Wilmington is a city in

Clinton County, Ohio Clinton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 42,018. Its county seat and largest city is Wilmington. The county is named for former U.S. Vice President George Clint ...

, 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 ...

. The population was 12,664 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Wilmington micropolitan area, which includes all of Clinton County and is part of the greater Cincinnati–Wilmington–Maysville combined statistical area. Home to Wilmington College, founded in 1870 by the

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

, the city and the surrounding area include more than one dozen

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

meeting houses. The city features a weather forecast office of the

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

, which serves all of Southwestern Ohio and portions of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

and

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

History

The town of Clinton was founded in 1810 as seat of the newly formed Clinton County; the name was changed to Wilmington in 1811. The village was incorporated in 1828. In 1833, Wilmington contained a brick courthouse, a jail, fourteen stores, two taverns, two groceries, four churches, and 100 residential houses. Wilmington was featured in ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine on December 8, 1997, as a small town that is attractive to suburban families. The city was also showcased in a 1995 publication titled ''The 100 Best Small Towns in America.''

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.

Climate

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 12,520 people, 5,072 households, and 2,995 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 5,827 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 88.3%

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 ...

, 6.1%

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, 0.1%

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 ...

, 0.9% from other races, and 3.5% 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 2.6% of the population. There were 5,072 households, of which 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.8% 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, 16.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 41.0% were non-families. 35.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.92. The median age in the city was 33.7 years. 23.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 14.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.2% were from 25 to 44; 23% were from 45 to 64; and 14.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.7% male and 53.3% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 11,921 people, 4,867 households, and 2,929 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 5,284 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 90.66%

, 6.72%

, 0.23% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.01%

, 0.25% from other races, and 1.49% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.84% of the population. There were 4,867 households, out of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.7% were

living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.8% were non-families. 33.7% 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 2.28 and the average family size was 2.92. In the city the population was spread out, with 23.7% under the age of 18, 15.8% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $34,880, and the median income for a family was $43,619. Males had a median income of $31,645 versus $22,627 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 $17,346. About 8.9% of families and 11.7% 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 14.6% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

In the early 1950s, the city became home to a number of

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, t ...

facilities, most notably the Clinton County Air Force Base. Following its closure in 1971, the economy of the city hovered in recession for more than a decade. After a number of small attempts to reuse the abandoned air force base,

Airborne Express Airborne Express was an express delivery company and cargo airline. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, its hub was in Wilmington, Ohio. Airborne was founded as the Airborne Flower Traffic Association of California in 1946 to fly flowers fro ...

purchased the facility in 1979 for $850,000, a fraction of the estimated $100 million spent to construct it. During the next 24 years, Airborne invested more than $250 million to build a hub for its national delivery network, including new sort centers, a runway, aircraft hangars,

machine shop A machine shop or engineering workshop is a room, building, or company where machining, a form of subtractive manufacturing, is done. In a machine shop, machinists use machine tools and cutting tool (machining), cutting tools to make parts, usua ...

flight simulator A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...

s, a state of art

control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled a ...

, and a modern administration building to accommodate an estimated 6,000 employees and its fleet of 125

DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is an early long-range narrow-body jetliner designed and produced by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. Work began in 1952 towards the United States Air Force's (USAF) requirement for a j ...

DC-9 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast, single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced as the Douglas DC-9 prior to August 1967, after which point the company had merged with McDonnell A ...

and

Boeing 767 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified ...

aircraft. In 2003, Airborne Express reorganized and

ABX Air ABX Air, Inc., formerly Airborne Express, is a cargo airline headquartered at Wilmington Air Park near the City of Wilmington, Ohio, US. ABX Air operates scheduled, ad hoc charter and ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance) freight se ...

, Inc., was created. ABX Air is a contract freight forwarding business whose primary customer is

DHL DHL (originally named after founders Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn) is a multinational Import-Export Expert Company, founded in the United States and headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It provides courier, package delivery, and express mail service, ...

, one of the world's largest international shipping firms. ABX's parent company, Air Transport Services Group, is based in Wilmington. Owned by the

Deutsche Post (, ) is a brand of the DHL Group (listed as ), used for its domestic mail services in Germany. The services offered under the brand are those of a traditional mail service, making the brand the successor of the former state-owned mail monopoly ...

WorldNet, a German

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

, DHL consolidated its US flight and sorting hub operations in Wilmington in 2005. Restructuring in May 2008 resulted in eight thousand layoffs, and six months later the Wilmington hub was closed, resulting in another eight thousand layoffs. The facility closed in July 2009, and DHL moved to a much smaller sorting operation at the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. Wilmington's airport hosts a comparatively smaller Maintenance Repair and Overhaul venture, along with Airborne Maintenance and Engineering Services, employing several hundred employees under the auspices of the ABX Air parent company, ATSG (Air Transport Services Group). On July 16, 2009, the Wilmington City Council voted unanimously to establish Wilmington as a "Green Enterprise Zone". The legislation will facilitate green economic development by creating financial incentives for the creation of green collar jobs. The City Council passed the measure in response to an economic grassroots movement initiated in October 2008 by two Wilmington High School graduates, Mark Rembert and Taylor Stuckert, aided by Pure Blue Energy, LLC a consulting firm out of North Carolina. Wilmington is the first city in the United States to pass such a law. The AZEK Company has its main manufacturing plant in Wilmington, and produces composite decking and railing systems under the TimberTech & AZEK brands. In 2018, with the Green Enterprise Zone initiative in place, the AZEK Company opened a state-of-the-art polyethylene recycling plant in Wilmington Airpark which recycles post-industrial and post-consumer polyethylene and PVC, and makes it into raw material for TimberTech decking. Wilmington is also home to CMH Regional Health System, a regional health provider. From its base of operations at Clinton Memorial

Hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

, the non-profit corporation has established health clinics in almost a dozen satellite locations in Southwestern Ohio. In 2007, CMH opened the Foster J. Boyd, MD, Regional Cancer Center in Wilmington, providing cancer treatment services for patients throughout Southwest Ohio. The hospital in Wilmington has 95 staffed beds, and employed nearly 1000 people as of fiscal year 2006. The hospital also offers a six-bed Intensive Care Unit, a dedicated Emergency Room (with an average of over 30,000 visits from 2004–2006), an Obstetrics Unit (with 725 births in FY 2006), Surgical services (6,356 surgical procedures and 1,184 endoscopies FY 2006), Medical-Telemetry care, Medical-Surgical and Pediatric care, Physical Rehabilitation, Nuclear Medicine and CT services, and a Sleep Study center, amongst other various professional services at the hospital. RegionalCare Hospital Partners of Brentwood, Tennessee, purchased Clinton Memorial Hospital on November 30, 2010. The total sale price after adjustments was $82,137,477. In addition to air freight services and medical services, the city of Wilmington also competes in the truck freight industry, serving as corporate home to

R+L Carriers R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ar'' (pronounced ), plural ''ars''. The lette ...

, a trucking and shipping company located off of the intersection between U.S. 68 and

I-71 Interstate 71 (I-71) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the midwestern and Southeastern United States, southeastern regions of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 64, I-64 and Interstate 65, ...

north of Wilmington.

Arts and culture

Wilmington is situated within one hour driving distance to Dayton, Cincinnati, and Columbus. In the mid 1990s, the annual Banana Split Festival was started to commemorate the town's alleged creation of the famous treat in Wilmington in 1907. In addition, each year the city hosts the Clinton County Corn Festival, which pays homage to the agricultural tradition of the county. In 2007, a new festival, the Hometown Holidazzle, was started, taking place in the late fall. Aside from the annual events, Wilmington played host to a festival each year that a new ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' book was released. Thousands would gather in downtown Wilmington at the Books 'N' More bookstore and surrounding businesses to celebrate each release. Located in the downtown business district is the historic Murphy Theatre, which can be seen in the film '' Lost In Yonkers'', part of which was filmed in the city in the early 1990s. It is also the setting of

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

's 2016 documentary film, '' Michael Moore in TrumpLand''. The Murphy Theater stages productions throughout the year from various acts and ensembles as well as staging musicals and plays from neighboring school districts in the county. More recently, the Murphy is home to free screenings of classic movies, sponsored by a community group. The Murphy Theatre saw the marriage of actor

John Ritter Johnathan Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American comedian and actor. He was a son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason Ritter, Jason and Tyler Ritter. He is best known for ...

and wife

Amy Yasbeck Amy Yasbeck (born ) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Casey Chappel Davenport on the sitcom '' Wings'' from 1994 to 1997 and for having played the mermaid Madison in the television film '' Splash, Too'' in 1988 (the role ...

on September 18, 1999, with the marquee simply stating "Congratulations John and Amy." Nearby in downtown Wilmington is the historic General Denver Hotel, which is named in honor of General James W. Denver, founder of the city of

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. General James Denver is also buried in Wilmington.

Sports

Wilmington is home to Wilmington College, a member of the

Ohio Athletic Conference The Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. All member institutions are located in Ohio. Formed in 1902, it is the third oldest athletic conference in the United States ...

and participant in

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

sports. In 2004, the Wilmington College women's basketball team won the NCAA Women's Division III Basketball Championship, the most prestigious national title won by a Wilmington sport team. In the summer of 2008, the Quakers football home,

Williams Stadium Arthur L. Williams Stadium is a 25,000-seat football stadium located on the campus of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, US. The stadium was built in 1989 and plays host to Liberty Flames football, which is a part of the NCAA Division I - ...

, underwent a major renovation, with new stadium lights and artificial playing field installed.

Education

The Wilmington City Schools system includes Roy E. Holmes Elementary, Denver Place Elementary, East End Elementary (East End Elementary having been permanently closed as of the end of the 2023-2024 school year), as well as Rodger O. Borror Middle School (formerly known as Wilmington Middle School) and Wilmington High School. The school district includes , and is the largest in the county. ACT scores are above both the state and national averages, and over three-quarters of students go on to attend college, which is far above the state average of 40% although both are the lowest among the four high schools within the county. In addition, a college campus is located in the city. Wilmington College, a

established college that dates from the nineteenth century, focuses on liberal arts education with themes of global peace and understanding and majors in agriculture, education, athletic training, and small business. The city is served by one of two branches of the Wilmington Public Library system.

Media

The city and surrounding areas are served by a

daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

published in Wilmington, the '' News Journal'', and by two radio stations. * WALH-LP 106.7 FM (local programming, information and oldies music) * WKFI 1090 AM (simulcast of WBZI)

Transportation

The city lies approximately 35 miles southeast 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 ...

, 50 miles northeast of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

and 60 miles southwest of Columbus at the nexus of several routes that traverse Southwest Ohio. Wilmington is served by

US Route 68 U.S. Route 68 (US 68) is a United States highway that runs for from northwest Ohio to Western Kentucky. The highway's western terminus is at US 62 in Reidland, Kentucky. Its present eastern terminus is at Interstate 75 in Findlay, Ohio, thou ...

, US Route 22/State Route 3, State Route 73, State Route 134 and State Route 730. The city does not have direct interstate access but is connected to

Interstate 71 Interstate 71 (I-71) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the midwestern and Southeastern United States, southeastern regions of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 64, I-64 and Interstate 65, ...

via US Route 68 and State Route 73. Airborne Airpark serves as the city's airport. The airport sees substantial domestic and international cargo service but is not currently served by any commercial passenger services. Freight railroad service is provided by the Indiana and Ohio Railway on a line owned by

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

between Cincinnati and Columbus. Th
City of Wilmington
operates its own publicly funded Rural Public Transportation Service throug
WTS (Wilmington Transit Systems)
WTS is funded by the City of Wilmington
ODOT (Ohio Department of Transportation)
and th
FTA (Federal Transportation Administration)

Notable people

* Kroger Babb, film and TV producer *

Andrea Bowers Andrea Bowers (born 1965), is an American artist working in a variety of media including video, drawing, and installation. Her work has been exhibited around the world, including museums and galleries in Germany, Greece, and Tokyo. Her work wa ...

, artist * Michael Bray, anti-abortion activist and author * James W. Denver, soldier, politician, and lawyer for whom

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

is named * James Henry Garland, Roman Catholic bishop * Stephanie Hodge, actress * Clarence Jones, jazz pianist and composer * Charles Murphy, former owner of the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

* Quinten Rollins, NFL Football Player for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

* Cliff Rosenberger, Ohio House of Representatives, 102nd Speaker of the House *

Gary Sandy Gary Lee Sandy (born December 25, 1945) is an American actor. He is best known for playing program director Andy Travis on the television sitcom ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (1978–1982). Early life and education Sandy was born in Dayton, Ohio, the ...

, actor * Charles B. Timberlake, U.S. Representative from Colorado * Norris Turney, jazz musician * Michael Wilson, NFL and CFL football offensive lineman * Jarron Cumberland, NBA player

References

External links

Official website

Wilmington City Schools

Wilmington / Clinton County Chamber of Commerce

Wilmington Public Library
{{Authority control Cities in Clinton County, Ohio County seats in Ohio Populated places established in 1810 Cities in Ohio