Warren County, Ohio

Infobox U.S. County
county = Warren County
state = Ohio


founded year = 1803cite web|url = http://www.odod.state.oh.us/research/FILES/S0/Warren.pdf |title = Ohio County Profiles: Warren County |accessdate = 2007-04-28 |publisher = Ohio Department of Development | format = PDF]
founded date = May 1
seat wl = Lebanon
largest city wl = Mason
area_total_sq_mi = 407
area_total_km2 = 1054
area_land_sq_mi = 400
area_land_km2 = 1035
area_water_sq_mi = 8
area_water_km2 = 19
area percentage = 1.84%
census yr = 2000
pop = 158383
density_sq_mi = 396
density_km2 = 153
time zone = Eastern
UTC offset = -5
DST offset= -4
footnotes = *Based on population just within the county.cite web|url = http://www.osuedc.org/profiles/population/places.php?sid=41&fips=39165 |title = Warren County data (population) |accessdate = 2007-05-11 |publisher = Ohio State University Extension Data Center ]
web = www.co.warren.oh.us
named for = Dr. Joseph Warren|

Warren County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. The population was 158,383 at the 2000 census. The Census estimate for July 1, 2006 was 201,861 making Warren County the second fastest growing county in Ohio and 80th in the United States [http://www.census.gov/popest/counties/CO-EST2006-08.html| U.S. Census Bureau - 100 Fastest Growing U.S. Counties with 10,000 or More Population in 2006: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006] . Its county seat is LebanonGR|6. Warren County was erected May 1, 1803 from Hamilton County, and named for Dr. Joseph Warren, a hero of the Revolution who sent Paul Revere on his ride and who died at the Battle of Bunker Hill.cite web|url = http://www.osuedc.org/profiles/profile_entrance.php?fips=39165&sid=0 |title = Warren County data |accessdate = 2007-04-28 |publisher = Ohio State University Extension Data Center ]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 407 square miles (1,054 km²). 400 square miles (1,035 km²) of it is land and 8 square miles (19 km²) of it (1.84%) is water. The county is a rough square with the sides roughly 20 miles (30 km) long.

Adjacent counties

Beginning in the northwest corner and proceeding clockwise, the following counties border Warren County: Montgomery, Greene, Clinton, Clermont, Hamilton, and Butler.

Boundaries

Warren County was created by the first Ohio General Assembly in the Act of March 24, 1803, which also created Butler and Montgomery Counties. The act defined Warren County as "all that part of the county of Hamilton included within the following bounds, viz.: Beginning at the northeast corner of the county of Clermont, running thence west with the line of said county to the Little Miami; thence up the same with the meanders thereof to the north boundary of the first tier of sections in the second entire range of townships in the Miami Purchase; thence west to the northeast corner of Section No. 7 in the third township of the aforesaid range; thence north to the Great Miami; thence up the same to the middle of the fifth range of townships; thence east to the County line; thence with same south to the place of beginning." Originally this included land now in Clinton County as far east as Wilmington.

Clinton County proved a continuing headache to the legislature. The Ohio Constitution requires that every county have an area of at least four hundred square miles (1,036 km²). Clinton County's boundaries were several times adjusted in an effort to comply with that clause of the constitution. One of them, the Act of January 30, 1815, detached a strip of land from the eastern side to give to Clinton. That would have left Warren under four hundred square miles (1,036 km²), so a portion of Butler County (the part of Franklin Township where Carlisle is now located) was attached to Warren in compensation. The 1815 act was as follows:
*Section 1--That all that part of the county of Butler lying and being within the first and second fractional townships in the fifth range, and adjoining the south line of Montgomery County, shall be and the same is hereby attached to and made part of the county of Warren.
*Section 2--That eleven square miles 28 km² of the territory of the county of Warren and extending parallel to the said eastern boundary of Warren County, along the whole length of such eastern boundary from north to south, shall be and the same is hereby attached to and made a part of the county of Clinton."Except for the sections formed by the Great and Little Miamis, the sides are all straight lines.

Lakes and rivers

The major rivers of the county are the Great Miami River, which flows through the northwest corner of the county in Franklin Township, and the Little Miami River which zig-zags across the county from north to south. There is one sizable lake, the Caesars Creek Reservoir, created by a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam on Caesars Creek in the northeast part of the county in Massie Township.

Demographics

Census-designated places

*Five Points
*Hunter
*Landen
*Loveland Park

Other places

chool districts

There are seventeen school districts having territory in Warren County. Those listed in bold are primarily in Warren, those in "italics" are primarily in other counties. The county each district is chiefly located in is bolded.

#"Blanchester City School District"" (also in Brown, Clermont, and Clinton)
#Carlisle Local School District (also in Montgomery)
#"Clinton-Massie Local School District" (also in Clinton)
#Franklin City School District
#"Goshen Local School District" (also in Clermont)
#Kings Local School District
#Lebanon City School District
#Little Miami Local School District (also in Clermont)
#"Loveland City School District" (also in Clermont and Hamilton)
#Mason City School District
#"Middletown City School District" (also in Butler)
#"Monroe Local School District" (also in Butler)
#"Princeton City School District" (also in Butler and Hamilton)
#"Spring Valley Local School District" (also in Greene)
#Springboro Community City School District (also in Montgomery)
#Wayne Local School District
#"Xenia City School District" (also in Greene and Clinton)

Government

Politics

Warren County is staunchly Republican and has been since the party was established in the 1850s. Since the first presidential election after its founding, 1856, Warren County has supported the Republican candidate for president all but once, the exception being 1964 when Warren County voted for Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson over Barry M. Goldwater. Before the Republican party was formed, Warren County supported the Whigs. Since 1869, Warren County has almost always supported the Republican candidate for Governor of Ohio, the exceptions being in 1924 when it supported Vic Donahey, 1932 (George White), 1952 (Frank Lausche), and 1958 (Michael V. DiSalle). However, excepting DiSalle, each of these four Democrats, who were all victorious statewide, was a conservative Democrat.

In local races, Warren County occasionally elected Democrats. In 1976, two of the three county commission seats were won by Democrats. Until the mid-1990s, Democrats regularly ran for county offices and, while almost always losing, did not do so badly. However, with the massive expansion in population in the 1990s, the county became extremely Republican, so much so the Democrats fail to field any candidates. In the 1996, 2000, and 2004 elections, in which eight county offices were on the ballot, there were no Democratic candidates for any of them. In November 1999, the last Democrat to hold office in Warren County, a member of the Educational Service Center (county school board), lost her seat to a Republican.

Notable natives and residents

Among the famous who have inhabited the county are:
* Astronaut Neil Armstrong (Turtlecreek Township)
* Congressman Clarence Brown, Jr. (Franklin)
* Civil War officer John Chivington
* Governor Thomas Corwin (Lebanon)
* Newspaper publisher William Denny (Lebanon)
* Aviator Clifford B. Harmon (Lebanon)
* Actor Woody Harrelson (Lebanon)
* Secretary of State Cordell Hull (attended school in Lebanon)
* Game-show contestant Michael Larson (Lebanon)
* Congressman Donald Lukens (Harveysburg)
* Newspaper publisher William C. McClintock (Lebanon)
* U.S. Supreme Court justice John McLean (Lebanon)
* Governor Jeremiah Morrow (Fosters)
* Football player Anthony Munoz (Deerfield Township)
* Sports broadcaster Dan Patrick (Mason)
* Musician Marty Roe (Lebanon)
* Congressman Thomas Ross
* Politician Charles Sanders (Waynesville)
* Spanish-American war soldier Wilson E. Terry (Kings Mills)
* Civil War general Durbin Ward (Lebanon)
* Ohio state treasurer Joseph Whitehill
* Bruce E. Ivins, the government scientist who committed suicide while under investigation for the 2001 anthrax attacks

Recreation and attractions

* Kings Island: Theme Park
* The Beach Water Park: Water park
* Great Wolf Lodge: Indoor Water park resort
* Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad: Nostalgic, themed train rides
* Fort Ancient: American Indian earthen mounds
* Caesar's Creek State Park and Caesar's Creek Lake
* Caesar's Creek Pioneer Village
* Little Miami Scenic Trail: Scenic bike trail
* Lebanon Countryside Trail
* The Golden Lamb: Ohio's oldest, continuously operating inn
* Western & Southern Financial Group Masters & Women's Open: Professional Tennis Tournaments
* La Comedia Dinner Theatre: One of the nation's largest professional dinner theatres
* Cincinnati AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Championship Series
* Warren County Historical Society Museum
* Glendower State Memorial
* Lebanon Raceway

Education

Public School Districts

* Carlisle Local Schools
** Carlisle High School, Carlisle (the Indians)
* Franklin City Schools
** Franklin High School, Franklin (the Wildcats)
* Kings Local School District
** Kings High School, Kings Mills (the Knights)
* Lebanon City Schools
** Lebanon High School, Lebanon (the Warriors)
* Little Miami Local Schools
** Little Miami High School, Morrow (the Panthers)
* Mason City School District
** William Mason High School, Mason (the Comets)
* Springboro Community City School District
** Springboro High School, Springboro (the Panthers)
* Wayne Local School District
** Waynesville High School, Waynesville (the Spartans)

Vocational Schools

*Warren County Career Center

Colleges and Universities

Warren County has no native colleges or universities, but was the original site selected for Miami University which instead located in Oxford, Ohio in 1809. National Normal University, a teachers college, was located in Lebanon from 1855 until 1917 when it closed. Several colleges currently offer classes in Warren County at various locations, including Sinclair Community College of Dayton, the University of Cincinnati, and Wilmington College. Sinclair opened a branch in the Mason area in 2007. The University of Cincinnati owns 398 acres of land [http://www.co.warren.oh.us/auditor/property_search/summary.asp?account_nbr=7202334 Warren county property record] at the intersections of I-71 and Wilmington road, but no plans for development on the site have been announced.

Hospitals in Warren County

*Atrium Medical Center - Middletown (Opens December 2007, formerly Middletown Regional Hospital)
*Bethesda Medical Center at Arrow Springs - Lebanon (Branch of Bethesda North Hospital)

ee also

Historical articles about Warren County

* Warren County Canal
* Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway
* Little Miami Railroad
* Middletown and Cincinnati Railroad
* Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway
* Registered historic places in Warren County

tate facilities in Warren County

* Lebanon Correctional Institution
* Warren Correctional Institution
* Ohio Department of Transportation District 8 headquarters

References

Further reading

*Elva R. Adams. "Warren County Revisited". Lebanon, Ohio: Warren County Historical Society, 1989.
*Robert Brenner. "Maineville, Ohio, History: 100 Years as an Incorporated Town, 1850-1950". Cincinnati: John S. Swift, 1950.
*"The Centennial Atlas of Warren County, Ohio". Lebanon, Ohio: The Centennial Atlas Association, 1903.
*Mabel Eldridge and Dudley Bryant. "Franklin in the Great Miami Valley". Edited by Harriet E. Foley. Franklin, Ohio: Franklin Area Historical Society, 1982.
*Harriet E. Foley, editor. "Carlisle: The Jersey Settlement in Ohio, 1800-1990". 2nd ed. Carlisle, Ohio: The Editor, 1990.
*Josiah Morrow. "The History of Warren County, Ohio". Chicago: W.H. Beers, 1883. (Reprinted several times)
*"Ohio Atlas & Gazetteer". 6th ed. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme, 2001. ISBN 0-89933-281-1
*Thomas D. Schiffer. "Peters & King: The Birth & Evolution of the Peters Cartridge Co. & the King Powder Co". Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications, 2002. ISBN 0-87349-363-X
*William E. Smith. "History of Southwestern Ohio: The Miami Valleys". New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1964. 3 vols.
*Rose Marie Springman. "Around Mason, Ohio: A Story". Mason, Ohio: The Author, 1982.
*Warren County Engineer's Office. "Official Highway Map 2003". Lebanon, Ohio: The Office, 2003.

External links

* [http://www.co.warren.oh.us Official county site]
* [http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/39/39165.html Quick facts - US Census]
* [http://www.ohioslargestplayground.com/ Warren County Convention & Visitors Bureau]
* [http://www.wchsmuseum.com/index.html Warren County Historical Society]
* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohwarren/Bogan/index.htm#Index Series of articles on local history written by Dallas Bogen]
* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohwarren/ Warren County genealogical information]