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Facts about Ohio

History | Symbols | Interesting Facts | Famous People

Demographics
Statehood:  March 1, 1803, the 17th state

Capital:  Columbus

Total Area:  34th among states, 116,104 sq km (44,828 sq mi)

Water Area:  10,036 sq km (3,875 sq mi)

Highest Point:  Campbell Hill, 472 m (1,549 ft)

Total Population:   7th among states
2010 census -  11,
536,504

Population Density in 2010:  282.3 people per sq mi

Distribution in 2000: 77.5% Urban, 22.5% Rural

Economy:  
Gross State Product - $483.4 billion (2010)
Personal income per Capita - $35,381 (2009)

Largest cities in 2010: 
Columbus:  787,033
Cleveland:  396,815
Cincinnati:  296,943

  • The Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first professional baseball team in 1869. 
     

  • Akron was the first city to use police cars. 
     

  • Zanesville is home to a famous Y-bridge.  The bridge is built at the intersection of the Muskingum and Licking Rivers, one part built to the middle of the river and the others forking to the left and right. 
     

  • The Pro Football Hall of Fame is located in Canton and in Cleveland is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 
     

  • Clarence Crane in Cleveland invented Life Savers in 1912. 
     

  • Cleveland is spelled differently than its founder’s name Moses Cleaveland.  In 1832, the editor of the Cleaveland Gazette newspaper dropped the first “a” to fit the title on one line.  The new spelling caught on. 
     

  • In 1879, Cleveland became the first city to be lighted by electricity.  Cleveland also had the first traffic light in 1914. 
     

  • Cincinnati had the first professional city fire department and the first ambulance service. 
     

  • Ohio claims the first chewing gum in 1869, and the first hot dog in 1900.
     
  • Ohio was the birthplace of many U.S. presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Warren G. Harding.
     

  • Oberlin College, founded in 1833, was the first college in the United States to admit women.
     

  • Serpent Mound State Memorial, a famous earthen mound in the shape of a serpent, winds for a length of 411 m (1348 ft) near Peebles.