Editing Findlay, Ohio (section)

==History==
[[File:Findlay, Ohio, the Gas City. LOC 75694919.jpg|left|thumb|Panoramic map of Findlay, ''circa'' 1889]]
In the War of 1812, Colonel [[James Findlay (Cincinnati mayor)|James Findlay]] of Cincinnati built a road and a stockade to transport and shelter troops in the [[Great Black Swamp]] region.  This stockade was named Fort Findlay in his honor.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9V1IAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA126 | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=126}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dt48AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA195 | title=The Ohio Gazetteer, or, a Topographical Dictionary | publisher=Scott and Wright | date=1833 | access-date=December 12, 2013 | author=Kilbourn, John | pages=195}}</ref> At the conclusion of the war, the community of Findlay was born. The first town lots were laid out in 1821 by future Ohio Governor [[Joseph Vance (Ohio politician)|Joseph Vance]] and Elnathan Corry.

Before the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Findlay was a stop for [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]] along the [[Underground Railroad]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Underground Railroad in Hancock County Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=29176 |website=hmdb.org |access-date=September 11, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Preston|first= E. Delorus|date=1932-10-01|title=The Underground Railroad in Northwest Ohio|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.2307/2714557|journal=The Journal of Negro History|volume=17|issue=4|pages=409–436|doi=10.2307/2714557|jstor= 2714557|s2cid= 149514447|issn=0022-2992}}</ref>

In 1861, [[David Ross Locke]] moved to Findlay, where he served as editor for the ''Hancock Jeffersonian'' newspaper until he left in 1865.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042591/ |publisher=National Endowment for the Humanities |access-date=13 September 2020}}</ref> It was in the Hancock Jeffersonian that Locke penned the first of his Nasby letters.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Taft |first1=William |title=David Ross Locke: Forgotten Editor |journal=Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly |date=June 1957 |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=202–207 |url=http://rave.ohiolink.edu/ejournals/article/345653210 |access-date=13 September 2020}}</ref>

During the 1880s, Findlay was a [[Ohio Oil and Gas Production|booming center of oil]] and natural gas production, though the supply of petroleum had dwindled by the early 20th century.

Findlay hosted the highly competitive Ohio State Music Festival in 1884.  A young cornet player, [[Warren G. Harding]], and his Citizens' Cornet Band of Marion placed third in the competition.<ref>Adams (1964, 1939), ''Incredible Era'', p. 3</ref> Harding went on to be elected the 29th President of the United States.

[[File:Bird's-eye view of Findlay, Ohio Date Created Published- Brooklyn, N.Y. - The Albertype Co. ; c.1906.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.35|Bird's-eye view of Findlay, ''circa'' 1906]]

On March 31, 1892, the only known [[lynching]] in the history of Hancock County occurred when a mob of 1,000 men, many "respectable citizens", broke into the county jail in Findlay. They lynched Mr. Lytle, who had seriously (but not fatally as believed at the time)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://kokomo.newspaperarchive.com/kokomo-daily-gazette-tribune/1892-04-01/|title=Penalty Paid|work=Kokomo Daily Gazette Tribune|date=April 1, 1892|page=1}}</ref> injured his wife and two daughters with a hatchet the day before, by hanging him twice (first from the bridge, then a telegraph pole) and finally shooting his body over a dozen times. The authorities had intended to secretly convey the prisoner to a suburb at one o'clock, where a train was to have been taken for [[Lima, Ohio|Lima]], but their plans were frustrated by the mob.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1892-04-01|title=Murderer Lytle Lynched – Taken From Jail and Hanged – Two of His Victims Dying |language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1892/04/01/archives/murderer-lytle-lynched-taken-from-jail-and-hanged-two-of-his.html|access-date=2021-11-20|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In 1908, American songwriter [[Tell Taylor]] wrote the standard, "[[Down by the Old Mill Stream]]" while fishing along the [[Blanchard River (Ohio)|Blanchard River]] in Findlay. The song was published in 1910.

A disaster occurred during the 1936 [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]] celebration, where a stray firework fell into a crowd, injuring 16 people and attracting national media attention.<ref>{{cite news |date=9 July 1936 |title=Large Number Loose Lives Over Fourth |language=English |page=1 |work=Floyd Press |location=Floyd, Virginia |url=https://virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=FPR19360709.1.1&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------- |access-date=August 20, 2022 |archive-url=}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=TWO KILLED BY FIREWORKS; Bomb Explodes in Findlay, Ohio, Crowd Injuring Sixteen. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/07/06/archives/two-killed-by-fireworks-bomb-explodes-in-findlay-ohio-crowd.html |access-date=20 August 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=6 July 1936}}</ref>

For three months in the early 1960s, Findlay had the distinction of being the only community in the world where [[touch-tone]] telephone service was available. Touch-tone service was first introduced there on November 1, 1960.<ref>{{cite web |title=1960–1970: A decade of Findlay "firsts" {{!}} Findlay Bicentennial |url=https://findlay200plus.com/2012/06/07/1970/ |website=findlay200plus.com |access-date=July 21, 2019}}</ref>

In 2007, a flood that crested at 18.46 feet caused around $100 million in damage. The flood was nearly as strong as the 1913 flood.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rosenkrans |first1=Nolan |title=Findlay floods often in course of history |url=https://www.toledoblade.com/local/2017/07/15/Findlay-floods-often-in-course-of-history.html |website=Toledo Blade |access-date=23 October 2019 |language=en}}</ref>