Baltimore, Ohio

Baltimore is a village in Fairfield County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,881 at the 2000 census.

Geography
Baltimore is located at °N, °W (39.846319, -82.607503).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.8 sqmi, all of it land.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,881 people, 1,159 households, and 786 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,616.8 people per square mile (624.9/km²). There were 1,212 housing units at an average density of 680.2 per square mile (262.9/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 98.96% White, 0.10% African American, 0.03% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.03% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.38% of the population.

There were 1,159 households out of which 34.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.3% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.1% were non-families. 27.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the village the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 89.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.7 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $39,375, and the median income for a family was $46,780. Males had a median income of $37,714 versus $25,386 for females. The per capita income for the village was $17,436. About 7.7% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.5% of those under age 18 and 11.5% of those age 65 or over.

History
In the first decade of the 1800s pioneer Swiss farm families began to arrive in the west end of town, and on March 2, 1825, they dedicated their village as Basil (a misspelling of Basel, Switzerland). One day earlier, March 1, the Virginians in the east end of town dedicated their own village of New Market (after a town by that name in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley). This opened the gates to a century and a quarter "twin city" feud. (In that same year of 1825 the Ohio-Erie Canal would begin ditching its silver ribbon toward the two villages. The L.U.H.S. alma mater recalls this heritage when the community was "furrowed by canal waters.")

Growth and change were imminent. Three years later (1828) north of the current railroad, the hamlet of Rome City was dedicated. In 1833 New Market was incorporated, for some still unexplained reason, as Baltimore. In 1893 the paper industry's founder came to town on a bicycle and his legacy is obvious to this day. (Again, the alma mater reflects, " known for her mills.")

From 1945-1947 there was a notorious controversy over the new name for the twin city consolidation. In a widely publicized story, "Baseball" (a merging of Basel and Baltimore) was thrown out of the circuit judge umpire and "Baltimore" was safe.

A brief glimpse of twentieth century schools includes the school year 1919-1920 graduation of the first class from the new community school building called Liberty (after the township) Union after the junction of the Baltimore and Basil districts). For the 1960-1961 school year Baltimore and its neighbor community Thurston consolidated their kids into the Liberty Union-Thurston School District.  And following the 1986-1987 school year the original (1917) Liberty Union School was razed to make room for the new (1988–1989) high school.

Though a current Fairfield County map indicated this Liberty Township, Paw Paw Valley site as Baltimore, locals can quickly identify the whereabouts of Basil Park, Market Street, and Rome Side within their village.