Oberlin, Ohio
Encyclopedia
Oberlin is a city in Lorain County
, Ohio
, United States
, to the south and west of Cleveland
. Oberlin is perhaps best known for being the home of Oberlin College
, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students. The town is also the birthplace of the Anti-Saloon League
.
The second largest employer in Oberlin (after the eponymous College) is the Federal Aviation Administration
, which houses an Air Route Traffic Control Center in the town. Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center
is one of the most transitioned air traffic control centers in the country, and oversees the airspace over six states and a small part of Canada
.
The population was 8,195 at the 2000 census.
ministers, John Jay Shipherd
and Philo P. Stewart. The pair had become friends while spending the summer of 1832 together in nearby Elyria
and discovered a shared dissatisfaction with what they saw as the lack of strong Christian morals among the settlers of the American West. Their proposed solution was to create a religious community that would more closely adhere to Biblical commandments, along with a school for training Christian missionaries who would eventually spread out all over the American frontier. The two decided to name their community after Jean-Frédéric Oberlin (1740–1826), an Alsatian
minister whose pedagogical achievements in a poor and remote area had greatly impressed and inspired them.
Shipherd and Stewart rode south from Elyria into the forests that covered the northern part of Ohio in search of a suitable location for their community. After a journey of approximately eight miles, they stopped to rest and pray in the shade of an elm tree along the forest, and agreed that this would be a good place to start their community. Legend has it that while they prayed, a hunter saw a family of bears climb down from a nearby tree. The bears saw the two men, but turned away without harming them. On hearing this story from the hunter, the two ministers took it to be a sign from God that they had selected the right place for their community and school.
Shipherd traveled back East and convinced the owner of the land to donate 500 acres (2 km²) of land for the school, and he also purchased an additional 5000 acres (20.2 km²) for the town, at the cost of $1.50 per acre ($371/km²). While in that part of the country, he visited many of his friends and persuaded some to join in his adventure, and others to contribute money towards the construction of the community.
The motto of the new Oberlin Collegiate Institute was "Learning and Labor." In those days the words were taken quite literally: tuition at Oberlin was free, but students were expected to contribute by helping to build and sustain the community. This attracted a number of bright young people who would otherwise not have been able to afford tuition. Eventually this approach was deemed inefficient; the motto however, remains to this day.
On June 28, 1924, the worst flood in Oberlin history occurred on the same day that a tornado killed 62 people in Lorain
. Afterward, the water was so deep that children swam in Tappan Square. Damage was caused to all of downtown Oberlin.
movement in the United States. The town was conceived as an integrated community and blacks attended Oberlin College from 1835, when brothers Gideon Quarles and Charles Henry Langston
were admitted. Their younger brother John Mercer Langston
, who became the first black elected to the United States Congress
from Virginia
in 1888, also graduated from Oberlin. Many Oberlin College graduates were dedicated abolitionists, who traveled throughout the South working to help slaves escape to the north.
In 1834, in response to a series of slavery debates at Lane Theological Seminary
, the trustees of the Cincinnati, Ohio
school voted to prohibit antislavery agitation among its students and faculty. As a result, the "Lane Rebels", a group of about 50 students, trustee Asa Mahan, and professor John Morgan, left the school. Arthur Tappan
, financial agent of the Oberlin Collegiate Institute, and co-founder John Shipherd, saw an opportunity to solve Oberlin's financial problems by inviting the rebels (including Mahan and Morgan) to come to Oberlin. The rebels agreed under three conditions: that Oberlin accept students regardless of color, that Oberlin respect students' freedom of speech, and that Oberlin not "interfere with the internal regulation of the school." In the fall of 1835, Oberlin opened a new theology school with Asa Mahan as President, Charles Finney
as Professor of theology, and the Lane Rebels among the first theology students.
By 1852, the town of Oberlin was an active terminus on the underground railroad
, and thousands had already passed through it on their way to freedom. This effort was assisted by an Ohio law that allowed fugitive slaves to apply for a writ of habeas corpus, which protected them from extradition back to the southern states from which they had escaped. In 1858, a newly elected Democratic state legislature repealed this law, making fugitives around Oberlin vulnerable to enforcement of the Federal Fugitive Slave Law
, which allowed southern slave-catchers to target and extradite them back to the South.
This situation came to a head with the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue
, a pivotal event described in Nat Brandt's book The Town That Started the Civil War. On September 13, 1858, a fugitive named John Price was captured by federal officials and held in neighboring Wellington, Ohio
. A large group of Oberlin residents, consisting of both white and black townspeople, students, and faculty, set out for Wellington to release Price from captivity.
The men took Price back from the arresting US Marshal, and eventually smuggled him to Canada, but the authorities were not content to let the matter rest. United States President James Buchanan
personally requested prosecution of the group (now referred to by sympathetic parties as "the Rescuers"), and 37 of them were indicted. Twelve of those were free blacks, including Charles H. Langston. State authorities arrested the US Marshal who had captured Price. In negotiation, the state agreed to free the arresters, and the federal officials agreed to free all but two of those indicted. Simeon M. Bushnell, a white man, and Charles H. Langston were both tried and convicted by an all-Democrat jury. Langston's eloquent speech against slavery and injustice persuaded the judge to give them light sentences. They appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus, but on May 30, 1859, their petition was denied.
The political ferment resulting from the case led to a number of major protests throughout the northern part of the state, and an unprecedented boost to the anti-slavery Republican party in the 1860 State elections. The governor of Ohio wrote to the new Republican President Abraham Lincoln
urging him to repeal the Fugitive Slave Law. Though in point of fact, Lincoln declined this request, his decision did little to prevent a number of Southern states from seceding, and America was soon embroiled in the Civil War
.
, the city has a total area of 4.4 square miles (11.4 km²). 4.4 square miles (11.4 km²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (Less than 0.1 sq mi) of it (0.68%) is water.
of 2000, there were 8,195 people, 2,678 households, and 1,395 families residing in the city. The population density
was 1,871.5 people per square mile (722.4/km²). There were 2,836 housing units at an average density of 647.7 per square mile (250.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 71.92% White, 18.55% African American, 0.49% Native American, 3.40% Asian, 0.17% Pacific Islander, 1.21% from other races
, and 4.26% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.04% of the population.
There were 2,678 households out of which 21.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.5% were married couples
living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.9% were non-families. 35.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.89.
In the city the population was spread out with 14.7% under the age of 18, 36.9% from 18 to 24, 16.4% from 25 to 44, 17.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females there were 77.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 73.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $41,094, and the median income for a family was $59,358. Males had a median income of $42,170 versus $27,308 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $20,704. About 6.7% of families and 19.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.6% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.
and a seven-member council which is elected to two-year terms in a non-partisan election.
and northeast to Elyria. The path is built on the former railroad right-of-way of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
Southern Branch. Like many smaller municipalities across Ohio, Oberlin used to be served by railroads, but currently has no railroad service. An old station is visible along the bike path.
Lorain County Transit
(LCT) provides one bus route to Oberlin. It is year-round, and travels to Elyria
. As of June 1, 2009, LCT shut down route 33 due to funding shortfalls. Route 33 used to travel between Oberlin and the Cleveland Hopkins Airport, connecting with the rapid transit line to downtown Cleveland.
There is a car-sharing program available in Oberlin through CityWheels, offering another form of alternative transportation to area residents.
:
Lorain County, Ohio
Lorain County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio, and is considered to be a part of what is locally referred to as Greater Cleveland. As of the 2010 census, its population was 301,356. an increase from 284,664 in 2000...
, 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...
, to the south and west of Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. Oberlin is perhaps best known for being the home of Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students. The town is also the birthplace of the Anti-Saloon League
Anti-Saloon League
The Anti-Saloon League was the leading organization lobbying for prohibition in the United States in the early 20th century. It was a key component of the Progressive Era, and was strongest in the South and rural North, drawing heavy support from pietistic Protestant ministers and their...
.
The second largest employer in Oberlin (after the eponymous College) is the Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
, which houses an Air Route Traffic Control Center in the town. Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center
Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center
Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center is located at 326 East Lorain Street, Oberlin, Ohio, United States, near the city of Cleveland. The Cleveland ARTCC is the busiest of the 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers in the United States...
is one of the most transitioned air traffic control centers in the country, and oversees the airspace over six states and a small part of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
The population was 8,195 at the 2000 census.
History
Oberlin was founded in 1833 by two PresbyterianPresbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
ministers, John Jay Shipherd
John Jay Shipherd
John Jay Shipherd was an American clergyman who co-founded Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio in 1833 with Philo Penfield Stewart...
and Philo P. Stewart. The pair had become friends while spending the summer of 1832 together in nearby Elyria
Elyria, Ohio
-Community:Elyria has an extensive, although financially burdened, community food pantry and "Hot Meals" program administered through the Second Harvest Food Bank and several churches Elyria is served by Elyria Memorial Hospital.-Recreation and parks:...
and discovered a shared dissatisfaction with what they saw as the lack of strong Christian morals among the settlers of the American West. Their proposed solution was to create a religious community that would more closely adhere to Biblical commandments, along with a school for training Christian missionaries who would eventually spread out all over the American frontier. The two decided to name their community after Jean-Frédéric Oberlin (1740–1826), an Alsatian
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
minister whose pedagogical achievements in a poor and remote area had greatly impressed and inspired them.
Shipherd and Stewart rode south from Elyria into the forests that covered the northern part of Ohio in search of a suitable location for their community. After a journey of approximately eight miles, they stopped to rest and pray in the shade of an elm tree along the forest, and agreed that this would be a good place to start their community. Legend has it that while they prayed, a hunter saw a family of bears climb down from a nearby tree. The bears saw the two men, but turned away without harming them. On hearing this story from the hunter, the two ministers took it to be a sign from God that they had selected the right place for their community and school.
Shipherd traveled back East and convinced the owner of the land to donate 500 acres (2 km²) of land for the school, and he also purchased an additional 5000 acres (20.2 km²) for the town, at the cost of $1.50 per acre ($371/km²). While in that part of the country, he visited many of his friends and persuaded some to join in his adventure, and others to contribute money towards the construction of the community.
The motto of the new Oberlin Collegiate Institute was "Learning and Labor." In those days the words were taken quite literally: tuition at Oberlin was free, but students were expected to contribute by helping to build and sustain the community. This attracted a number of bright young people who would otherwise not have been able to afford tuition. Eventually this approach was deemed inefficient; the motto however, remains to this day.
On June 28, 1924, the worst flood in Oberlin history occurred on the same day that a tornado killed 62 people in Lorain
Lorain
-Places:* Lorain, Ohio* Lorain, Pennsylvania* Lorain, Wisconsin* Lorain County, Ohio** Lorain County Community College* Lorain Township, Minnesota-Organizations:* Lorain City School District* Lorain Correctional Institution* Lorain County Transit...
. Afterward, the water was so deep that children swam in Tappan Square. Damage was caused to all of downtown Oberlin.
Abolitionism
Towards the middle of the 19th century, Oberlin became a major focus of the abolitionistAbolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
movement in the United States. The town was conceived as an integrated community and blacks attended Oberlin College from 1835, when brothers Gideon Quarles and Charles Henry Langston
Charles Henry Langston
Charles Henry Langston , an American abolitionist and political activist born free in Louisa County, Virginia, was one of two men tried after the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue, a cause célèbre in 1858 Ohio that helped gain impetus for abolition. In 1835 he was one of the first blacks admitted to...
were admitted. Their younger brother John Mercer Langston
John Mercer Langston
John Mercer Langston was an American abolitionist, attorney, educator, and political activist. He was the first dean of the law school at Howard University and helped create the department. He was the first president of what is now Virginia State University. In 1888 he was the first African...
, who became the first black elected to the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
from Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
in 1888, also graduated from Oberlin. Many Oberlin College graduates were dedicated abolitionists, who traveled throughout the South working to help slaves escape to the north.
In 1834, in response to a series of slavery debates at Lane Theological Seminary
Lane Theological Seminary
Lane Theological Seminary was established in the Walnut Hills section of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1829 to educate Presbyterian ministers. It was named in honor of Ebenezer and William Lane, who pledged $4,000 for the new school, which was seen as a forward outpost of the Presbyterian Church in the...
, the trustees of the Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
school voted to prohibit antislavery agitation among its students and faculty. As a result, the "Lane Rebels", a group of about 50 students, trustee Asa Mahan, and professor John Morgan, left the school. Arthur Tappan
Arthur Tappan
Arthur Tappan was an American abolitionist. He was the brother of Senator Benjamin Tappan, and abolitionist Lewis Tappan.-Biography:...
, financial agent of the Oberlin Collegiate Institute, and co-founder John Shipherd, saw an opportunity to solve Oberlin's financial problems by inviting the rebels (including Mahan and Morgan) to come to Oberlin. The rebels agreed under three conditions: that Oberlin accept students regardless of color, that Oberlin respect students' freedom of speech, and that Oberlin not "interfere with the internal regulation of the school." In the fall of 1835, Oberlin opened a new theology school with Asa Mahan as President, Charles Finney
Charles Grandison Finney
Charles Grandison Finney was a leader in the Second Great Awakening. He has been called The Father of Modern Revivalism. Finney was best known as an innovative revivalist, an opponent of Old School Presbyterian theology, an advocate of Christian perfectionism, a pioneer in social reforms in favor...
as Professor of theology, and the Lane Rebels among the first theology students.
By 1852, the town of Oberlin was an active terminus on the underground railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
, and thousands had already passed through it on their way to freedom. This effort was assisted by an Ohio law that allowed fugitive slaves to apply for a writ of habeas corpus, which protected them from extradition back to the southern states from which they had escaped. In 1858, a newly elected Democratic state legislature repealed this law, making fugitives around Oberlin vulnerable to enforcement of the Federal Fugitive Slave Law
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
The Fugitive Slave Law or Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers. This was one of the most controversial acts of the 1850 compromise and heightened...
, which allowed southern slave-catchers to target and extradite them back to the South.
This situation came to a head with the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue
Oberlin-Wellington Rescue
The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue of 1858 in Lorain County, Ohio was a key event and cause celèbre in the history of the abolitionist movement in the United States shortly before the American Civil War. John Price, an escaped slave, was arrested in Oberlin, Ohio under the Fugitive Slave Law, and taken...
, a pivotal event described in Nat Brandt's book The Town That Started the Civil War. On September 13, 1858, a fugitive named John Price was captured by federal officials and held in neighboring Wellington, Ohio
Wellington, Ohio
Wellington is a village in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,511 at the 2000 census.-History:Wellington was settled in 1818 by Ephraim Wilcox, Charles Sweet, William T. Welling, John Clifford, and Joseph Wilson from the states of Massachusetts and New York...
. A large group of Oberlin residents, consisting of both white and black townspeople, students, and faculty, set out for Wellington to release Price from captivity.
The men took Price back from the arresting US Marshal, and eventually smuggled him to Canada, but the authorities were not content to let the matter rest. United States President James Buchanan
James Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
personally requested prosecution of the group (now referred to by sympathetic parties as "the Rescuers"), and 37 of them were indicted. Twelve of those were free blacks, including Charles H. Langston. State authorities arrested the US Marshal who had captured Price. In negotiation, the state agreed to free the arresters, and the federal officials agreed to free all but two of those indicted. Simeon M. Bushnell, a white man, and Charles H. Langston were both tried and convicted by an all-Democrat jury. Langston's eloquent speech against slavery and injustice persuaded the judge to give them light sentences. They appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus, but on May 30, 1859, their petition was denied.
The political ferment resulting from the case led to a number of major protests throughout the northern part of the state, and an unprecedented boost to the anti-slavery Republican party in the 1860 State elections. The governor of Ohio wrote to the new Republican President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
urging him to repeal the Fugitive Slave Law. Though in point of fact, Lincoln declined this request, his decision did little to prevent a number of Southern states from seceding, and America was soon embroiled in the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited 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 4.4 square miles (11.4 km²). 4.4 square miles (11.4 km²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (Less than 0.1 sq mi) of it (0.68%) is water.
Climate
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 8,195 people, 2,678 households, and 1,395 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 1,871.5 people per square mile (722.4/km²). There were 2,836 housing units at an average density of 647.7 per square mile (250.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 71.92% White, 18.55% African American, 0.49% Native American, 3.40% Asian, 0.17% Pacific Islander, 1.21% 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 4.26% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.04% of the population.
There were 2,678 households out of which 21.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.5% 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, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.9% were non-families. 35.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.89.
In the city the population was spread out with 14.7% under the age of 18, 36.9% from 18 to 24, 16.4% from 25 to 44, 17.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females there were 77.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 73.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $41,094, and the median income for a family was $59,358. Males had a median income of $42,170 versus $27,308 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 $20,704. About 6.7% of families and 19.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.6% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.
Government
Oberlin is governed by a city managerCity manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a council-manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief executive officer or chief administrative officer in some municipalities...
and a seven-member council which is elected to two-year terms in a non-partisan election.
Transportation
Oberlin lies at the intersection of state routes 58 and 511. It is near US Highway 20. Oberlin also lies on a paved bicycle and pedestrian path, the North Coast Inland Trail, which travels southwest to KiptonKipton, Ohio
Kipton is a village in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The population was 265 at the 2000 census.-History:Kipton was once a stop along the Southern Division of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad; however, the line was abandoned and pulled up in 1976. This line is now a rail trail,...
and northeast to Elyria. The path is built on the former railroad right-of-way of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, NY to Chicago, primarily along the south shore of Lake Erie and across northern Indiana...
Southern Branch. Like many smaller municipalities across Ohio, Oberlin used to be served by railroads, but currently has no railroad service. An old station is visible along the bike path.
Lorain County Transit
Lorain County Transit
Lorain County Transit is the public transportation provider for Lorain County, Ohio. It is a division of the Lorain County Commissioners, and its offices are in Lorain. The current manager of LCT is Richard Enty...
(LCT) provides one bus route to Oberlin. It is year-round, and travels to Elyria
Elyria, Ohio
-Community:Elyria has an extensive, although financially burdened, community food pantry and "Hot Meals" program administered through the Second Harvest Food Bank and several churches Elyria is served by Elyria Memorial Hospital.-Recreation and parks:...
. As of June 1, 2009, LCT shut down route 33 due to funding shortfalls. Route 33 used to travel between Oberlin and the Cleveland Hopkins Airport, connecting with the rapid transit line to downtown Cleveland.
There is a car-sharing program available in Oberlin through CityWheels, offering another form of alternative transportation to area residents.
Notable residents
- Frederic de Forest AllenFrederic de Forest AllenFrederic de Forest Allen was an American classical scholar, born in Oberlin, Ohio. He graduated at Oberlin College in 1863, and attended the University of Leipzig in 1868–1870. He earned his Ph.D. there with his thesis De Dialecto Locrensium...
, (1844–1897), born in Oberlin, was a noted classical scholar - Antoinette Brown Blackwell
- Charles Grandison FinneyCharles Grandison FinneyCharles Grandison Finney was a leader in the Second Great Awakening. He has been called The Father of Modern Revivalism. Finney was best known as an innovative revivalist, an opponent of Old School Presbyterian theology, an advocate of Christian perfectionism, a pioneer in social reforms in favor...
, (1792–1875), lived in Oberlin, minister of the gospel, professor and president of the Oberlin CollegeOberlin CollegeOberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
(1851–1866). - Charles Martin HallCharles Martin HallCharles Martin Hall was an American inventor, music enthusiast, and chemist. He is best known for his invention in 1886 of an inexpensive method for producing aluminium, which became the first metal to attain widespread use since the prehistoric discovery of iron.-Early years:Charles Martin Hall...
, (1863 –1914), lived in Oberlin 1873-1914, co-discoverer of Hall-Héroult processHall-Héroult processThe Hall–Héroult process is the major industrial process for the production of aluminium. It involves dissolving alumina in molten cryolite, and electrolysing the molten salt bath to obtain pure aluminium metal.-Process:...
and founder of AlcoaAlcoaAlcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
. - Charles Henry Tyler TownsendCharles Henry Tyler TownsendCharles Henry Tyler Townsend was an American entomologist and biologist.-Biography:Townsend was born in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1863...
(5 December 1863 Oberlin, Ohio – 17 March 1944 Itaquaquecetuba near São Paulo) was an eminent American entomologist and biologist. - Albert Mussey JohnsonAlbert Mussey JohnsonAlbert Mussey Johnson , was an eccentric millionaire who served as President for many years of the National Life Insurance Company, built Scotty's Castle in Death Valley, and was variously partner, friend, and dupe of infamous Wild West con man Death Valley Scotty, for whose outrageous antics he...
, (1872–1948), born in Oberlin, eccentric multi-millionaire industrialist who is known best for constructing Scotty's CastleScotty's CastleScotty's Castle is a two-story Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival style villa located in the Grapevine Mountains of northern Death Valley in Death Valley National Park, California, U.S.. It is also known as Death Valley Ranch...
in what is now Death Valley National ParkDeath Valley National ParkDeath Valley National Park is a national park in the U.S. states of California and Nevada located east of the Sierra Nevada in the arid Great Basin of the United States. The park protects the northwest corner of the Mojave Desert and contains a diverse desert environment of salt-flats, sand dunes,...
. - Charles Henry LangstonCharles Henry LangstonCharles Henry Langston , an American abolitionist and political activist born free in Louisa County, Virginia, was one of two men tried after the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue, a cause célèbre in 1858 Ohio that helped gain impetus for abolition. In 1835 he was one of the first blacks admitted to...
(1817–1892), one of two tried and convicted after Oberlin-Wellington RescueOberlin-Wellington RescueThe Oberlin-Wellington Rescue of 1858 in Lorain County, Ohio was a key event and cause celèbre in the history of the abolitionist movement in the United States shortly before the American Civil War. John Price, an escaped slave, was arrested in Oberlin, Ohio under the Fugitive Slave Law, and taken...
, abolitionist and political activist in Ohio and KansasKansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. - John Mercer LangstonJohn Mercer LangstonJohn Mercer Langston was an American abolitionist, attorney, educator, and political activist. He was the first dean of the law school at Howard University and helped create the department. He was the first president of what is now Virginia State University. In 1888 he was the first African...
(1829–1899), abolitionist, activist, educator and politician - first dean of Howard UniversityHoward UniversityHoward University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
law school, first president of Virginia State UniversityVirginia State UniversityVirginia State University is a historically black and land-grant university located north of the Appomattox River in Chesterfield, in the Richmond area. Founded on , Virginia State was the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of higher learning for black Americans...
, in 1888 first black to be elected to the United States CongressUnited States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
from VirginiaVirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. - John Miller
- Lucy StoneLucy StoneLucy Stone was a prominent American abolitionist and suffragist, and a vocal advocate and organizer promoting rights for women. In 1847, Stone was the first woman from Massachusetts to earn a college degree. She spoke out for women's rights and against slavery at a time when women were discouraged...
- Abigail Iart Jones (1981-present) Artist
Sister city
Oberlin has one sister city, as designated by the Sister Cities InternationalSister Cities International
Sister Cities International is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between United States and international communities. More than 2,000 cities, states and counties are partnered in 136 countries around the world...
:
| - Ile-Ife, Nigeria Nigeria Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in... |
See also
- Oberlin High School
- Oberlin Heritage CenterOberlin Heritage CenterThe Oberlin Heritage Center is the historical society and historic preservation organization for the city of Oberlin, Ohio, as well as a complex of historic sites that is accredited by the American Association of Museums...
- Apollo Theater (Oberlin, Ohio)
Further reading
- Brandt, Nat. The Town That Started the Civil War. Syracuse University Press, 1990. 315 p.
- Hart, Albert Bushnell, ed. The American Nation: a history from original sources. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1904-18.