Upper Sandusky 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 parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Wyandot County, Ohio Wyandot County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,900. Its county seat is Upper Sandusky. It was named for the Wyandot Indians, who lived here before and aft ...

, United States, along the upper

Sandusky River The Sandusky River (; ) 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 Map accessed May 19, 2011 and flo ...

. The city lies approximately south of Toledo and north of Columbus. The population was 6,698 at the 2020 census. The city was founded in 1843 and named for an earlier Wyandot village of the same name, which was located nearby. Despite what its name may suggest, Upper Sandusky is actually about southwest of the city of Sandusky. It was named "Upper" because it is located near the headwaters of the Sandusky River, which flows into

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

History

Upper Sandusky was a 19th-century Wyandot town named for its location at the headwaters of the

in northwestern

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 ...

. This was the primary Wyandot town during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

(1775–1783), and was sometimes also known as Half-King's Town, after Dunquat, the Wyandot "Half-King". The town and the surrounding settlements, like Captain Pipe's Town, were closely allied with the British at

Fort Detroit A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

. During the

Crawford expedition The Crawford expedition, also known as the Battle of Sandusky, the Sandusky expedition and Crawford's Defeat, was a 1782 campaign on the western front of the American Revolutionary War, and one of the final operations of the conflict. The cam ...

of 1782, Pennsylvania militiamen sought to destroy the town after the Wyandot began killing American settlers in the region, but were defeated en route. After the war, in September 1783, a number of Native Americans met at Upper Sandusky and formed the

Western Confederacy The Northwestern Confederacy, or Northwestern Indian Confederacy, was a loose confederacy of Native Americans in the Great Lakes region of the United States created after the American Revolutionary War. Formally, the confederacy referred to it ...

, a confederation intended to resist U.S. expansion into the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

. The

Northwest Indian War The Northwest Indian War (1785–1795), 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 Americans in the United States, Native American na ...

followed. In the War of 1812, the village became the site of Fort Feree (or Ferree) on a bluff overlooking the flood plain of the Sandusky River The Fort was built in late 1812 by Pennsylvania militia led by Lieutenant Colonel Joel Ferree, by order of General

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causin ...

. Upper Sandusky became part of the Wyandot Grand Reserve in the Upper

area created by the Treaty of Fort Meigs in 1817. Prior to that, it was in northwestern Ohio Indian country above the

Greenville Treaty The Treaty of Greenville, also known to Americans as the Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., but formally titled ''A treaty of peace between the United States of America, and the tribes of Indians called the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanees, Ottawas ...

line of 1795. Numerous indigenous Wyandot kept their settlements here until 1842, when they were driven out under the Indian Removal Act of 1830 to what became

Wyandotte County, Kansas Wyandotte County () is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and most populous city is Kansas City, with which it shares a unified government. As of the 2020 census, the population was 169,245, making it Kansas's fourth ...

. A small community of free Black people also lived in the old village. A new town of Upper Sandusky was platted nearby the forcibly abandoned Wyandot village in 1843 and the first colonizer's house was built in 1845. The first building in town was the county jail in 1846. It was designated as the seat of Wyandot County in 1848.

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 a total area of , of which is land and is water.

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 6,596 people, 2,882 households, and 1,724 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 3,180 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 95.0%

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 ...

, 0.2% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 2.6% 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 people of any race were 4.3% of the population. There were 2,882 households, of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.3% 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, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 40.2% were non-families. 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.1% 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 2.83. The median age in the city was 41 years. 22.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.2% were from 25 to 44; 25.3% were from 45 to 64; and 20.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.9% male and 53.1% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 6,533 people, 2,744 households, and 1,682 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 2,910 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.15%

, 0.18%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, 0.09% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 1.45% from other races, and 0.55% from two or more races.

or Latino people of any race were 2.71% of the population. There were 2,744 households, out of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.7% were

living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.7% were non-families. 33.8% 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 2.28 and the average family size was 2.93. In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.5% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 19.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $35,613, and the median income for a family was $45,236. Males had a median income of $29,829 versus $22,526 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 city was $17,484. About 2.7% of families and 4.7% 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 4.5% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public Schools

Upper Sandusky Exempted Village School District operates three elementary schools, one middle school, and Upper Sandusky High School.

Public Library

The city has a lending library, the Upper Sandusky Community Library.

Notable people

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 ...

- first person to walk on the Moon; raised in Upper Sandusky * Jon Diebler - professional basketball player * Edwina Dumm - cartoonist * Carl Karcher - founder of Carl's Jr. Restaurants (Hardee's) * Nate Reinking - American-British professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player * Bob Schnelker - professional football player (Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants)

References

*Tanner, Helen Hornbeck, ed. ''Atlas of Great Lakes Indian History''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1987. .

External links

City website
{{authority control Upper Sandusky, Ohio County seats in Ohio Cities in Wyandot County, Ohio Cities in Ohio 1845 establishments in Ohio