Editing Delphos, Ohio (section)

==History==
[[File:Miami and Erie Canal in Delphos.jpg|thumb|Remaining section of the Erie and Miami Canal in downtown Delphos|left]]Delphos had its start in the early 1850s with the merger of neighboring rival towns.  These were the towns of Howard (in the northwest), Section 10 (in the east), Bredeick Street (south of Howard) and East Bredeick (named after Father John Otto Bredeick, a Bavarian priest,  who had purchased the tract of land in 1840). In 1851, the four towns agreed to form a single town called Delphos.<ref>{{cite book|last=Overman|first=William Daniel|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015015361465;view=1up;seq=53|title=Ohio Town Names|publisher=Atlantic Press|year=1958|location=Akron, OH|page=37}}</ref>  The city's name is derived from the Greek god [[Delphus]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n102 103]}}</ref>

The [[Miami and Erie Canal]], a 274-mile (441-km) canal connecting Cincinnati to Toledo, ran through Delphos. The first settlers to Delphos were mainly construction workers attracted by the work being done on the Canal.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=History {{!}} City of Delphos Ohio|url=https://cityofdelphos.com/government/history|access-date=2021-05-01|website=cityofdelphos.com}}</ref> After 20 years of construction, the Canal was completed—an inaugural canal boat carrying the governor of Ohio passed through Delphos on July 4, 1845.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Miami and Erie Canal / Delphos Historical Marker|url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=165884|access-date=2021-05-01|website=www.hmdb.org|language=en}}</ref>

The Canal was crucial to the economic development of the city in the 19th century, since it positioned Delphos as a center of regional trade. Indeed, Delphos became one of the major ports along the Canal, with transshipment facilities linking the Canal to the growing rail network in the region. Industrialists were also attracted by the Canal.  By 1879, more than 100 factories located in Delphos produced goods for national and international trade.<ref name=":0" />  However, rail transport eventually came to dominate long-haul commercial transport and Delphos' importance as a hub of commerce waned.<ref name=":1" />

Three Delphos buildings are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]: the [[Marks-Family House]] and [[St. John's Catholic Church (Delphos, Ohio)|St. John's Catholic Church]] on the Allen County side of the city, and the [[Bredeick-Lang House]] on the Van Wert County side (see Gallery below).<ref>{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>