unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
and
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
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. As of the 2020 census, the population was 943.
History
In 1810, Seba Bronson, Jr., a Revolutionary War veteran, arrived in the "Hardscrabble" area of Liverpool Township (the present-day corner of Columbia Road and Grafton Road). A "
squatter
Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not Land ownership and tenure, own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estima ...
", Bronson occupied the land, planted corn, built a dwelling, and established a thriving salt works. The surrounding Liverpool Township was established in 1816.
Geography
The community is in northeastern Ohio, in the northern part of Medina County and the west-central part of Liverpool Township.
Ohio State Route 303
State Route 303 (SR 303) is a Ohio State Route that runs between Wakeman, Ohio, Wakeman and Windham, Ohio, Windham in the US state of Ohio. The highway is not listed on the National Highway System (United States), National Highway System. ...
passes through the community as Center Road, leading east to Brunswick and west to
LaGrange
Joseph-Louis Lagrange (born Giuseppe Luigi LagrangiaState Route 252 passes just east of Valley City, leading north to Olmsted Falls and south toward
Medina
Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...
, 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 ...
, away.
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...
, the Valley City CDP has a total area of , all of it recorded as land. The West Branch of the Rocky River forms the eastern border of the CDP, while its tributary Plum Creek passes through the west side. The Rocky River flows north to
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 ...
Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
.
Together with Litchfield and York Townships, Liverpool Township composes the Buckeye Local School District. Valley City is part of Ohio District 7 in the
U.S. House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
.
Demographics
Valley City was first listed as a
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
Valley City is known for being "The Frog Jump Capital of Ohio". Since 1962, it has held an annual contest patterned after
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...
's story, "
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is an 1865 short story by Mark Twain. It was his first great success as a writer and brought him national attention. The story has also been published as "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" (its ori ...
". On April 2, 1964, two years after the first contest was held,
Governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Jim Rhodes
James Allen Rhodes (September 13, 1909 – March 4, 2001) was an American attorney and Republican politician who served as the 61st and 63rd Governor of Ohio from 1963 to 1971 and from 1975 to 1983. Rhodes was one of only seven U.S. governors ...
proclaimed this contest the official state frog jumping championship. In 1969, a few Valley City champion frogs competed in the larger contest in
Calaveras County, California
Calaveras County (), officially the County of Calaveras, is a county in both the Gold Country and High Sierra regions of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 45,292. The county seat is San Andreas. Angels ...
, including one belonging to Governor Rhodes. Today, the contest is held at the Mill Stream Park in early August. The contest drew record-breaking crowds in 2021, with over 750 frogs jumping and 4,000 attendees.
An annual
street fair
A street fair celebrates the character of a neighborhood. As its name suggests, it is typically held on the main street of a neighborhood.
The principal component of street fairs are booths used to sell goods (particularly food) or convey informa ...
is held on the last weekend of August to support the local fire department.Valley City Fire & Rescue Liverpool Township: 2007.