Editing Amesville, Ohio

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Amesville, Ohio
|settlement_type          = [[Village (United States)|Village]]
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    =

<!-- Images -->
|image_skyline            = State at Main, Amesville.jpg
|imagesize                = 250px
|image_caption            = State Street (State Routes [[Ohio State Route 329|329]]/[[Ohio State Route 550|550]])
|image_flag               = 
|image_seal               =

<!-- Maps -->
|image_map                = OHMap-doton-Amesville.png
|mapsize                  = 250px
|map_caption              = Location of Amesville, Ohio
|image_map1               = Map of Athens County Ohio Highlighting Amesville Village.png
|mapsize1                 = 250px
|map_caption1             = Location of Amesville in Athens County

<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = [[Ohio]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Ohio|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Athens County, Ohio|Athens]]
|subdivision_type3        = [[Township]]
|subdivision_name3      = [[Ames Township, Athens County, Ohio|Ames]]

<!-- Government -->
|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = Town Council
|leader_title             = Mayor
|leader_name              = 
|leader_title1            = 
|leader_name1             = 
|established_title        = 
|established_date         =

<!-- Area -->
|unit_pref                = Imperial
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="TigerWebMapServer">{{cite web|title=ArcGIS REST Services Directory|url=https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=September 20, 2022}}</ref>
|area_total_km2           = 0.60
|area_land_km2            = 0.59
|area_water_km2           = 0.01
|area_total_sq_mi         = 0.23
|area_land_sq_mi          = 0.23
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.00

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_est           = 170
|pop_est_as_of            = 2023
| pop_est_footnotes  = <ref name="2023 est">{{cite web |title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places in Ohio: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023 |url=https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/tables/2020-2023/cities/totals/SUB-IP-EST2023-POP-39.xlsx |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=19 May 2024}}</ref>
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 171
|population_density_km2   = 290.49
|population_density_sq_mi = 753.30

<!-- General information -->
|timezone                 = [[North American Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
|utc_offset               = -5
|timezone_DST             = EDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -4
|elevation_footnotes      = <ref name=gnis/>
|elevation_ft             = 637
|coordinates              = {{coord|39|24|05|N|81|57|18|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]s
|postal_code              = 45711, 45777
|area_code                = [[Area code 740|740]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 39-01784<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 31, 2008 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref>
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 2397956<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2397956}}</ref>
|website                  = {{URL|http://www.amesvilleohio.org/|Village website}}
|footnotes                = 
}}
'''Amesville''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|eɪ|m|z|v|ɪ|l}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://scrippsjschool.org/pronunciation/ |title=A Pronunciation Guide to places in Ohio -- E.W.Scripps School of |website=scrippsjschool.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030919080527/http://www.scrippsjschool.org/pronunciation/ |archive-date=September 19, 2003}}</ref> is a [[village (United States)#Ohio|village]] in [[Athens County, Ohio|Athens County]], [[Ohio]], [[United States]], located on [[Federal Creek]]. The population was 171 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]].

==History==
Amesville was laid out in 1837.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3elPAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA507 | title=History of Hocking Valley, Ohio | publisher=Inter-State Publishing Co. | year=1883 | pages=507}}</ref> The village derives its name from Fisher Ames who was instrumental in gaining federal support for the Ohio Company of Associates which managed much of the settlement in the area.<ref>"Fisher Ames: Federalist and Statesman, 1758-1908. Author: Winfred E. A. Bernard. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1965. P. 196.</ref>

Amesville is perhaps best known for the Coonskin Library. At an 1803 town meeting—held to discuss roads—settlers talked about their desire for books and their lack of money to pay for them. Most of the business was done by barter, so little money was in circulation. However, the surrounding forest had pelts that could be sold in the East to buy books. In the spring of 1804, Samuel B. Brown was given the pelts and, accompanied by Ephraim Cutler, went east to bring back books for the town. Fifty-one books—mostly on religion, travel, biography and history—were purchased for $73.50. These books were passed from home to home until Ephraim Cutler was elected librarian in 1804.
The original books can be found at the Ohio Historical Society, as well as Ohio University's Alden Library. A commemorative marker, placed by the Nabby Lee Ames D.A.R. Chapter of Athens in 1925, is located near the Community Bank on State Street. The Coonskin Library Museum opened in May 1994 in the former cafeteria of the Amesville Grade School.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amesvilleohio.org/uploads/9/1/6/2/9162814/sarahcutlerarticle.pdf |title=The Coonskin Library| access-date=January 15, 2018}}</ref>

A post office called Amesville was established 1820.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=OH&county=Athens | title=Athens County | publisher=Jim Forte Postal History | access-date=December 31, 2015}}</ref>

===Mayor Alonzo Weed===
Another unique feature of Amesville history was the election of Alonzo Weed as mayor in 1903. Research by Tyler Buchanon, of the Athens Messenger,<ref>{{Cite web |last=journalist |first=TYLER BUCHANAN Messenger staff |title=The crazy, true story of an unlikely Amesville mayor |url=https://www.athensmessenger.com/news/the-crazy-true-story-of-an-unlikely-amesville-mayor/article_f3ef72eb-ace6-5bf3-ade4-b6b227b530dd.html |access-date=January 27, 2023 |website=The Athens Messenger |language=en}}</ref> tells the story of a wandering hobo that became mayor of the village. Alonzo Weed was likely born somewhere on the west coast around 1850.  Amesville residents found Weed a strange, but friendly figure. It's hard to say for sure what first prompted his name to get placed on the ballot. In many versions, he was nominated by a few friends on Election Day as a joke.

One way or another, Weed's name was indeed placed on the mayoral ballot of April 1903. The election ended in a tie. Weed and Gibson both received exactly 21 votes. Weed was sworn in as the new mayor of Amesville after a tie-breaker. He proved to be unqualified for the job. He was an alcoholic in a dry town, a drifter with little appreciation or experience with municipal government.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

Eventually, Alonzo left town, but not after becoming the center of news stories all across the country.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

===June 1998 Flood===
On June 28, 1998, a storm front stalled over Federal Creek and dropped over 10 inches of rain. Quickly, [[Federal Creek]] rose beyond its banks and crossed State Street and Main Street. It reached a depth of 15 feet at the restaurant on the corner of those two roads. When the water receded it had devastated most of the businesses and houses on the south side of the village. The majority of these buildings were demolished (through FEMA grants) and the resulting open land became Gifford Park. {{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

===21st century===
In 2007 Amesville became the first village in Ohio to pioneer a new, aerobic wastewater treatment system. The village had been grappling with the waste-water issue since at least 1959, when a village ordinance was passed addressing the question, following the contamination of some wells by sewage."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Athens NEWS |title=Amesville pioneers new, decentralized way to treat waste water |url=https://www.athensnews.com/news/local/amesville-pioneers-new-decentralized-way-to-treat-waste-water/article_2af9bff9-1ac7-5bb0-924c-8f88c5e79074.html |access-date=January 27, 2023 |website=The Athens NEWS |language=en}}</ref> The Appalachian Regional Commission awarded a $750,000 grant to the Athens County Commissioners for the project, with the county providing $216,320 in local funds according to a press release from U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown’s office. Athens County Commissioner Chris Chmiel said local funds will be provided through the county’s American Recovery Plan Act dollars."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kington|first=Dani|title=High speed internet coming to Amesville |url=https://www.athensmessenger.com/news/high-speed-internet-coming-to-amesville/article_4e2ec3a5-d9eb-5922-822f-ae95041a3753.html |access-date=January 27, 2023 |website=The Athens Messenger |language=en}}</ref>

==Geography==
Amesville is situated in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, approximately 45 miles south by southeast of the terminal moraine, a topographical feature often associated with the boundaries of glaciers, and is surrounded by wooded hills, narrow valleys, and numerous creeks flanked by lowland pastures and farmland.

These features are largely indicative of the areas in the State of Ohio that fall to the south of the terminal moraine. The terminal moraine in the State of Ohio, and to the north of Amesville, effectively serves to bisect the state along a line running on a west to east axis across the south by southeastern third of Ohio thereby contributing to certain distinctive topographical, socio-economic, and cultural attributes on either side of this feature.

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the village has a total area of {{convert|0.22|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, all land.<ref name="Gazetteer files">{{cite web|title=US Gazetteer files 2010 |url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 6, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125061959/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt |archive-date=January 25, 2012 }}</ref>

===Climate===
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.  According to the [[Köppen Climate Classification]] system, Amesville has a [[humid subtropical climate]], abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.<ref>[http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=141033&cityname=Amesville%2C+Ohio%2C+United+States+of+America&units= Climate Summary for Amesville, Ohio]</ref>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1880= 159
|1910= 267
|1920= 273
|1930= 298
|1940= 286
|1950= 269
|1960= 255
|1970= 295
|1980= 247
|1990= 250
|2000= 184
|2010= 154
|2020= 171
|estyear= 2023
|estimate= 170
|estref= <ref name="2023 est"/>
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015 }}</ref>
}}

===2010 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name ="wwwcensusgov">{{cite web|title=U.S. Census website|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 6, 2013}}</ref> of 2010, there were 154 people, 63 households, and 38 families residing in the village of Amesville, Ohio. The [[population density]] was {{convert|700.0|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 70 housing units at an average density of {{convert|318.2|/sqmi|/km2|1}}. The racial makeup of the village was 88.3% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 3.2% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.6% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 4.5% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], and 3.2% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 2.6% of the population.

There were 63 households, of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.0% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.8% had a male householder with no wife present, 39.7% were households composed of non-geanologically related persons, 31.7% of all households were made up of sole individuals, and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.03.

The median age in the village was 36.5 years. 25.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.7% of residents were between the ages of 18 and 24; 19.3% were from between the ages of 25 and 44; 31.1% were from 45 to 64; and 14.3% were 65 years of age or older.  Gender distribution of the village was 48.7% male and 51.3% female.

===2000 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 184 people, 70 households, and 52 families residing in the village. The population density was {{convert|829.8|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 82 housing units at an average density of {{convert|369.8|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the village was 95.65% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 1.09% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 1.63% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], and 1.63% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 2.17% of the population.

There were 70 households, out of which 44.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 22.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.7% were non-families. 22.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the village, the population was spread out, with 33.2% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 9.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 91.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 73.2 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $35,000, and the median income for a family was $44,000. Males had a median income of $29,583 versus $24,063 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the village was $16,554. About 8.3% of families and 8.0% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 11.5% of those under the age of eighteen and none of those 65 or over.

==Notable people==
* [[Edward Raymond Ames]], born in Amesville, bishop of the [[Methodist Episcopal Church]]<ref name="Marquis 1607-1896">{{cite book | title = Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896 | publisher = Marquis Who's Who | year = 1967}}</ref>
* [[Arthur Gish]], [[activist]], [[author]] and farmer<ref name=an>{{cite news |first=Jim|last=Phillips|title=Prominent local activist dies in farming accident| url= http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/article-31680-prominent-local-activist-dies-in-farming-accident.html|work=[[The Athens News (Ohio)]] |date=July 28, 2010 |access-date=August 7, 2010}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.amesvilleohio.org/ Amesville, Ohio]

{{Athens County, Ohio}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Athens County, Ohio]]
[[Category:1837 establishments in Ohio]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1837]]
[[Category:Villages in Ohio]]