Middletown, Ohio

Middletown is an All-America City located in Butler and Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. Formerly in Lemon, Turtlecreek, and Franklin townships, Middletown was incorporated by the Ohio General Assembly on February 11, 1833, and became a city in 1886. The city was the home of AK Steel Holding Corporation (formerly Armco), a major steel works founded in 1900 until offices were moved to West Chester Township, Ohio in 2007, but AK Steel's factory still resides in Middletown. Middletown contains a small municipal airport known as Hook Field, (airport code MWO), but is no longer served by commercial airliners, only general aviation. A regional campus of Miami University is located in Middletown.

The population of Middletown as of the 2000 census was 51,605. Middletown continues to focus on an outward growth from annexation rather than from interior redevelopment. It is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. Its name is believed to have come from its founder, Stephen Vail, but questions remain unanswered as to why. One local historian stated that the town received its name because Mr. Vail had come from Middletown, New Jersey. Another writer believed that the town was named Middletown because it was the midway point of navigation on the Great Miami River, which was then considered a navigable stream. Another theory is credited to the town being roughly half way between Dayton and Cincinnati. Vail centered the town in Fractional Section 28 of Town 2, Range 4 North. The Towne Mall, located near I-75, is the main shopping center of the city. One of the first settlers in Middletown was Daniel Doty who migrated there from New Jersey in the late 1700s.

Geography
Middletown is located at 39.50601°N, -84.37588°W (39.506007, -84.375885).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 25.8 square miles (66.8 km2), of which, 25.7 square miles (66.5 km2) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.4 km2) of it (0.54%) is water.

Middletown adjoins the Great Miami River. Middletown also borders the towns of Franklin, Monroe, Trenton, and Liberty and Madison Townships.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 51,605 people, 21,469 households, and 13,933 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,011.4 people per square mile (776.5/km2). There were 23,144 housing units at an average density of 902.1/sq mi (348.2/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 86.98% White, 10.59% African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.37% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.36% from other races, and 1.42% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.89% of the population.

There were 21,469 households out of which 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.9% were married couples living together, 14.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.1% were non-families. 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.0% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,215, and the median income for a family was $43,867. Males had a median income of $35,705 versus $23,865 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,773. About 9.2% of families and 12.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.4% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.

Miscellaneous
From the mills at AK Steel, to the city's biggest employer and one of the nation's top 100 hospitals, Atrium Medical Center, Middletown is home to a wide variety of business and industry.

Most new commercial development is centered around the campus of the newly built Atrium Medical Center, located just east of Interstate 75. Atrium Medical Center replaces the former Middletown Regional Hospital. There has been much dissent in the community on the moving of the hospital from its former site to its new site three miles away. However, the new hospital offers a much larger emergency room, private rooms, and newer and better technology and equipment. In addition, the City Council has been focusing on renewing the business prospects of downtown Middletown.

Middletown City School District provides educational opportunities for the majority of the community, while Franklin and Lebanon City School Districts oversee some outlying parts of the city. Other schools/districts located in the area include Bishop Fenwick High School, Middletown Christian, Madison Local, Lakota Local, Summit Academy, Middletown Fitness & Preparatory Academy, LifeSkills Center of Middletown, Butler Technology and Career Development Schools, and Miami University-Middletown, a Miami University regional campus.

The Ohio Challenge Hot Air Balloon Festival, Middfest, All-American Weekend, Greek Festival, Fenwick Festival,First Fridays at First Methodist, and numerous outdoor concerts are just some of the many community events held annually in Middletown.

The Aeronautical Corporation of America, later to be called Aeronca, located to Middletown in 1940 from Cincinnati. The company designed and built thousands of aircraft, notably the Champ, Chief and Super Chief. Today, the company is an operating division of Magellan Aerospace.

Every two years, Middletown hosts the National Aeronca Association convention and fly-in where aircraft owners, pilots, enthusiasts and former employees of Aeronca gather at Hook Field Municipal Airport for a weekend of flying and camaraderie.

The Middletown Journal is a daily paper printed by Cox Publishing covering area, state, national, and world events.

Telephone service is provided through Middletown and Franklin exchanges. The area codes in use are 513 and 937. Another exchange has also been assigned to Middletown but will not be put into use until the 513 exchange runs out of numbers.

The Middletown area is also divided amongst two zip codes, 45042 and 45044. The dividing line for these two zip codes is generally Central Avenue.

Middletown is home to two radio stations, WPFB (AM), broadcasting on 910 kHz, and WPFB (FM) (The Rebel), broadcasting on 105.9 MHz. The broadcast tower is located not too far from Central Academy. It can be seen from much of the city.

Throughout history Middletown has been home to several main transportation routes including the Great Miami River, Miami and Erie Canal, Warren County Canal, Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad, Middletown and Cincinnati Railroad, and now Interstate 75, which is currently being widened to four lanes at the Middletown exit, Exit 32. In addition, the interchange for the northbound lanes is set to be redone from its current ribbon-like design to the more common, side ramps.

Blue Ball, Engle's Corner, Amanda, Lemon Township Morrell's Station, and Excello, Ohio have all been annexed by Middletown. More land was annexed by Middletown when the new Bishop Fenwick High School was built out in Hunter.

AK Steel's The Hot Strip Mill includes the first building design that ever needed to take into account the circumference of the earth.

Middletown was once home to a professional baseball team.

Middletown High School has more Division I State Basketball Championships (7) than any other school in the state.

The Middletown City School District has eight elementary schools, Amanda Elementary, Central Academy, Creekview Elementary, Highview Elementary, Mayfield Elementary, Miller Ridge Elementary, Rosa Parks Elementary, and Wildwood Elementary. The school district also has two middle schools, Stephen Vail Middle School and George M. Verity Middle School.

Notable natives and residents

 * Mitchell Davis – Co-Creator of LiveLavaLive, The Webshow
 * Kyle Sibert – Co-Creator of LiveLavaLive, The Webshow
 * Jan Adams – Plastic surgeon
 * Todd Bell – Pro Bowl safety in the National Football League (NFL) during the 1980s.
 * Gay Brewer – Former American professional golfer on the PGA Tour who won the 1967 Masters Tournament
 * Casey Calvert – Recently deceased guitarist for Hawthorne Heights
 * James E. Campbell – Democratic politician and 38th Governor of Ohio
 * Butch Carter – Former player and head coach in the National Basketball Association, brother of Cris Carter
 * Cris Carter – Former NFL Pro-Bowl and All-Decade player and NFL analyst
 * Dan Daub – 19th century Major League Baseball pitcher
 * Brooklyn Decker – American fashion model
 * William H. Gross – Noted investment manager, author and prominent philatelist
 * Bill Hanzlik – retired American professional basketball player and coach
 * J. Eugene Harding – Successful businessman and member of the United States House of Representatives
 * Thomas Howard – former Major League Baseball player
 * Darrell Hunter – Professional American football cornerback
 * Howard Jones – Renowned college football player and coach, and member of the College Football Hall of Fame's inaugural class of inductees in 1951
 * July for Kings – Band currently under contract with MCA Records
 * Patrick L. Kessler – U.S. Army soldier and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II
 * Frank Lickliter – American professional golfer
 * John London – longtime news reporter, WLW Television
 * Jerry Lucas – Legendary National Basketball Association Hall of Famer, NBA champion, Olympic gold medalist, and one of the NBA's 50 greatest players
 * Donald E. “Buz” Lukens – Republican politician and former member of the United States House of Representatives
 * McGuire Sisters – Vocal trio of American popular music, composed of Christine, Dorothy, and Phyllis
 * Scott Nein – politician of the Republican Party, who served as a member of the Ohio Senate for two terms
 * Clarence Page – Pulitzer Prize winner, journalist, syndicated columnist and member of the editorial board for the Chicago Tribune
 * Susan Perkins –Miss Ohio and Miss America 1978
 * Chrystee Pharris – African American television and film actress
 * Gordon Ray Roberts – Youngest living Medal of Honor recipient and the only Medal of Honor recipient still serving on active duty, has also been awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, and numerous other awards for valor and achievement
 * Charlie Root – Successful Major League Baseball pitcher who holds the record for career wins for the Chicago Cubs, he also threw the pitch that Babe Ruth allegedly predicted he would hit into the seats in the 1932 World Series at Wrigley Field in Chicago
 * Ed Schrock – Republican politician and former member of the United States House of Representatives
 * Shepherd Sisters – Successful vocal quartet, consisting of Martha, Gayle, Judy, and Mary Lou
 * Paul J. Sorg – Successful businessman and member of the United States House of Representatives
 * Ferdinand Van Derveer – lawyer, Sheriff, judge and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War
 * William Verity, Jr. – U.S. administrator and steel industrialist, served as the Secretary of Commerce between 1987 and 1989 under President Ronald Reagan
 * Virtue Hampton Whitted – jazz singer and bassist