Findlay

History

In the War of 1812, Colonel James Findlay of Cincinnati built a road and a stockade to transport and shelter troops in the Great Black Swamp region. This stockade was named Fort Findlay in his honor. At the conclusion of the war, the community of Findlay was born. The first town lots were laid out in 1821 by future Ohio Governor Joseph Vance and Elnathan Corry. Before the Civil War, Findlay was a stop for slaves along the Underground Railroad. In 1861, David Ross Locke moved to Findlay, where he served as editor for the Hancock Jeffersonian newspaper until he left in 1865. It was in the Hancock Jeffersonian that Locke penned the first of his Nasby letters. During the 1880s, Findlay was a booming center of oil and natural gas production, though the supply of petroleum had dwindled by the early 20th century. Findlay hosted the highly competitive Ohio State Music Festival in 1884. A young cornet player, Warren G. Harding, and his Citizens' Cornet Band of Marion placed third in the competition. Harding went on to be elected the 29th President of the United States. On March 31, 1892, the only known lynching in the history of Hancock County occurred when a mob of 1,000 men, many "respectable citizens", broke into the county jail in Findlay. They lynched Mr. Lytle, who had seriously (but not fatally as believed at the time) injured his wife and two daughters with a hatchet the day before, by hanging him twice (first from the bridge, then a telegraph pole) and finally shooting his body over a dozen times. The authorities had intended to secretly convey the prisoner to a suburb at one o'clock, where a train was to have been taken for Lima, but their plans were frustrated by the mob. In 1908, American songwriter Tell Taylor wrote the standard, "Down by the Old Mill Stream"…

Geography

Findlay is located at (41.042843, −83.642216). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is covered by water. The Blanchard River travels through Findlay, flowing east to west. The Findlay Reservoir No. 2 is the largest above-ground reservoir in the state of Ohio, with a capacity around of water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  2,953
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,508
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,383
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,274
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,074
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,975
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,934
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,728

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 3.2 — 2020-08-21
  2 km SSE of Detroit Beach, Michigan
• M 2.5 — 2016-02-07
  6 km W of Put-in-Bay, Ohio