Defiance

History

The city contains the site of Fort Defiance, built by General "Mad" Anthony Wayne in August 1794 during the Northwest Indian War. Wayne surveyed the land and declared to General Charles Scott, "I defy the English, Indians, and all the devils of hell to take it." Using the fort as a base of operations, Wayne ordered his troops to destroy Native American crops and villages within a radius of around the fort. Today a pair of cannons outside the city library on the Maumee River overlook the confluence and mark the location of Fort Defiance, along with a mounded outline of the fort walls. The city was named after Fort Defiance. From Fort Defiance, the U.S. forces moved northeast along the Maumee River to fight the decisive Battle of Fallen Timbers near the current town of Maumee, Ohio. This victory secured for the United States the Northwest Territory, now the states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Fort Winchester was built on the same spot during the War of 1812, but it was a larger fort that extended southward somewhat along the Auglaize River. Historical plaques in the sidewalks mark the full extent of Fort Winchester. In 1822, Defiance was laid out as a town. In 1845, it was made the county seat of the newly created county, and it became a city in 1881.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water. Defiance lends its name to a distinct end moraine from the Wisconsin glaciation. As Cushing et al. point out, "The Defiance moraine represents the last notable stand of the glacial front in this region." The moraine varies in width from , and according to Leverett, "it is like a broad wave whose crest stands above the border of the plain outside it."

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,013
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  846
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  830
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  807
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  805
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  800
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  617
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  521

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2024-12-29
  1 km SSE of Hicksville, Ohio
• M 2.5 — 2024-03-18
  4 km WSW of Millbury, Ohio
• M 2.9 — 2023-12-09
  5 km W of Jackson Center, Ohio
• M 2.6 — 2023-05-20
  3 km SSE of Walbridge, Ohio
• M 2.6 — 2015-06-12
  6 km NW of Convoy, Ohio
• M 3 — 2012-01-26
  5 km NE of Topeka, Indiana