Editing Oberlin, Ohio

{{short description|City in Lorain County, Ohio, US}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name                       =  Oberlin, Ohio
|settlement_type          = [[City]]
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    = "Live. Learn. Lead."

<!-- Images -->
|image_skyline            = Oberlin_Ohio.JPG
|image_caption            = 
|imagesize                = 250px
|image_flag               = 
|image_seal               =

<!-- Maps -->
|image_map               = OBERLIN locator, Cleveland, 2021.svg
|map_caption             = Location in Greater Cleveland
|pushpin_map             = Ohio#USA
|pushpin_relief          = yes
|pushpin_label           = Oberlin

<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type        = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name        = {{USA}}
|subdivision_type1       = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1       = {{flag|Ohio}}
|subdivision_type2       = [[List of counties in Ohio|County]]
|subdivision_name2       = {{flagicon image<!-- Commented out: |Lorain County, Ohio Flag.gif -->}} [[Lorain County, Ohio|Lorain]]

<!-- Government -->
|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = [[Council-manager]]
|leader_title             = [[City manager]]
|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_magnitude           = 
|area_total_km2           = 12.85
|area_land_km2            = 12.75
|area_water_km2           = 0.10
|area_total_sq_mi         = 5.11
|area_land_sq_mi          = 5.07
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.04

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_est           = 
|pop_est_as_of            = 
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 8555
|population_density_km2   = 670.75
|population_density_sq_mi = 1737.06

<!-- 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             = 807
|coordinates              = {{coord|41|17|00|N|82|14|00|W|region:US-OH|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 44074
|area_code                = [[Area code 440|440]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 39-57834<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=2008-01-31 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref>
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 2395295<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2395295}}</ref>
|website                  = http://www.cityofoberlin.com/
|footnotes                = 
}}
'''Oberlin''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|oʊ|b|ər|l|ɪ|n}}) is a city in [[Lorain County, Ohio]], United States. It is located about {{convert|31|mi}} southwest of [[Cleveland]] within the [[Cleveland metropolitan area]]. The population was 8,555 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]]. Oberlin is the home of [[Oberlin College]], a liberal arts college and music [[College or university school of music|conservatory]] with approximately 3,000 students.

The town is the birthplace of the [[Anti-Saloon League]] and the [[Hall-Héroult process]], the process of reducing aluminum from its fluoride salts by electrolysis, which made industrial production of aluminum possible.<ref name="Hall-patent">
{{US patent reference
 |inventor=[[Charles Martin Hall]]
 |y=1889 |m=04 |d=02
 |title=Process of Reducing Aluminium from its Fluoride Salts by Electrolysis
 |number=400664
}}</ref>

==History==
{{See also|Oberlin College#History}}
Oberlin was founded in 1833 by two [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] ministers, [[John Jay Shipherd]] and [[Philo P. Stewart]].<ref name="Oehser1968">{{cite book|author=Paul Henry Oehser|title=The United States Encyclopedia of History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2PgJAAAAMAAJ|year=1968|publisher=Curtis Books}}</ref> The pair had become friends while spending the summer of 1832 together in nearby [[Elyria, Ohio|Elyria]] and discovered a shared dissatisfaction with what they saw as the lack of strong Christian morals among the settlers of the American West.<ref name="Fletcher1971">{{cite book|author=Robert Samuel Fletcher|title=A history of Oberlin College: from its foundation through the Civil War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eoleAAAAIAAJ|year=1971|publisher=Arno Press|isbn=9780405037054}}</ref> Their proposed solution was to create a religious community that would more closely adhere to Biblical commandments, along with a school for training Christian missionaries who would eventually spread throughout the American frontier.<ref name="Baumann2014">{{cite book|author=Roland M. Baumann|title=Constructing Black Education at Oberlin College: A Documentary History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CPFHBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT15|date=31 July 2014|publisher=Ohio University Press|isbn=978-0-8214-4363-7|pages=15–}}</ref> The two decided to name their community after [[Johann Friedrich Oberlin]] (1740–1826), an [[Alsace|Alsatian]] minister whose pedagogical achievements in a poor and remote area had greatly impressed and inspired them.<ref name="Ashmore1961">{{cite book|author=Harry S. Ashmore|title=Encyclopaedia Britannica: a new survey of universal knowledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jh9GAQAAIAAJ|year=1961|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}</ref>

Shipherd and Stewart rode south from Elyria into the forests that then covered the northern part of Ohio in search of a suitable location for their community.<ref name="Baumann2014"/> After a journey of approximately eight miles, they stopped to rest and pray in the shade of an elm tree along the forest, and agreed that this would be a good place to start their community.<ref name="Baumann2014"/>

Shipherd traveled back east and convinced the owner of the land to donate {{convert|500|acre|km2}} of land for the school, and he purchased an additional {{convert|5000|acre|km2}} for the town, at the cost of $1.50 per acre ($371/km<sup>2</sup>).<ref name="RichardsonClark1878">{{cite book|author1=Charles Francis Richardson|author2=Henry Alden Clark|title=The College Book|url=https://archive.org/details/collegebook01clargoog|year=1878|publisher=Houghton, Osgood|pages=[https://archive.org/details/collegebook01clargoog/page/n351 320]–}}</ref>

In 1834 a charter for the new Oberlin Collegiate Institute was obtained from the legislature of Ohio, and the institute adopted as its motto "Learning and Labor."<ref name="RichardsonClark1878"/><ref name="Fairchild1860">{{cite book|author=James H. Fairchild|title=Oberlin: its origin, progress and results: An address, prepared for the alumni of Oberlin College, assembled August 22, 1860|url=https://archive.org/details/oberlinitsorigi00fairgoog|year=1860|publisher=Shankland and Harmon|pages=[https://archive.org/details/oberlinitsorigi00fairgoog/page/n51 45]–}}</ref> The same year saw a freshman class of four students.<ref name="CowlesMahan1855">{{cite book|author1=Henry Cowles|author2=Asa Mahan|title=The Oberlin Evangelist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dzdFAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA153|year=1855|publisher=R.E. Gillett|pages=1–}}</ref> In those days the words were taken quite literally: tuition at Oberlin was free, but students were expected to contribute by helping to build and sustain the community. This attracted a number of bright young people who would otherwise not have been able to afford tuition.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oberlin.edu/about-oberlin/oberlin-history|title=Oberlin History|date=2017-02-23|website=Oberlin College and Conservatory|language=en|access-date=2019-05-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190916231536/https://www.oberlin.edu/about-oberlin/oberlin-history|archive-date=2019-09-16|url-status=dead}}</ref> The motto remains to this day.

During the mid-1800s African Americans, predominantly free people of color and runaway slaves, settled in the area.<ref name="Smith1897">{{cite book|author=Theodore Clarke Smith|title=The Liberty and Free Soil Parties in the Northwest|url=https://archive.org/details/libertyandfrees02smitgoog|year=1897|publisher=Longmans, Green, and Company|pages=[https://archive.org/details/libertyandfrees02smitgoog/page/n28 12]–}}</ref><ref name="AldridgeChristensen2013">{{cite book|author1=Jerry Aldridge|author2=Lois McFadyen Christensen|title=Stealing from the Mother: The Marginalization of Women in Education and Psychology from 1900-2010|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3QaaAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA79|date=12 August 2013|publisher=R&L Education|isbn=978-1-4758-0160-6|pages=79–}}</ref><ref name="WoodworthCalhoun2000">{{cite book|author1=Steven E. Woodworth|author2=Charles W. Calhoun|author-link2=Charles W. Calhoun|title=The Human Tradition in the Civil War and Reconstruction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J75hozZVfW8C&pg=PA158|year=2000|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-8420-2727-4|pages=158–}}</ref>

In Oberlin's earliest years, transportation (especially for students) depended heavily on weather-dependent [[Lake Erie]] transportation routes; the nearest railroad passed through [[Wellington, Ohio|Wellington]], and travellers were forced to rely on [[stagecoach]]es between that village and Oberlin.<ref name="Benson1986">{{cite book|author=Maxine Benson|title=Martha Maxwell, Rocky Mountain Naturalist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9YX1SlbgQSMC&pg=PA19|year=1986|publisher=U of Nebraska Press|isbn=0-8032-6155-1|pages=19–}}</ref><ref name="Moring2005">{{cite book|author=John Moring|title=Early American Naturalists: Exploring the American West, 1804-1900|url=https://archive.org/details/earlyamericannat0000mori|url-access=registration|year=2005|publisher=Taylor Trade Publications|isbn=978-1-58979-183-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/earlyamericannat0000mori/page/175 175]–}}</ref>  This situation changed in 1852 when the [[Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway|Toledo, Norwalk, and Cleveland Railroad]] opened a stop in Oberlin along its [[Grafton, Ohio|Grafton]] line.<ref>Wright, G. Frederick, ed.  ''A Standard History of Lorain County Ohio''. [[Chicago]] and [[New York City|New York]]: Lewis, 1916, 509.</ref><ref name="Fairchild1883">{{cite book|author=James Harris Fairchild|title=Oberlin: The Colony and the College, 1833-1883|url=https://archive.org/details/oberlincolonycol00fair_0|year=1883|publisher=E.J. Goodrich|pages=[https://archive.org/details/oberlincolonycol00fair_0/page/n276 237]–}}</ref>  Fifteen years later, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway opened a [[Oberlin Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Station|new rail station]] along this line; no longer used for rail transportation, the depot has been converted for community use and sits at the center of a park.<ref>Owen, Lorrie K., ed.  ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''.  Vol. 2. [[St. Clair Shores, Michigan|St. Clair Shores]]: Somerset, 1999, 892.</ref>

On June 28, 1924, the worst flood in Oberlin history occurred on the same day that [[1924 Lorain–Sandusky tornado|a tornado]] killed 62 people in [[Lorain, Ohio|Lorain]]. Afterward, the water was so deep that children swam in [[Tappan Square]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dcollections.oberlin.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/photos&CISOPTR=311&REC=2|title=1924 FLOOD IN OBERLIN OHIO :: Archives-Popular Images|website=dcollections.oberlin.edu}}</ref> Damage was caused to all of downtown Oberlin.<ref>[http://www.ohiohistory.org/etcetera/exhibits/swio/pages/content/1924_tornado.htm June 28, 1924: Lorain Tornado] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080319131507/http://www.ohiohistory.org/etcetera/exhibits/swio/pages/content/1924_tornado.htm |date=March 19, 2008 }}</ref>

One of Oberlin's largest employers was the [[Federal Aviation Administration]], which houses the [[Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center]] overseeing the airspace of six states and a small part of [[Canada]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chroniclet.com/Local-News/2017/06/06/Air-traffic-privatization-could-be-major-economic-hit-to-Oberlin.html|title=Air-traffic privatization could be major economic hit to Oberlin|date=6 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2002&dat=19971120&id=Ye1fAAAAIBAJ&pg=1471,4635754&hl=en|title=Beaver County Times - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}}</ref>

===Abolitionism===
Oberlin was not founded as an abolitionist town. Its status changed with the enrollment in 1835 of the [[Lane Rebels]], a loose group of several dozen students coordinated by abolitionist [[Theodore Weld]]. They had withdrawn ''en masse'' from the new [[Lane Theological Seminary]] of Cincinnati because of its treatment of the Black community and opposition to abolition of slavery.<ref name=Statement>{{cite book|
title=A statement of the reasons which induced the students of Lane Seminary, to dissolve their connection with that institution
|date=December 15, 1834
|url=https://archive.org/details/ASPC0001868700|location=Cincinnati}}</ref> Cincinnati, on the Ohio River, was not a city where free blacks were safe, nor did Cincinnati welcome [[fugitive slaves|fugitives]].

By chance, this group encountered Shipherd, who was travelling around Ohio looking for students for his new Collegiate Institute. The group agreed to come to Oberlin, but on condition that [[Asa Mahan]], who had resigned as a Lane trustee, come as president, and that Oberlin treat Black and white students equally, something no college in the United States did at the time. The trustees, although reluctantly, agreed to these conditions. The first Black enrolees, [[James Bradley (former slave)|James Bradley]] and the brothers Gideon Quarles and [[Charles Henry Langston]], did not enroll in Oberlin but in an affiliated school, the Sheffield Manual Labor Institute. (Their younger brother [[John Mercer Langston]], who in 1888 became the first black elected to the [[United States Congress]] from [[Virginia]], also studied at Oberlin.)

By the middle of the 19th century, Oberlin had become a major focus of the [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]] movement in the United States.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nla.gov.au/selected-library-collections/anti-slavery-movement-in-the-united-states | title=Anti-Slavery Movement in the United States }}</ref> Escaped enslaved people were relatively safe there. Thousands of escaped enslaved people crossing the Ohio River from Kentucky came through Oberlin—some to stay in the area, but most as a way-station to recover on their way to Lake Erie, where they found transportation across the lake to the safety of [[Canada West]] ([[Ontario]]).

The town of Oberlin, then, was an active "station" on the [[Underground Railroad]].<ref name="nytimes-oberlineRescue">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/20/books/big-day-at-oberlin.html|title = Big Day at Oberlin|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 20 May 1990|last1 = Sears|first1 = Stephen W.}}</ref> Fugitive enslaved people were assisted by a new Ohio law that allowed them to apply for a [[writ of habeas corpus]], which protected them from extradition back to the Southern states from which they had escaped. In 1858, a newly elected [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] state legislature repealed this law, making fugitives around Oberlin vulnerable to enforcement of the Federal [[Fugitive Slave Law of 1850|Fugitive Slave Law]], which allowed Southern slave-catchers to target and extradite them back to the South.

This situation came to a head with the [[Oberlin-Wellington Rescue]], a pivotal event described in Nat Brandt's book ''The Town That Started the Civil War''. On September 13, 1858, a fugitive named John Price was captured by federal officials and held in neighboring [[Wellington, Ohio]].<ref name="nytimes-oberlineRescue"/>  A large group of Oberlin residents, consisting of both white and black townspeople, students, and faculty, set out for Wellington to release Price from captivity.<ref name="nytimes-oberlineRescue"/>
[[Image:Oberlinrescuers.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Oberlin "Rescuers" outside the Cuyahoga County jail. C.H. Langston is seventh from right in front row, with hat over his chest.]]
The men took Price back from the arresting [[US Marshal]], and eventually smuggled him to Canada, but the authorities were not content to let the matter rest. United States President [[James Buchanan]] personally requested prosecution of the group (now referred to by sympathetic parties as "the Rescuers"), and 37 of them were indicted.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://case.edu/ech/articles/o/oberlin-wellington-rescue/|title = Oberlin-Wellington Rescue|date = 22 May 2018}}</ref><ref name="Snodgrass2015">{{cite book|author=Mary Ellen Snodgrass|title=Civil Disobedience: An Encyclopedic History of Dissidence in the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mGrxBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA205|date=8 April 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-47441-8|pages=205–}}</ref><ref name="Spencer1913">{{cite book|author=Jesse Ames Spencer|title=The United States: its beginnings, progress and modern development|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uo4MAQAAMAAJ|year=1913|publisher=American educational alliance}}</ref> Twelve of those were formerly enslaved people, including Charles H. Langston.<ref name="Blue2005"/>{{rp|80}}  State authorities arrested the US Marshal who had captured Price.  In negotiation, the state agreed to free the arresters, and the federal officials agreed to free all but two of those indicted. Simeon M. Bushnell, a white man, and Charles H. Langston were both tried and convicted by an all-Democrat jury. Langston's eloquent speech against slavery and injustice persuaded the judge to give them light sentences, with Langston receiving 20 days in jail and a fine of $100.<ref name="Laxer2016">{{cite book|author=James Laxer|title=Staking Claims to a Continent: John A. Macdonald, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and the Making of North America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DC54DAAAQBAJ&pg=PT23|date=11 June 2016|publisher=House of Anansi Press Incorporated|isbn=978-1-77089-431-0|pages=23–}}</ref>  They appealed to the [[Ohio Supreme Court]] for a writ of ''habeas corpus'', but on May 30, 1859, their petition was denied.<ref name="Blue2005">{{cite book|author=Frederick J. Blue|title=No Taint of Compromise: Crusaders in Antislavery Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_hvEy5OpMMEC&pg=PA84|year=2005|publisher=LSU Press|isbn=978-0-8071-2976-0|pages=84–}}</ref>

[[File:HFRM interpretive plaque.jpg|thumb|Cenotaph in Oberlin with names of Green, Copeland, and Leary, erected 1860: "These colored citizens of Oberlin, the heroic associates of the immortal John Brown, gave their lives for the slave."]]
Three formerly enslaved people—[[Lewis Sheridan Leary]], [[Shields Green]], and [[John Anthony Copeland, Jr.]]—participated in [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]]'s famous 1859 [[John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry|raid on Harpers Ferry]]. Leary died during the raid, and Green and Copeland were hanged after arrest and conviction. The bodies of Green and Copeland were used for dissection and anatomical study at the [[Burning of Winchester Medical College|Winchester Medical College]]; the remains were discarded. Leary's body was first thrown in an unmarked pit, along with the 7 of the 9 others killed during the raid; much later the bodies were disinterred and reburied at the [[John Brown Farm State Historic Site|John Brown Farm]], next to his grave. (See [[John Brown's raiders]].)

The political ferment resulting from the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue led to a number of major protests throughout the northern part of Ohio, and an unprecedented boost to the anti-slavery Republican party in the 1860 state elections. The governor of Ohio wrote to the new Republican President [[Abraham Lincoln]] urging him to repeal the Fugitive Slave Law. Though in point of fact Lincoln declined this request, this decision did not prevent Southern states from seceding, and America was soon embroiled in the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|5.11|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, of which, {{convert|5.07|sqmi|sqkm|2}} is land and {{convert|0.04|sqmi|sqkm|2}} is water.<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=2013-01-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112090031/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt |archive-date=January 12, 2012 }}</ref>

===Climate===
Oberlin experiences a [[humid continental]] (Köppen D''fa'') climate. Winters are cold, dry and often snowy. Summers are warm to very warm and sometimes hot. The city rests within the northern [[snowbelt]] of Ohio and is tempered by the [[Great Lakes]].
{{Weather box
|location = Oberlin, Ohio
|single line = Y
|Jan record high F = 74
|Feb record high F = 76
|Mar record high F = 83
|Apr record high F = 89
|May record high F = 93
|Jun record high F = 104
|Jul record high F = 102
|Aug record high F = 100
|Sep record high F = 100
|Oct record high F = 92
|Nov record high F = 80
|Dec record high F = 77
|year record high F= 104
|Jan high F = 32.0
|Feb high F = 35.7
|Mar high F = 45.8
|Apr high F = 58.0
|May high F = 69.7
|Jun high F = 78.6
|Jul high F = 82.7
|Aug high F = 80.8
|Sep high F = 74.2
|Oct high F = 62.6
|Nov high F = 49.1
|Dec high F = 37.1
|year high F= 58.9
|Jan low F = 15.6
|Feb low F = 18.1
|Mar low F = 26.7
|Apr low F = 36.2
|May low F = 46.9
|Jun low F = 56.1
|Jul low F = 60.3
|Aug low F = 58.2
|Sep low F = 50.9
|Oct low F = 40.1
|Nov low F = 31.9
|Dec low F = 21.7
|year low F= 38.6
|Jan record low F = −23
|Feb record low F = −18
|Mar record low F = −15
|Apr record low F = 6
|May record low F = 19
|Jun record low F = 30
|Jul record low F = 38
|Aug record low F = 32
|Sep record low F = 25
|Oct record low F = 16
|Nov record low F = 2
|Dec record low F = −18
|year record low F= −23
|Jan precipitation inch = 2.25
|Feb precipitation inch = 2.02
|Mar precipitation inch = 2.65
|Apr precipitation inch = 3.22
|May precipitation inch = 3.60
|Jun precipitation inch = 3.85
|Jul precipitation inch = 3.75
|Aug precipitation inch = 3.49
|Sep precipitation inch = 3.25
|Oct precipitation inch = 2.37
|Nov precipitation inch = 3.05
|Dec precipitation inch = 2.73
|year precipitation inch= 36.23
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan snow inch = 10.1
|Feb snow inch = 9.4
|Mar snow inch = 7.0
|Apr snow inch = 1.5
|May snow inch = 0
|Jun snow inch = 0
|Jul snow inch = 0
|Aug snow inch = 0
|Sep snow inch = 0
|Oct snow inch = 0
|Nov snow inch = 2.6
|Dec snow inch = 8.6
|year snow inch= 39.2
|unit precipitation days = 0.01 in
|Jan precipitation days = 12.3
|Feb precipitation days = 10.1
|Mar precipitation days = 11.6
|Apr precipitation days = 12.6
|May precipitation days = 11.8
|Jun precipitation days = 11.0
|Jul precipitation days = 9.5
|Aug precipitation days = 9.6
|Sep precipitation days = 9.7
|Oct precipitation days = 10.3
|Nov precipitation days = 11.7
|Dec precipitation days = 12.8
|unit snow days = 0.1 in
|Jan snow days = 6.0
|Feb snow days = 4.8
|Mar snow days = 3.1
|Apr snow days = 0.8
|May snow days = 0
|Jun snow days = 0
|Jul snow days = 0
|Aug snow days = 0
|Sep snow days = 0
|Oct snow days = 0
|Nov snow days = 1.6
|Dec snow days = 5
|source 1=NOAA (normals, 1971–2000)<ref name=NCDC>{{cite web|url=http://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/climatenormals/clim20/oh/336196.pdf|title=NCDC: U.S. Climate Normals|publisher=[[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]|date=October 2011|access-date=2011-11-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140909191916/http://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/climatenormals/clim20/oh/336196.pdf|archive-date=2014-09-09|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|date=October 2011}}

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1860= 2115
|1870= 2888
|1880= 3242
|1890= 4376
|1900= 4082
|1910= 4365
|1920= 4286
|1930= 4292
|1940= 4305
|1950= 7062
|1960= 8198
|1970= 8761
|1980= 8660
|1990= 8191
|2000= 8195
|2010= 8286
|2020= 8555
|estyear=2021
|estimate=8249
|estref=
|footnote=Sources:<ref name=Census1870>{{cite web|title=Population of Civil Divisions Less than Counties|url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1870a-08.pdf|work=Statistics of the Population of the United States at the Ninth Census|date=1870|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=24 April 2020 }}</ref><ref name=Census1880>{{cite web|title=Population of Civil Divisions Less than Counties|url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1880a_v1-11.pdf|date=1880|work=Statistics of the Population of the United States at the Tenth Census|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=28 November 2013}}</ref><ref name=Census1910>{{cite web|title=Population: Ohio|url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/36894832v3ch3.pdf|work=1910 U.S. Census|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=28 November 2013}}</ref><ref name=Census1930>{{cite web|title=Population: Ohio|url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/03815512v1ch08.pdf|work=1930 US Census|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=28 November 2013}}</ref><ref name="Census1960">{{cite web|title=Number of Inhabitants: Ohio|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1960/population-volume-1/37749282v1p37_ch02.pdf|date=1960|work=18th Census of the United States|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=24 April 2020 }}</ref><ref name="Census1990">{{cite web|title=Ohio: Population and Housing Unit Counts|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/cen1990/cph2/cph-2-37.pdf|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=22 November 2013}}</ref><ref name="GR2" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/oberlincityohio,US/PST045221|title=Oberlin city, Ohio|website=census.gov|accessdate=July 6, 2022}}</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=2013-01-06}}</ref> of 2010, there were 8,286 people, 2,730 households, and 1,381 families residing in the city. The [[population density]] was {{convert|1684.1|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 2,984 housing units at an average density of {{convert|606.5|/sqmi|/km2|1}}. The [[Race and ethnicity in the United States census|racial makeup]] of the city was 73.0% White, 14.8% African American, 0.2% Native American, 4.0% Asian, 1.4% from other races, and 6.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.1% of the population.

There were 2,730 households, of which 24.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.9% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 49.4% were non-families. 38.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.86.

The median age in the city was 23.3 years. 14.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 37.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 14.5% were from 25 to 44; 18.5% were from 45 to 64; and 14.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.0% male and 54.0% female.

Of the city's population over the age of 25, 41.1% hold a bachelor's degree or higher.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/39/3957834.html |title=Oberlin (City) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau |access-date=2014-10-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016153522/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/39/3957834.html |archive-date=2014-10-16 }}</ref>

===2000 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 8,195 people, 2,678 households, and 1,395 families residing in the city.  The population density was {{convert|1,871.5|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  There were 2,836 housing units at an average density of {{convert|647.7|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  The racial makeup of the city was 71.92% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 18.55% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.49% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 3.40% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.17% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 1.21% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 4.26% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 3.04% of the population.

There were 2,678 households, out of which 21.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.5% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.9% were non-families. 35.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.  The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the city the population was spread out, with 14.7% under the age of 18, 36.9% from 18 to 24, 16.4% from 25 to 44, 17.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older.  The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females, there were 77.7 males.  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 73.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $41,094, and the median income for a family was $59,358. Males had a median income of $42,170 versus $27,308 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the city was $20,704.  About 6.7% of families and 19.4% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 11.6% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.

==Government==
{{Expand section|date=March 2011}}
The City of Oberlin's motto is "live, learn, lead."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Home|url=https://www.cityofoberlin.com/|access-date=2022-01-14|website=City of Oberlin|language=en-US}}</ref> It is governed by a [[city manager]] and a seven-member council which is elected to two-year terms in a non-partisan election.

The city of Oberlin runs an online dashboard that displays the city's use of resources in real time. Effective from July 2013, the dashboard shows outputs of infrastructure, such as Oberlin's power plant and water treatment plant.<ref>{{cite web|title=This online dashboard shows you a city's water and electric usage in real time|url=http://grist.org/list/this-online-dashboard-shows-you-a-citys-water-and-electric-usage-in-real-time/?sub_email=sundaybottle%40hotmail.com|work=Grist|publisher=Grist Magazine, Inc|access-date=10 July 2013|author=Sarah Laskow|date=9 July 2013}}</ref>

==Transportation==

Oberlin lies at the intersection of state routes 58 and 511. Its municipal limits extend south to include parts of [[U.S. Route 20 in Ohio|U.S. Highway 20]]. Oberlin also lies on a paved bicycle and pedestrian path, the North Coast Inland Trail, which travels southwest to [[Kipton, Ohio|Kipton]] and northeast to [[Elyria, Ohio|Elyria]].  The path is built on the former railroad right-of-way of the [[Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway]] Southern Branch. Like many smaller municipalities across Ohio, Oberlin was once served by railroads but currently has no railroad service. An old station is visible along the bike path.

The Cleveland & Southwestern interurban line from Elyria served Oberlin from approximately 1903 to its demise in 1928. Its rails basically followed Oberlin/Elyria Rd / Rt 231 from the east, entering town on E. College St, then turned South and followed Rt 58 to Wellington. There was a wye at S. Main and the line continued west to [[Norwalk, Ohio|Norwalk]], competing with the Lake Shore Electric into the city.{{citation needed|date= July 2018}}

[[Lorain County Transit]] (LCT) formerly offered two bus routes in Oberlin on the 33 and 21 routes, the former of which operated to [[Cleveland Hopkins Airport]], while the latter operated between [[Elyria, Ohio|Elyria]] and [[Wellington, Ohio|Wellington]]. The routes were shut down due to funding shortfalls.<ref>[http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2009/05/22/news/mj1080321.txt $300,000 in LCT cuts approved: Greater Cleveland RTA connection in Avon Lake to end]. Retrieved on 2009-05-22.</ref> LCT currently operates a door-to-door "Oberlin Connector" bus service, with trips required to begin or end in within Oberlin.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oberlin Connector Offers Affordable Transportation Around Lorain Count |url=https://oberlinreview.org/31856/news/oberlin-connector-offers-affordable-transportation-around-lorain-county/ |website=Oberlin Review |access-date=22 August 2024 |date=February 9, 2024}}</ref> Since 2024, Oberlin is served by the EBus, a fare-free public transit bus route operating under contract by Slidr and support from LCT using [[electric vehicles]] making several stops across the city on a loop.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oberlin to debut new EBus on Aug. 16 |url=https://www.morningjournal.com/2024/08/10/oberlin-to-debut-new-ebus-on-aug-16/ |publisher=The Morning Journal |access-date=22 August 2024|date=August 22, 2024}}</ref>

==Notable people==
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*[[Frederic de Forest Allen]], (1844–1897), born in Oberlin, classical scholar<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>
*[[Sweet Pea Atkinson]] (1945-2020), Singer Was (Not Was)
*[[Roger Bacon (physicist)|Roger Bacon]] (1926-2007), inventor of graphite fiber
*[[Antoinette Brown Blackwell]], suffragist, women's rights activist, Protestant minister
*[[John Anthony Copeland, Jr.]] (1834–1859), Black, executed by hanging after participating in [[John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry]]
*[[Aaron Dilloway]], (1976-), experimental musician, owner of [[Hanson Records]]
*[[Linda Eastman]], librarian
*[[Charles Grandison Finney]], (1792–1875), minister, professor and president of the [[Oberlin College]] (1851–1866)
*[[Shields Green]] (1836?–1859), Black, killed during [[John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry]]
*[[Charles Martin Hall]], (1863−1914), lived in Oberlin 1873–1914, co-discoverer of [[Hall-Héroult process]], founder of [[Alcoa]]
*[[Oszkár Jászi]], Hungarian social scientist, historian, and politician
*[[Isaac Jennings]] (1788–1874), medical reformer and mayor of Oberlin, [[orthopathy|orthopath]].<ref>Miami University, 1977, [https://books.google.com/books?id=JnZ5AAAAMAAJ&q=%22Dr+.+Isaac+Jennings+,+Oberlin+%27+s+leading+health+and+dietary+reformer%22& The Old NorthWest] p. 114</ref><ref>[http://electronicvalley.org/derby/quiz/pages/jennings,isaac.htm Derby History Quiz, at electronicvalley.org]</ref>
*[[Albert Mussey Johnson]], (1872−1948), born in Oberlin, eccentric multi-millionaire industrialist
*[[Charles Henry Langston]] (1817–1892), one of two tried and convicted after [[Oberlin-Wellington Rescue]], abolitionist and political activist in Ohio and [[Kansas]].
*[[John Mercer Langston]] (1829–1899), abolitionist, activist, educator and politician
*[[Lewis Sheridan Leary]] (1835–1859), Black, killed during [[John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry]].
*[[David Lewis (philosopher)|David Lewis]] (1941–2001), philosopher
*[[Sarah Cowles Little]], educator
*[[John Miller (American football linebacker)|John Miller]], American football player
*[[Jason Molina]] (1973-2013), born in Oberlin, musician and singer-songwriter
*[[Jason Moore (wide receiver)|Jason Moore]], born in Oberlin, football player for the Los Angeles Chargers
*[[Anne Eugenia Felicia Morgan]] (1845-1909), professor, philosopher, writer, and game inventor
*[[Toni Morrison]], novelist and professor emeritus at Princeton University
*[[Nettie Langston Napier]], advocate for African-American women's rights
*[[Dwight Peabody]], American football player
*[[Dirk Powell]], traditional musician
*[[Dan Ramos]], Ohio state legislator
*[[Julia Gridley Severance]] (1877–1972), artist, sculptor, puppeteer
*[[Lucy Stone]], suffragist, activist, women's rights advocate
*[[Cliff Stoudt]], quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1977 to 1983
*[[Mary Burnett Talbert]], orator, activist, suffragist and reformer
*[[Hugh Thornton (American football)|Hugh Thornton]], professional football player
*[[Charles Henry Tyler Townsend]], entomologist and biologist
*[[Don Treadwell]], football coach
*[[Frankie E. Harris Wassom]], educator and poet
*[[Dale Willman]], journalist
*[[Matt Wilhelm]], born in Oberlin, professional football player
* Steve Gibson of [[Signals Midwest]], musician

==Sister cities==
Oberlin's [[Sister city|sister cities]] are:<ref>{{cite web |title=Chapter 13: Oberlin's Connections Around the World|url=https://www2.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/OYTT/ch13.html|website=oberlin.edu|publisher=Oberlin Through History|access-date=2022-01-06}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|NGR}} [[Ifẹ]], Nigeria
<!--Suzdal - relationship ended-->

==See also==
*[[Oberlin High School (Ohio)|Oberlin High School]]
*[[Oberlin Heritage Center]]
*[[Apollo Theater (Oberlin, Ohio)]]
*[[Oberlin College]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Burroughs, Wilbur Greeley (1886–1974): ''Oberlin's Part in the Slavery Conflict'', Ohio Archæological and Historical Society Publications: Volume 20 [1911], pp.&nbsp;269–334.

==Further reading==
*Brandt, Nat. ''The Town That Started the Civil War''. Syracuse University Press, 1990. 315 p.
*[[Albert Bushnell Hart|Hart, Albert Bushnell]], ed. ''The American Nation: a history from original sources''. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1904–1918.
*Fletcher, Robert S. (1933). "[[doi:10.2307/1896988|The Government of the Oberlin Colony]]". ''The Mississippi Valley Historical Review''. '''20''' (2): 179-190.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{wikivoyage|Oberlin}}
* [http://www.cityofoberlin.com/ City of Oberlin]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130128152751/http://onetowncampaign.com/ Oberlin One Town Campaign]
* [http://www.oberlin.org Oberlin Business Partnership]
* [http://www.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/ Electronic Oberlin Group]
* [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/llst:@field(DOCID+@lit(llst005)): History of the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue, compiled by Jacob R. Shipherd (from Library of Congress)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100419135342/http://www.oberlin.edu/archive/oberlins_namesake/ Oberlin's Namesake, a multimedia presentation on J.F. Oberlin]
* [http://www.oberlin.com OBERLIN.COM Information hub for Oberlin, Ohio and surrounding areas]
* {{Cite Americana|wstitle=Oberlin |short=x}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Oberlin |short=x}}

{{Lorain County, Ohio}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Oberlin, Ohio| ]]
[[Category:Cities in Ohio]]
[[Category:Cities in Lorain County, Ohio]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1833]]
[[Category:Nuclear-free zones in the United States]]
[[Category:1833 establishments in Ohio]]
[[Category:Cleveland metropolitan area]]
[[Category:Western Reserve, Ohio]]