Delaware

Sister cities

• Baumholder
• Sakata

History

While the city and county of Delaware are named for the Lenape or Delaware people, the city of Delaware itself was founded on a Mingo village called Pluggy's Town. The first recorded settler was Joseph Barber in 1807. Shortly afterward, other men started settling in the area (according to the Delaware Historical Society); namely: Moses Byxbe, William Little, Solomon Smith, Elder Jacob Drake, Thomas Butler, and Ira Carpenter. In 1808, Moses Byxbe built the first framed house on William Street. Born in Delaware County in 1808, Charles Sweetser went on to become a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1849 to 1853. On March 11, 1808, a plan of the city was filed, marking the official founding of the town. Byxbe and the others planned the city to be originally on the east bank of the river, but it was switched to the west bank only a few days after the first plan was filed. Even though Delaware was still a small community, in 1812, when the capital of Ohio was moved from Chillicothe, Delaware and Columbus were both in the running and Delaware lost by a single vote to Columbus. However, following the War of 1812, settlers began arriving in Delaware in greater numbers. Among some of the earliest settlers were the parents of Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th President of the United States. The Hayes home no longer stands, but a historical marker in front of a BP station marks the location. In 2018, the Rutherford B. Hayes Comes Home committee announced plans to raise $125,000 to get a statue of Hayes placed at the corners of William and Sandusky streets and a bust of Hayes to be placed at Rutherford B. Hayes High School. Committee Chairman Bill Rietz said that the committee would like to raise the money by October 4, 2019, Hayes' 197th birthday. The statue…

Geography

The city is located approximately 24 miles north of Ohio's capital city, Columbus, due north along U.S. Route 23. The Olentangy River runs through the city. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are land and is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  22,948
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  22,296
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  20,713
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  17,177
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  16,482
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16,094
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  14,958
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  14,818

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2023-12-09
  5 km W of Jackson Center, Ohio
• M 2.5 — 2006-08-15
  3 km NE of Fort Shawnee, Ohio
• M 2.8 — 2006-05-12
  2 km E of Lima, Ohio