Editing Westerville, Ohio (section)

==History==
===Native Americans===
Cultures have inhabited the Westerville area for several millennia. [[Paleo-Indians]] and their successor cultures inhabited the area between [[Big Walnut Creek]] and [[Alum Creek (Ohio)|Alum Creek]]. The [[Wyandot people|Wyandot]] were the primary inhabitants by the time Europeans arrived, living along Alum Creek.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.midstory.org/the-forgotten-history-of-ohios-indigenous-peoples/|title=The forgotten history of Ohio's indigenous people|access-date=2023-08-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://bexleyhistoricalsociety.org/research/about-bexley/bexley-cultural-landmarks/bexley-cultural-landmark-yes-a-creek-does-run-through-it/|title=Yes, A Creek Does Run Through It|access-date=2023-08-08}}</ref> They were forced out of Ohio in 1843.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Wyandot_Indians|title=Wyandot Indians - Ohio History Central|website=ohiohistorycentral.org}}</ref>

===Post-Ohio statehood===
The land that is today Westerville was settled by those of European ancestry around 1810. In 1818, Matthew, Peter, and William Westervelt, settlers of Dutch extraction, migrated to the area from New York. Matthew Westervelt donated land for the construction of a Methodist church in 1836, and the settlement was subsequently named in the family's honor.<ref>Anita Palladino ed., Diary of a Yankee Engineer: The Civil War Diary of John Henry Westervelt ''x'' n.5 (1996).</ref> In 1839, the Blendon Young Men's Seminary was chartered in Westerville;<ref>Edward Alanson Miller, The History of Educational Legislation in Ohio from 1803 to 1850, at 83 (1920).</ref> Matthew Westervelt was one of its first trustees.<ref>Palladino, ''supra'', at ''x'' n.5.</ref>  The [[Church of the United Brethren in Christ]] bought the seminary in 1846,<ref>[[Henry Kiddle]] & [[Alexander J. Schem]], eds., [https://books.google.com/books?id=lNaEAAAAIAAJ ''The Cyclopædia of Education''] (3d ed.), 1883, p. 823 (at [[Google Books]]).</ref> and the next year the seminary was reformed, and renamed Otterbein College after the church's founder [[Philip William Otterbein]]. It continues today in Westerville as the private [[Otterbein University]].<ref>Quentin Charles Lansman, Higher Education in the Evangelical United Brethren Church, 1800&ndash;1954, at 18 (1972).</ref>

Westerville was [[plat]]ted by 1856, and officially incorporated in August 1858. The town's population in that year was 275.<ref>Beth Berning Weinhardt, Westerville, p.13 (2004).</ref>

Throughout the [[Antebellum era]], several homes in Westerville were stations on the [[Underground Railroad]]. Among these is the Hanby House, located one block from the college. [[Benjamin Hanby|Benjamin Russell Hanby]] had moved to Westerville in 1849, at the age of sixteen, to enroll at Otterbein University.<ref>C.B. Galbreath, ''Song Writers of Ohio'', in 14 Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications 180, 183 (1905).</ref> Hanby went on to write many familiar hymns and songs, among them "[[Nelly Gray (song)|Darling Nelly Gray]]" (inspired by his sympathy for Southern slaves<ref>''Id.'' at 185.</ref>), "Who is He in Yonder Stall?", and the Christmas favorite "[[Up on the House Top|Up On The Housetop]]". His home in Westerville, listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]], was dedicated as a museum in 1937<ref>Weinhardt, ''supra'', at 17.</ref> and is now owned by the [[Ohio Historical Society]] and managed locally by the Westerville Historical Society. It is the only state memorial to a composer in the state of Ohio.

==="Dry Capital of the World"===
An 1859 town ordinance prohibited sales of alcohol in Westerville.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.westerville.org/Portals/0/Ordinance%20Listing.pdf |title=City of Westerville, Ohio Ordinance List |access-date=2008-09-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081001171522/http://www.westerville.org/Portals/0/Ordinance%20Listing.pdf |archive-date=October 1, 2008 }}</ref> By the 1870s, a burgeoning conflict between pro- and anti-[[temperance movement|temperance]] forces boiled over into the so-called "Westerville Whiskey Wars". Twice, in 1875 and 1879, businessman Henry Corbin opened a [[Bar (establishment)|saloon]] in Westerville, and each time the townspeople blew up his establishment with gunpowder. Westerville's reputation for temperance was so significant that in 1909 the [[Anti-Saloon League]] moved its national headquarters from [[Washington, D.C.]] to Westerville. The League, at the forefront of the [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition movement]], gained its greatest triumph when the [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] was ratified in 1919. The League printed so many leaflets in support of temperance and prohibition&mdash;over 40 tons of mail per month&mdash;that Westerville, by then known as "The Dry Capital of the World", was the smallest town in the nation to have a first class post office. The League's Westerville headquarters was given to the [[Anti-Saloon League Museum|Westerville Public Library]] in 1973 and now serves as a museum attached to the library.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.westervillelibrary.org/about_us/index.html |title=Westerville Public Library, About Us: Our History |access-date=2008-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080607185707/http://www.westervillelibrary.org/about_us/index.html |archive-date=2008-06-07 |url-status=live }}</ref> After Prohibition ended, Westerville remained dry for most of the twentieth century.<ref name="thisweeknews.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/contentbe/EPIC_shim.php?story=sites/thisweeknews/121406/Westerville/News/121406-News-279244.html |title= ThisWeek Community Newspapers &#124; ThisWeek Community Newspapers|website=www.thisweeknews.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809013208/http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/contentbe/EPIC_shim.php?story=sites%2Fthisweeknews%2F121406%2FWesterville%2FNews%2F121406-News-279244.html |archive-date=August 9, 2011}}</ref>

===Since 1915===
In 1916, Westerville became the first village (and second municipality)<ref>[http://www.westerville.org/CityDepartments/CityManagersOffice/tabid/172/Default.aspx. Retrieved on 2008-09-03.]{{dead link|date=October 2013}}</ref> in Ohio to adopt a [[Council-manager government|council-manager form of government]], in which a [[city council]] [[legislature|makes policy]] but the town's administrative and many of its [[executive (government)|executive]] governmental functions are vested in an appointed, professional manager. Westerville retains the council-manager system to the present day. The city elects seven council members [[at-large|at large]] for four-year terms; the council selects from among its own a member to serve as mayor, vice mayor, chair, and vice chair. Under the City Charter, the mayor is only "the ceremonial head of the government" of the city.<ref>[http://www.conwaygreene.com/Westerville/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&2.0 City of Westerville, Ohio Charter, Art. III, § 5] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080622193233/http://www.conwaygreene.com/Westerville/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&2.0 |date=June 22, 2008 }}.</ref> The council additionally selects the city manager, who serves indefinitely. In 2007, David Collinsworth replaced David Lindimore as city manager after the latter's tenure of twenty-two years.<ref>[http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/10/23/Westerville_City_Manager.ART_ART_10-23-07_B3_2888PSH.html?print=yes&sid=101 Lin Rice, "Westerville Council set to hire city manager," DispatchPolitics.com, Oct. 23, 2007.]. Retrieved on 2008-09-03. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721164642/http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/10/23/Westerville_City_Manager.ART_ART_10-23-07_B3_2888PSH.html?print=yes&sid=101 |date=July 21, 2011 }}</ref> Collinsworth retired in January 2021 alongside assistant City Manager Julie Colley.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thisweeknews.com/news/20200417/westervilles-city-manager-assistant-manager-to-retire-in-2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429204841/https://www.thisweeknews.com/news/20200417/westervilles-city-manager-assistant-manager-to-retire-in-2021|archive-date=2020-04-29|title=Westerville’s city manager, assistant manager to retire in 2021|access-date=2023-08-08}}</ref>

In 1995, the city annexed 941 non-dry acres of land to its north, which included several alcohol-selling businesses. Subsequently, voters have approved alcohol sales in old Westerville at a number of establishments through site-specific [[local option]]s. In 2006 Michael's Pizza served the first beer in Uptown Westerville in over 70 years.<ref name="thisweeknews.com"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shopuptownwesterville.com/Uptown_Westerville_WUMA_Map.pdf |title=Uptown Westerville WUMA Map |access-date=March 14, 2023 |website=www.shopuptownwesterville.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106030136/http://www.shopuptownwesterville.com/Uptown_Westerville_WUMA_Map.pdf |archive-date=January 6, 2009}}</ref><ref>Mark Major, "Michael's uncorks Uptown liquor sales", ''Westerville News & Public Opinion'', January 18, 2006, reprinted at {{cite web |url=http://www.pizzamike.com/beer.html |title=Michael's uncorks Uptown liquor sales |access-date=2008-09-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920114454/http://www.pizzamike.com/beer.html |archive-date=2008-09-20 }}</ref> On October 15, 2019, Westerville hosted the fourth [[2020 Democratic Party presidential debates and forums#Fourth debate (October 15, 2019)|2020 Democratic Primary Presidential Debate]] which had over 12 candidates on stage. To date, it is the largest primary debate in American history.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/october-democratic-debate-ohio-what-you-need-know-n1065061|title=Fourth Democratic debate in Ohio: Everything you need to know|website=[[NBC News]]}}</ref> In 2020 Westerville was named as the best suburban city in America based on a study conducted by Movoto Real Estate. The study, which surveyed criteria such as cost of living and crime, compared Westerville to 75 geographically diverse suburban cities across the nation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.movoto.com/blog/best-suburban-cities-in-america | title=These Are America's Best Suburbs | website=[[Movoto]]| date=18 August 2020 }}</ref>