Ossian

History

The Ossian post office has been in operation since 1850. In 1843, Indiana State Road 1 was made serviceable from Fort Wayne to Bluffton. On January 25, 1850, the Fort Wayne and Bluffton Plank Road Company was then organized. The plank road was a toll road; any horse or horse-drawn vehicle had to pay a toll. The Fort Wayne, Cincinnati, & Louisville Railroad was built through Ossian in 1869, though it was not in complete operation until the following year. Today, the railroad is a significant north–south route for the Norfolk Southern Corporation. Ossian is still served by Indiana State Road 1, while four miles north is Interstate 469, the beltway around Fort Wayne, and also just seven miles south of Fort Wayne International Airport. A 25-foot tall grain silo was painted to look like a minion from the Despicable Me movie on a nearby rural farm in 2016. A Vietnam War veteran mentioned the idea to his family and when he died at 73, family and friends painted it as a way to honor his memory. The grain silo soon became popular with people stopping by to view it from the road and was picked up by national news.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Ossian has a total area of , of which (or 99.31%) is land and (or 0.69%) is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  2,843
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,778
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,091
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,009
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,009
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,977
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  1,902
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,883

Largest nearby schools

• Norwell High School
  High · Ossian · 788 students · 20.2:1 ratio
• Ossian Elementary
  Elementary · Ossian · 566 students · 15.7:1 ratio
• Norwell Middle School
  Middle · Ossian · 566 students · 14.5:1 ratio
• Lancaster Central School
  Elementary · Bluffton · 544 students · 15.5:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2024-12-29
  1 km SSE of Hicksville, Ohio
• M 2.6 — 2015-06-12
  6 km NW of Convoy, Ohio
• M 3 — 2012-01-26
  5 km NE of Topeka, Indiana
• M 3.8 — 2010-12-30
  6 km SE of Greentown, Indiana
• M 2.8 — 2008-09-30
  5 km SW of Kettlersville, Ohio
• M 2.5 — 2006-08-15
  3 km NE of Fort Shawnee, Ohio