McClure, Ohio

McClure, Ohio
—  Village  —
Location of McClure, Ohio
Coordinates: 41°22′16″N 83°56′32″W / 41.37111°N 83.94222°W / 41.37111; -83.94222Coordinates: 41°22′16″N 83°56′32″W / 41.37111°N 83.94222°W / 41.37111; -83.94222
Country	United States
State	Ohio
County	Henry
Area
– Total	0.5 sq mi (1.3 km2)
– Land	0.5 sq mi (1.3 km2)
– Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation[1]	676 ft (206 m)
Population (2000)
– Total	761
– Density	1,539.5/sq mi (594.4/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
– Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	43534
Area code(s)	419
FIPS code	39-45794[2]
GNIS feature ID	1056416[1]

McClure is a village in Henry County, Ohio, United States. The population was 761 at the 2000 census.

Geography

McClure is located at 41°22′16″N 83°56′32″W / 41.37111°N 83.94222°W / 41.37111; -83.94222 (41.371175, -83.942084)^[3].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 761 people, 285 households, and 208 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,539.5 people per square mile (599.6/km²). There were 308 housing units at an average density of 623.1 per square mile (242.7/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 96.58% White, 0.13% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 1.71% from other races, and 1.31% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.73% of the population.

There were 285 households out of which 35.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.2% were married couples living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.7% were non-families. 21.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the village the population was spread out with 26.3% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 100.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.8 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $40,982, and the median income for a family was $44,375. Males had a median income of $34,792 versus $21,250 for females. The per capita income for the village was $16,433. About 4.7% of families and 7.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.9% of those under age 18 and 1.1% of those age 65 or over.

History

McClure owes its stock of fine homes dating from the late 19th century and early 20th century to the growth of rail lines throughout Northwestern Ohio in those days. As it did for its neighbors, Grelton, Malinta, Hamler, Deshler, Holgate, Liberty Center, and Grand Rapids, the railroad brought McClure a means for farmers to get their goods to market. And while farmers were in town, they could patronize local businesses which sold items brought in by rail.

The McClure Telephone Company, which dates back to the first days of telephone service in Henry County, in the 1880s, was established during that boom time. For years it was a typical telephone company, but by the 1960s and 1970s, it was becoming an example of a bygone era. McClure residents had the distinction of living in the last Ohio town to have had a manual telephone system. For nearly one hundred years, residents used the same method to signal their town's operator; they turned a crank and the operator answered, who in most cases knew their voice or knew the person being called. They had phone numbers, like 6, or 328, or 78. But when the operator knows everyone in town, most people rarely used their numbers.

When people wanted to talk to someone in the outside world, the would ask the operator for the number, and she'd connect them to the long-distance operator in Bowling Green, who would complete the call. They also had a trunk line to Napeoleon, which could be used if they were calling numbers in that area. Residents in some nearby towns for whom McClure was a local call could dial a single digit (a 7 or 8 for example) and reach the McClure operator, who could complete a call to McClure for them.

McClure converted in 1980 to an electronic switching system with all touch-tone phones. The customers found themselves getting used to the new and impersonal equipment, and looking up numbers in phone books. After years of party lines, they were enjoying having private lines. While the phone company remains in McClure and has yet to be consolidated into a larger telecom company, today most of McClure's businesses are long closed, as are those in most of the boom towns which grew up in the same era as McClure. Today a McClure resident would be likely to drive to Napoleon or Bowling Green to go shopping, or possibly to Toledo. The rail lines which brought so much money into the area are abandoned.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
3. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23.