Allen County, Ohio

Allen County is a located in the  of,  with a population of 108,473 as of the. It is included in the.

It is for Colonel, a figure in the. Although it has been claimed that the county was named for soldier,  the weight of the evidence in favor of John Allen led the  to declare that the county was named for him. The is.

History
Under the terms of the signed in 1795, northwestern Ohio was reserved for Native Americans. Thus the area now comprising Allen County was off-limits to European settlement until the Treaty of Maumee Rapids in 1817. Under the terms of this treaty, the was assigned reservations at  and at their "Hog Creek" settlement along the  which comprised most of what is the present-day. The latter treaty opened the way for the on,  to create fourteen counties, including Allen , which was defined as Ranges 5 through 8 east and Towns 3 through 6 south.

The first permanent settlement within the present day bounds of Allen County took place in 1824, when Christopher S. Wood and his family settled in section 7 of. The organization of Bath Township predates that of Allen County itself, with its first township meeting held on,. On Feb. 12, 1829, an act of the legislature set aside land for a "county town". Wood was appointed commissioner to determine the location of this "seat of justice" for Allen County. This was done on, , with Wood appointed as Town Director. He laid out plots of land to be sold in section 31 of Bath Township, and the was filed, , creating what was the beginning of the city of.

The organization of Allen County itself dates from the first meeting of the county commissioners, held on,. Present at this meeting were Commissioners James Daniels, John G. Wood, and Samuel Stewart. Also present was William G. Wood, county auditor; Adam White, county treasurer; and Henry Lippincott, sheriff.

The first court of justice was held in August 1831, and it is believed that the assembly of men, in informal session, selected the name for the seat of justice by drawing names from a hat. The meeting was held at the cabin of James Daniels, which was located on the bank of the near the current location of Market Street. Patrick G. Goode of, special at that session, is given credit for having offered up the name of "" (capital of  and source of the  used to treat the  prevalent in the area of the ). At the County Commission session on, , the formation of a second township, , was approved.

In 1832 the Shawnees, including those living in the Hog Creek reservation (present day Shawnee Township), were removed to eastern Kansas. They received payment of $30 000 in fifteen annual installments for their lands which had an estimated value of over $200 000 at that time. They arrived at their new home with few provisions and immediately suffered an epidemic of cholera.

Lima was established as a village in 1841, and the town of Lima was organized,. Henry DeVilliers Williams was elected the first mayor and Amos Clutter was elected the first town marshall.

In 1848, the boundaries of Allen County changed with a reorganization that created from the southern half of the original county. Town 2S, Range 7E (Monroe Twp.); Town 2S, Range 8E (Richland Twp.); the southern half of Town 2S, Range 5E, and the southern half of Town 2S, Range 6E (Sugar Creek Twp.) were transferred from to Allen County. Parts of and  Counties were also transferred to Allen to form  and part of. In May, 1853, Allen and Putnam Counties agreed on a cash settlement for Putnam's loss.

There were several practical implications of these changes to the boundaries Allen County. , the county seat became located near the center of the county, rather than in the northern quarter. The western part of the county gained a significant stretch of the, which was completed in 1845. The reorganization also brought the towns of Spencerville, laid out in 1844 and located on the canal, and Bluffton within the bounds of the county.

In 1885, oil was discovered in Lima. This began a boom in Allen County which lasted until after 1910.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,054 (407 ). 1,047 km² (404 sq mi) of it is land and 6 km² (2 sq mi) of it (0.60%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (south)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 108,473 people, 40,646 households, and 28,208 families residing in the county. The was 104/km² (268/sq mi). There were 44,245 housing units at an average density of 42/km² (109/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 84.95%, 12.19% or , 0.21% , 0.55% , 0.01% , 0.63% from , and 1.45% from two or more races. 1.42% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 40,646 households out of which 32.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.00% were living together, 12.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.60% were non-families. 26.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.90% under the age of 18, 9.90% from 18 to 24, 27.60% from 25 to 44, 22.40% from 45 to 64, and 14.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 100.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,048, and the median income for a family was $44,723. Males had a median income of $35,546 versus $23,537 for females. The for the county was $17,511. About 9.60% of families and 12.10% of the population were below the, including 17.00% of those under age 18 and 9.60% of those age 65 or over.

Allen County Fair
One of the more notable annual events in Allen County is its County Fair. Run every August in since 1851, the Fair is amongst the foremost agricultural showcasing events in Western Ohio. In 2005, there were over 220,000 visitors and almost 3,000 exhibitors, making it the largest in the state.

The fair has also been notable for attracting many nationally known performers during the 1980s and 1990s, and combined with significant renovations to the county show grounds, these two factors have contributed to a marked increase in attendance and notoriety over the past two decades.