Editing Powell, Ohio (section)

==History==
[[Image:Powell-ohio-street.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Powell street in fall]]

===Early history===
Present-day Powell is located on land that was once a vast wilderness sparsely populated by Native Americans including the [[Huron people|Huron]], [[Wyandot people|Wyandot]], [[Miami people|Miami]], [[Delaware people|Delaware, Ottawa]], [[Shawnee people|Shawnee]], [[Mingo]], and [[Erie people]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Early Contact Period |url=https://www.nps.gov/archeology/visit/ohio/ohTimeline7.htm |website=NPS Archeology Program |publisher=National Park Service US Department of the Interior |access-date=20 January 2021}}</ref> The region was surveyed by French Canadian and European explorers beginning in the 17th century; with [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]], [[Kingdom of France|France]], and the [[Iroquois League]] claiming ownership of the land during periods of the 1600s and 1700s. By the 18th century, the land became part of that what is historically known as [[Ohio Country]]. During the [[American Revolution]], the states of Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and [[Virginia]] claimed portions of the land during [[western expansion]] of the United States. The [[Land Ordinance of 1785]] opened up the region to settlement by [[American pioneers]], including veterans of the [[American Revolutionary War]] who had received [[land grant|bounty land warrants]] as compensation for their services.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Knepper |first1=George |title=The Official Ohio Lands Book |date=2002 |publisher=The Auditor of the State |pages=20, 39 |url=http://ohioauditor.gov/publications/OhioLandsBook.pdf |access-date=20 January 2021}}</ref> In 1787, the region was established as the [[Northwest Territory]].

===Settlement and growth===
The first settlers arrived in present-day Powell on May 1, 1801.<ref name="City Information">{{cite web |title=City Information |url=https://www.powellchamber.com/city-information |website=Powell Area Chamber of Commerce |access-date=29 December 2020}}</ref> At the time, the land was deeded to Thomas R. Hall.<ref name="Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington">{{cite web |title=Map of Delaware County : also a part of Marion and Morrow counties |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4083d.la000617/?r=0.096,0.175,1.745,0.805,0 |website=Library of Congress |publisher=Delaware, O. : James & Geo. C. Eaton |access-date=20 January 2021}}</ref> By 1813, records indicate that the settlement became known as "Middlebury", in possible reference to early settlers having come from [[Middlebury, Connecticut]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Historic Powell |url=https://cityofpowell.us/about/historic-powell/ |website=City of Powell |date=5 May 2015 |access-date=27 January 2021}}</ref> Today, Powell maintains references to its heritage as Middlebury with multiple streets and housing developments applying the name.

The population of Middlebury remained small, with historical records suggesting that settlers held trades and occupations consistent with other small towns of time period. The settlement included farmers, [[milliners]], buggy makers, and blacksmiths.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Meyer |first1=Tami |title=Powell Roots Run Deep |url=https://www.columbusmonthly.com/article/20140212/LIFESTYLE/302129534 |access-date=27 January 2021 |work=Magazine |publisher=Monthly Columbus |date=12 February 2014}}</ref> In 1839, deed owner Thomas R. Hall purchased additional nearby land, and later opened a general store. Middlebury was renamed for him in 1850, becoming "Hall's Corner". According to historical records, a variant of this new name has been recorded as "Hall Corners".<ref>{{cite web |title=APPENDICES - ARCHITECTURAL GUIDELINES: History |url=https://library.municode.com/oh/powell/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTELEVENPLZOCO_TITFIVEZODIRE_APPENDICESARGU |website=Code of Ordinances |publisher=City of Powell |access-date=27 January 2021}}</ref> In 1857, Hall's Corner applied for an official post office, which required the approval of a judge. The village was renamed Powell in honor of the judge who approved the request.<ref>{{cite web |title=Significant Dates in Local History |url=https://powellhistory.org/TimeLineEvents |website=Powell Liberty Historical Society |access-date=29 December 2020}}</ref>

The Columbus and Toledo Railroad (C&T) arrived in Powell in 1872, which provided new opportunities for settlers. The primary purpose of the railroad was to transport coal from [[Appalachia]] to regions beyond Columbus. After merging with two other railroads in 1899, C&T became part of the [[Hocking Valley Railway]]. As of 2021, much of the line still operates as the [[Columbus Subdivision]] freight line, owned by [[CSX Transportation]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_wRAVAAAAYAAJ | title=History of Delaware County and Ohio | publisher=O. L. Baskin & Company | year=1880 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_wRAVAAAAYAAJ/page/n390 427]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Campbell |first1=George |title=Powell Depot |url=http://www.columbusrailroads.com/new/utility/display_html.php?color_primary=99&color_secondary=176&color_text=173+%28should+often+be+173+WHITE+or+176+BLACK%29&header_photo=dak-small_freight-270.jpg&htmltitle=Powell+Depot&file=.%2Flive%2F05Steam_Railroads%2F25POM_Photos%2Fpom-apr-2007.htm |website=Columbus Railroads |access-date=29 December 2020}}</ref>

Powell was incorporated as a [[municipality]] in 1947, and was later known as the ''Village of Powell''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Powell Liberty Historical Society |url=https://powellhistory.org/TimeLineEvents |website=Significant Dates in Local History |publisher=Powell Liberty Historical Society |access-date=29 December 2020}}</ref>  The population remained small until the late 1980s, when residential development expanding from the northern Columbus metropolitan area reached Powell.  In 20 years, the population grew almost 1,500%, from 378 to over 6,000.<ref>{{cite web |title=Powell, Ohio Population 2020 |url=https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/powell-oh-population |website=World Population Review |access-date=29 December 2020}}</ref> In 2000, Powell officially became a [[city]].<ref name="City Information"/>

Between the years 2000 and 2010, Powell's population nearly doubled again, largely due to the 2002 annexation of approximately 1,000 acres along the Sawmill Parkway extension north of Seldom Seen Road for the development of the Golf Village community.<ref>{{cite web |title=City of Powell Comprehensive Plan Resolution 2015-11 |url=https://cityofpowell.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/15-1006-Powell-Comprehensive-Plan-ADOPTED-LR.pdf |website=City of Powell |access-date=13 January 2021}}</ref>

===Liberty Township Separation Movement of 1995===
On February 21, 1995, Powell Village Council members voted 5-1 in favor of an ordinance requesting Delaware County Commissioners withdraw the Village of Powell from Liberty Township.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lomano |first1=Wendy |title=Businesses not bothered: Village-township separation talk doesn't worry residents yet |work=Newspaper |publisher=Olentangy Valley News |date=1 March 1995}}</ref> The decision was made without soliciting a community vote, which prompted residents to mount a referendum drive in hope of placing the separation issue on the November ballot.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kline |first1=Hillary |title=Separation issue may be on November ballot |work=Newspaper |publisher=This Week in Powell, Olentangy |date=6 March 1995}}</ref> The separation of Powell from Liberty Township would have left the Village without fire department services, and would have impacted master planning efforts of the community.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kline |first1=Hillary |title=Powell to seek separation from township |work=Newspaper |publisher=This Week in Powell, Olentangy |date=27 February 1995}}</ref> Proponents of the separation insisted that Liberty Township was too dependent on [[property tax|inside millage]]; the approximately $95,000 yearly that Powell residents were paying into Liberty Township's general fund.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kline |first1=Hillary |title=Powell to seek separation from township |work=Newspaper |agency=This Week in Powell, Olentangy |date=27 February 1995}}</ref>

Powell Village residents needed 74 signatures to place the issue on the November ballot.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kline |first1=Hillary |title=Residents may want signatures removed |work=Newspaper |publisher=This Week in Powell, Olentangy |date=20 March 1995}}</ref> A group of residents from The Chase and The Retreat subdivisions collected 179 signatures and submitted them to village clerk Doris Moore, on March 8, 1995. However, the Village Council refused the petition, citing a technicality with Ohio Revised Code section 731.32.<ref name="This Week in Powell, Olentangy">{{cite news |last1=Kline |first1=Hillary |title=Technicality may prevent referendum |work=Newspaper |publisher=This Week in Powell, Olentangy |date=27 March 1995}}</ref> Dan Boyle, organizer of the referendum movement and then president of The Chase Homeowner's Association, insisted that the petition had been properly executed according to local charter section 6.10, entitled "Initiative and Referendum Petition Procedures."<ref name="This Week in Powell, Olentangy"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Comstock |first1=Paul |last2=Crane |first2=Misti |title=Vote sought on Powell separation |work=Newspaper |publisher=The Delaware Gazette |date=7 March 1995}}</ref>

Following the Council's decision to refuse the petition, Powell resident and attorney Lawrence Walker urged Delaware County Prosecutor W. Duncan Whitney and Powell Mayor Jane VanFossen to take action. Mayor VanFossen ultimately decided that the Clerk of Council failed to perform her obligation of processing the petition, an action that therefore voided the separation legislation of the Council; Ordinance No. 93-54.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lomano |first1=Wendy |title=Separation decision now void, opposition says |work=Newspaper |publisher=Olentangy Valley News |date=5 April 1995}}</ref> Due to significant public interest generated in the wake of the petition, Powell's Village Council agreed to place the issue on the ballot of the August 8 special election. Of the 384 residents in Powell that voted on the separation, 98 (26%) voted for the separation, and 286 (74%) voted against the separation.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lomano |first1=Wendy |title=Voters say 'no' to proposed separation |work=Newspaper |publisher=Olentangy Valley News |date=9 August 1995}}</ref> Powell was subsequently not removed from the Township, and an amicable relationship between the City of Powell and Liberty Township has continued ever since.<ref>{{cite web |title=Community |url=http://www.libertytwp.org/31/Community |website=Liberty Township Delaware County Ohio |access-date=1 January 2021}}</ref>