Wayne County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the northeastern quadrant of the U.S. state of

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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 116,894.2020 census
/ref> 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 ...

is Wooster. The county is named for General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. Wayne County comprises the Wooster, OH Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Wayne County as it exists today was described in legislation in 1808 but was not formally organized until January 1812, with effect from March 1. An earlier Wayne County, created by the government of the Northwest Territory in 1796, included much of northern Ohio and all of the lower peninsula of Michigan. That Wayne County is now part of Michigan.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.3%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Medina County (north) * Summit County (northeast) * Stark County (east) * Holmes County (south) * Ashland County (west)

Demographics

2000 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 2000, there were 111,564 people, 40,445 households, and 29,484 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 42,324 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 96.52%

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 ...

, 1.57%

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 ...

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 ...

, 0.16% Native American, 0.66% Asian, 0.01%

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 ...

, 0.24% from other races, and 0.84% from two or more races. 0.75% of the population were

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. 31.7% were of German, 13.9% American, 9.6% Irish, 9.0% English and 5.5%

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

ancestry according to Census 2000. 91.5% spoke English, 3.2% German, 1.6% Dutch, 1.5% Pennsylvania Dutch and 1.2% Spanish as their first language. There were 40,445 households, out of which 35.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.80% were married couples living together, 8.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.10% were non-families. 22.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.17. In the county, the population was spread out, with 27.40% under the age of 18, 9.80% from 18 to 24, 27.80% from 25 to 44, 22.70% from 45 to 64, and 12.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 97.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $41,538, and the median income for a family was $48,294. Males had a median income of $33,976 versus $23,203 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 county was $18,330. About 5.40% of families and 8.00% 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 10.60% of those under age 18 and 6.90% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 114,520 people, 42,638 households, and 30,070 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 45,847 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.7% white, 1.5% black or African American, 0.8% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.5% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.6% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 34.1% were German, 13.3% were American, 12.9% were Irish, and 9.0% were English. Of the 42,638 households, 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.1% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.5% were non-families, and 25.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.13. The median age was 38.3 years. The median income for a household in the county was $48,375 and the median income for a family was $59,692. Males had a median income of $42,082 versus $29,623 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,645. About 7.8% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the

, including 14.9% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.

Ancestry

There were several large waves of migration into what it is today Wayne County, Ohio. The first wave was groups of families from

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, migrating westward into what was then 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 ...

and then early statehood era Ohio between the 1790s and the 1820s. Most of the settlers who arrived in what would become Wayne County at that time were from

. They were overwhelmingly Congregationalists, however, in the 1810s several arrived who had become Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians during the Second Great Awakening. These groups were of English ancestry, being descended from the English Puritans who arrived in colonial

during the 1620s and 1630s. The English-descended "Yankee" New Englanders established the county in 1812. The second large migration was German immigrants, the Germans settled in Wayne County in large numbers between the 1820s and the 1880s, forming a steady stream of migration into the county during that time. These immigrants were almost exclusively

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

. Lastly in the early 1850s a large group of Irish immigrants arrived in the county as part of a large wave of migration entering the United States at that time. This group was overwhelmingly Catholic. Many families currently in Wayne County go back to the early 19th century settlement of the county by New Englanders. Today, many of these same people who cite that they are of "American" ancestry are actually of English descent, however, they have families that have been in the state so long, in many cases since the colonial period, that they choose to identify simply as having "American" ancestry or do not, in fact, know their own ancestry. Their ancestry primarily goes back to the original

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen C ...

and for this reason many of them today simply claim "American" ancestry, though they are of predominantly English ancestry. There are also many Irish-Americans in the county. German-Americans have formed the largest single group in Wayne County since the late 1800s.

Politics

Prior to 1912, Wayne County was a Democratic stronghold in presidential elections, only voting Republicans twice since 1856. It was a bellwether from 1912 to 1936, but starting with the 1940 election, the county has become a Republican stronghold with Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 being the last Democrat to win the county.

Government

The Wayne County Public Library serves the communities of Wayne County, Ohio from its administrative offices in Wooster, Ohio and branches in Creston, Dalton, Doylestown, Rittman, Shreve, and West Salem. It also offers bookmobile service and outreach program, and patron can use the extended services of CLEVNET, a group of libraries located in northeast Ohio. In 2005, the library loaned more than 1.2 million items to its 54,000 cardholders. Total holding are over 340,000 volumes with over 900 periodical subscriptions.

Education

* Central Christian High School * Chippewa High School * Dalton High School * Kingsway Christian School * Northwestern High School * Norwayne High School * Orrville High School * Rittman High School * Smithville High School * Triway High School * Waynedale High School * Wooster High School

Communities

Cities

* Orrville * Rittman * Wooster (county seat) * Norton (mostly in Summit County)

Villages

* Apple Creek * Burbank * Congress * Creston * Dalton * Doylestown * Fredericksburg * Marshallville * Mount Eaton * Shreve * Smithville * West Salem

Townships

* Baughman * Canaan *

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

* Chippewa * Clinton * Congress * East Union * Franklin *

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

* Milton * Paint *

Plain In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and ...

* Salt Creek * Sugar Creek * Wayne * Wooster

Census-designated places

* Kidron * New Pittsburg * Sterling

Unincorporated communities

* Blachleyville * Burton City * Cedar Valley * Centerville * Devil Town * East Union * Easton * Funk * Golden Corners * Honeytown * Jefferson * Johnsons Corners * Lattasburg * Maysville * Millbrook * Moreland * Overton * Pleasant Home * Reedsburg * Springville * West Lebanon

Footnotes

External links

County website

Wayne County Public Library website

Wayne County Board of Elections website
{{authority control 1812 establishments in Ohio Swiss-American culture in Ohio Populated places established in 1812