 1895, the building burned down, and Greentown Academy never re-opened. The second Perrysville schoolhouse was built in 1871 on West Third Street. The building later housed Jones Piano and a cigar factory. Eleven years later, in 1882, the third schoolhouse was built down the street from the second one. Built in 1924, the fourth and last schoolhouse stood for many years. When it was built, students from schools all over Green Township left those schools to attend Perrysville High School. The building was remodeled in 1955. The school colors were red and white and the mascot was an Admiral in honor of the town's namesake,

. The school was successful in athletics, with seven notable teams between 1926 and 1952 - one women's basketball team, four men's basketball teams, a men's baseball team, and a men's football team. The town continued to operate independent schools for 145 years until it merged with the

Loudonville, Ohio Loudonville is a village in Ashland and Holmes counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 2,786 at the 2020 census. Loudonville is nicknamed the "Canoe Capital of Ohio" for the many canoe liveries along the Mohican River. It is al ...

school district in 1961. In 1961, the last class graduated from Perrysville High School. At this time, the Loudonville and Perrysville schools merged into the Loudonville-Perrysville Exempted Village School District in order to prevent the schools from closing down permanently. In 1988, what had been Perrysville High School became Perrysville Junior High. The current Perrysville Junior High School served as the home of grades K-12. Perrysville School District competed in a variety of varsity sports, including football, with the mascot of "The Admirals", an homage to the town's namesake Commodore Perry.

Notable People

* Rosella Rice, author, poet and lecturer *

Jedediah Smith Jedediah Strong Smith (January 6, 1799 – May 27, 1831) was an American clerk, transcontinental pioneer, frontiersman, hunter, trapper, author, cartography, cartographer, mountain man and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the Western Unit ...

, explorer

References

External links

*
Cleo Redd Fisher Historical Museum
{{authority control Villages in Ashland County, Ohio 1810 establishments in Ohio Populated places established in 1810 Villages in Ohio