Warren County, Ohio

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 407 square miles (1,050 km²), of which 401 square miles (1,040 km²) is land and 6.0 square miles (16 km²) (1.5%) is water. The county is a rough square with the sides roughly 20 miles (30 km) long.

Adjacent counties

Boundaries

Warren County was created by the first Ohio General Assembly in the Act of March 24, 1803, which also created Butler and Montgomery Counties. The act defined Warren County as "all that part of the county of Hamilton included within the following bounds, viz.: Beginning at the northeast corner of the county of Clermont, running thence west with the line of said county to the Little Miami; thence up the same with the meanders thereof to the north boundary of the first tier of sections in the second entire range of townships in the Miami Purchase; thence west to the northeast corner of Section No. 7 in the third township of the aforesaid range; thence north to the Great Miami; thence up the same to the middle of the fifth range of townships; thence east to the County line; thence with same south to the place of beginning." Originally this included land now in Clinton County as far east as Wilmington.

Clinton County proved a continuing headache to the legislature. The Ohio Constitution requires that every county have an area of at least four hundred square miles (1,036 km²). Clinton County's boundaries were several times adjusted in an effort to comply with that clause of the constitution. One of them, the Act of January 30, 1815, detached a strip of land from the eastern side to give to Clinton. That would have left Warren under four hundred square miles (1,036 km²), so a portion of Butler County (the part of Franklin Township where Carlisle is now located) was attached to Warren in compensation. The 1815 act was as follows:

Except for the sections formed by the Great and Little Miamis, the sides are all straight lines.

Lakes and rivers

The major rivers of the county are the Great Miami River, which flows through the northwest corner of the county in Franklin Township, and the Little Miami River which zig-zags across the county from north to south. There is one sizable lake, the Caesars Creek Reservoir, created by a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam on Caesars Creek in the northeast part of the county in Massie Township.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 158,383 people, 55,966 households, and 43,261 families residing in the county. The population density was 396 people per square mile (153/km²). There were 58,692 housing units at an average density of 147 per square mile (57/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 94.66% White, 2.73% Black or African American, 0.18% Native American, 1.26% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.31% from other races, and 0.84% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.03% of the population.

There were 55,966 households out of which 39.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.20% were married couples living together, 8.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.70% were non-families. 18.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.12.

In the county, the population was spread out with 27.70% under the age of 18, 7.10% from 18 to 24, 34.00% from 25 to 44, 21.80% from 45 to 64, and 9.40% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 35 years. For every 100 females there were 102.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $57,952, and the median income for a family was $64,692. Males had a median income of $47,027 versus $30,862 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,517. About 3.00% of families and 4.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.40% of those under age 18 and 4.70% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 212,693 people, 76,424 households, and 57,621 families residing in the county. The population density was 530.0 inhabitants per square mile (204.6/km²). There were 80,750 housing units at an average density of 201.2 per square mile (77.7/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 90.5% white, 3.9% Asian, 3.3% black or African American, 0.2% American Indian, 0.7% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.2% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 28.7% were German, 14.1% were Irish, 12.0% were English, 11.6% were American, and 5.0% were Italian.

Of the 76,424 households, 40.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.6% were married couples living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 24.6% were non-families, and 20.4% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.14. The median age was 37.8 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $71,274 and the median income for a family was $82,090. Males had a median income of $61,091 versus $41,331 for females. The per capita income for the county was $31,935. About 4.7% of families and 6.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.6% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over.

Government and infrastructure

Warren County has a 3-member Board of County Commissioners that administer and oversee the various County departments, similar to all but 2 of the 88 Ohio counties. The elected commissioners serve four-year terms. Warren County's elected commissioners are:

Hospitals

Post offices

The following post offices, with ZIP codes, serve Warren County:

Telephone service

These are the telephone companies serving Warren County: CenturyLink (CL); FairPoint Communications (FP); Cincinnati Bell (Cin); AT&T (AT&T); TDS Telecom (TDS); and Frontier Communications (F). Warren County is in the 513 and 937 area codes.

The following exchange areas serve Warren County, listed with the area code and incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) abbreviation from above serving that exchange (list may not be up-to-date):

Politics

Warren County is primarily Republican and has been since the party was established in the 1850s. Since the first presidential election after its founding, 1856, Warren County has supported the Republican candidate for president all but once, the exception being 1964 when Warren County voted for Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson over Barry M. Goldwater. In 2008, Warren County cast the largest net vote for John McCain of any Ohio county. Before the Republican party was formed, Warren County supported the Whigs. Since 1869, Warren County has almost always supported the Republican candidate for Governor of Ohio, the exceptions being in 1924 when it supported Vic Donahey, 1932 (George White), 1952 (Frank Lausche), and 1958 (Michael V. DiSalle). However, other than DiSalle, each of these four Democrats, who were all victorious statewide, was a conservative Democrat.

In local races, Warren County occasionally elected Democrats. In 1976, two of the three county commission seats were won by Democrats. Until the mid-1990s, Democrats regularly ran for county offices. While Republicans usually won, the Democrats were at least able to make races competitive. However, with the massive expansion in population in the 1990s, the county became extremely Republican, so much so that no Democrats even file for most offices. In the 1996, 2000, and 2004 elections, in which eight county offices were on the ballot, there were no Democratic candidates for any of them. In November 1999, the last Democrat to hold office in Warren County, a member of the Educational Service Center (county school board), lost her seat to a Republican.

Public school districts

Private schools

Virtual schools

Vocational schools

Colleges and universities

Warren County has no native colleges or universities, but was the original site selected for Miami University which instead located in Oxford, Ohio in 1809. National Normal University, a teachers college, was located in Lebanon from 1855 until 1917 when it closed. Several colleges currently offer classes in Warren County at various locations, including Sinclair Community College of Dayton, the University of Cincinnati, and Wilmington College. Sinclair opened a branch in the Mason area in 2007. The University of Cincinnati owns 398 acres (1.61 km²) of land at the intersections of I-71 and Wilmington road, but no plans for development on the site have been announced.

Libraries

Airports

Warren County has one public airport, designated as Lebanon-Warren County Airport (I68). The runway is a 4502' x 65' paved and lighted North-South runway (01/19), and parallel taxiway. Navigation and communications equipment includes PAPI, AWOS, Pilot Controlled Lighting, and UNICOM. The airport runway, taxiway, and navigation equipment is owned by the County. The county leases a public terminal, but other facilities are privately owned and operated under contract by a Fixed-base operator. The airport serves general and business aviation, but has no commercial airlines.

There are also two privately owned operating airports in the county; Waynesville airport, also known as Red Stewart Field (40I), and Caesar Creek Gliderport (2OH9), both with grass runways. Operations have ceased at two former private paved runway airports, Brownie's Lebanon Airport (19I), and Lebanon San Mar Gale (OH79).

Rail and Bus

Warren County does not currently have passenger train service except for a scenic train that runs between Lebanon and Mason. Freight trains still serve Carlisle, and on a limited basis, Monroe, Mason, and Lebanon. Historically, there have been several trains that ran through the county whose stops became cities and villages. These trains include the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway, the Middletown and Cincinnati Railroad, and the Little Miami Railroad whose path is now replaced by the Little Miami Bike Trail. There have been proposals to run commuter trains from Cincinnati to the Kings Island area, but none have ever found sufficient support or funding.

There is no public bus transportation based in Warren County, but there is limited service from Cincinnati to Mason and Kings Island. Middletown also runs bus service to eastern portions of Middletown that are located in Warren County.

Waterways

There are currently no commercially navigable waterways in Warren County, but the Warren County Canal did operate in the 19th century as a branch of the Miami and Erie Canal, bringing freight to Lebanon by canal boat. Recreationally, the Little Miami River can be traveled by canoe or kayak for its length through the county, and motorized boating can be done at Caesar's Creek Lake.

Media

The Middletown Journal circulates in Franklin, Springboro, Lebanon, and Turtlecreek Township. The Dayton Daily News, which is printed in Franklin, circulates in the northern part of the county. The Cincinnati Enquirer circulates through most of the county while the Cincinnati Post abandoned all distribution in the county in 2004.

Among its weekly papers are The Western Star, the oldest weekly in the state and the oldest newspaper west of the Appalachians published under its original name. It was closed down in 2012. It, was like the Pulse-Journal in Mason and the Star-Press in Springboro, are owned by the parent of the Middletown Journal and the Dayton Daily News, Cox Communications. Other weeklies include the Franklin Chronicle.

For a time in the mid-1990s, Lebanon was the home of a commercial radio station, WMMA-FM, 97.3, but its owners sold out and the new owners moved the station to Hamilton County. In 2010, the only radio station in the county at the time, WLMH-FM, a student-run station at Little Miami High School in Hamilton Township went off the air. In 2012, the FCC removed it from their database and cancelled their license as a result of it being silent for over a year.

Warren County is assigned to the Cincinnati television market, but Dayton television stations treat it as part of their market as well.

Recreation and attractions

Cities

Census-designated places

Notable natives and residents

State Representative 1962-1992, Ohio House of Representatives Minority Leader 1979-1992, Corwin M. Nixon Lebanon Ohio