Coshocton, Ohio
Encyclopedia
is a city in and the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Coshocton County
Coshocton County, Ohio
Coshocton County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 36,901. Its county seat is Coshocton. Its name comes from the Delaware Indian language and has been translated as "union of waters" or "black bear crossing".The Coshocton...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population of the city was 11,682 at the 2000 census. The Walhonding River
Walhonding River
The Walhonding River is a principal tributary of the Muskingum River, 23.5 miles long, in east-central Ohio in the United States. Via the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. It drains an area of 2,252 square miles .The Walhonding flows for its entire...
and the Tuscarawas River
Tuscarawas River
The Tuscarawas River is a principal tributary of the Muskingum River, 129.9 miles long, in northeastern Ohio in the United States...
meet in Coshocton to form the Muskingum River
Muskingum River
The Muskingum River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 111 miles long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States. An important commercial route in the 19th century, it flows generally southward through the eastern hill country of Ohio...
.
Coshocton contains the restored canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
theme town of Roscoe Village. It is a heritage tourist attraction showcasing the area's unique canal history, and is situated next to the former Ohio and Erie Canal
Ohio and Erie Canal
The Ohio Canal or Ohio and Erie Canal was a canal constructed in the 1820s and early 1830s. It connected Akron, Summit County, with the Cuyahoga River near its mouth on Lake Erie in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, and a few years later, with the Ohio River near Portsmouth, Scioto County, and then...
.
History
By the late 1770s, Coshocton had become the principal LenapeLenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
(Delaware) village in the Ohio Country
Ohio Country
The Ohio Country was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake Erie...
. Many Lenape had been forced to cede their lands in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and had migrated to Ohio Country from their traditional territory on the East Coast. In addition, they were under pressure by warfare from the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
pressing down from their traditional base in present-day New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Chief
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
Newcomer
Newcomer (Lenape)
Lenape was the chief of the western Lenape people. He founded the village of Newcomerstown, Ohio and the other village of Coshocton, Ohio....
founded Coshocton, moving his people west from their former principal settlement of Gekelmukpechunk (called Newcomerstown after the chief by the few white traders and settlers there.) Most of the latter's Lenape population of 700 followed Newcomer. Coshockton was across the Tuscarawas River
Tuscarawas River
The Tuscarawas River is a principal tributary of the Muskingum River, 129.9 miles long, in northeastern Ohio in the United States...
from Conchake, the former site of a Wyandot village. By then the Wyandot had migrated northwest, in part of a movement of numerous tribes.
The western Lenape were split in their alliances during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. Those who allied with the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
moved further west to the Sandusky River area. From there the British and Lenape raided colonial frontier settlements.
Those Lenape sympathetic to the new United States stayed near Coshocton. Chief Newcomer signed the Fort Pitt Treaty of 1778, by which the Lenape hoped to secure their safety during the War, and promised scouts and support to the colonists. They also hoped to lay the base for a Native American state in the new nation.
In retaliation for frontier raids by hostile Lenape and British, Colonel Daniel Brodhead
Daniel Brodhead IV
Daniel Brodhead IV was an American military and political leader during the American Revolutionary War and early days of the United States.-Early life:...
of the American militia ignored the treaty and destroyed the Lenape at Coshocton in April 1781.
After the Revolutionary War, the Ohio Country was opened to European-American settlement. They were mostly farmers in the early years, but development and greater trade accompanied the opening of the Erie Canal in 1824 across New York State. It provided transportation for farm products to eastern markets.
To improve their transportation of goods and people, residents of Ohio supported construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal
Ohio and Erie Canal
The Ohio Canal or Ohio and Erie Canal was a canal constructed in the 1820s and early 1830s. It connected Akron, Summit County, with the Cuyahoga River near its mouth on Lake Erie in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, and a few years later, with the Ohio River near Portsmouth, Scioto County, and then...
. This enabled the transport of coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
mined
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
in the region, its most important resource commodity. In addition, the canal supported transport of goods manufactured by local industries that developed in the 19th century with the availability of coal.
Geography
Coshocton is located at 40°16′4"N 81°51′24"W (40.267786, -81.856628).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 7.6 square miles (19.7 km²), of which, 7.5 square miles (19.4 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (1.45%) is water.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 11,682 people, 5,048 households, and 3,160 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,562.1 people per square mile (603.0/km²). There were 5,471 housing units at an average density of 731.6 per square mile (282.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.05% White, 1.63% African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.79% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.33% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.59% of the population.
There were 5,048 households out of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.5% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 33.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.87.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 64, and 20.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 86.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $31,098, and the median income for a family was $42,088. Males had a median income of $31,163 versus $22,130 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $17,436. About 6.8% of families and 8.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.3% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
Coshocton lies in a coalCoal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
-producing region. This has long been the fuel for numerous factories manufacturing a variety of items. Coshocton is famous for being the birthplace of the advertising "specialty" industry, i.e., the design and manufacture of small items bearing the names of advertisers, such as calendars, pens, rulers, ornaments, refrigerator magnets, etc.
Notable residents
- Alan AbelAlan AbelAlan Abel is an American prankster, hoaxter, writer, mockumentary filmmaker, and jazz percussionist famous for several hoaxes that became media circuses.- Education and early career :...
- American prankster, writer, mockumentary filmmaker, and jazz percussionist famous for several hoaxes that became minor media circuses - Bob BrenlyBob BrenlyRobert Earl Brenly is an American former professional baseball player, coach and manager in Major League Baseball. He played the majority of his career as a catcher with the San Francisco Giants and played half a season for the Toronto Blue Jays...
- Major League catcher for the San Francisco GiantsSan Francisco GiantsThe San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
, manager of the 2001 Arizona DiamondbacksArizona DiamondbacksThe Arizona Diamondbacks are a professional baseball team based in Phoenix. They play in the West Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From 1998 to the present, they have played in Chase Field...
World Series Champions, Broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs - William Wallace BurnsWilliam Wallace BurnsWilliam Wallace Burns was a career American soldier who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, reaching the rank of brigadier general in the volunteer army. He was among the commanders of the famed Philadelphia Brigade.-Birth and early years:Burns was born in Coshocton, Ohio, son...
- Union armyUnion ArmyThe Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
general - William GreenWilliam Green (labor leader)William Green was an American trade union leader. Green is best remembered for serving as the President of the American Federation of Labor from 1924 to 1952.-Early years:...
- second president of the American Federation of Labor, serving from 1924–1952 - Mike McCullough - PGA and Champions Tour Golfer
- Noah Haynes SwayneNoah Haynes SwayneNoah Haynes Swayne was an American jurist and politician. He was the first Republican appointed as a justice to the United States Supreme Court.-Birth and early life:...
- US Supreme Court Justice from 1862–1881 - Vesta WilliamsVesta WilliamsMary Vesta Williams was an American R&B singer. Originally credited as Vesta Williams, she was sometimes simply billed as Vesta beginning in the 1990s. She was known for her four-octave vocal range...
- R&B singer - Danielle PeckDanielle PeckDanielle Marie Peck is an American country music artist. Signed to the independent Big Machine Records label in 2005, Peck released her self-titled debut album, which produced the Top 30 country hits "I Don't", "Findin' a Good Man", and "Isn't That Everything"...
- Country Music Artist