Editing Paulding County, Ohio

{{short description|County in Ohio, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox U.S. county
 | county               = Paulding County
 | state                = Ohio
 | flag                 = Flag of Paulding County, Ohio.png
 | seal                 = Seal of Paulding County Ohio.svg
 | founded year         = 1839
 | founded date         = March 18
 | ex image             = PauldingOHCourt.jpg
 | ex image size        = 
 | ex image cap         = Courthouse in village of [[Paulding, Ohio|Paulding]]
 | seat wl              = Paulding
 | city type            = village
 | largest city wl      = Paulding
 | area_total_sq_mi     = 419
 | area_land_sq_mi      = 416
 | area_water_sq_mi     = 2.4
 | area percentage      = 0.6%
 | census yr            = 2020
 | pop                  = 18806 {{decrease}}
 | density_sq_mi        = 45
 | time zone            = Eastern
 | web                  = http://www.pauldingcountyoh.com
 | named for            = [[John Paulding]]
 | district             = 5th
}}

'''Paulding County''' is a [[County (United States)|county]] located in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Ohio]]. As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], the population was about 18,806.<ref name="2020 census">{{Cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/2020-population-and-housing-state-data.html|title=2020 Population and Housing State Data|author=US Census Bureau|website=Census.gov}}</ref> Its [[county seat]] is [[Paulding, Ohio|Paulding]].<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx|access-date=June 7, 2011|title=Find a County|publisher=National Association of Counties}}</ref> The county was created in 1820 and later organized in 1839.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/OH_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm|title=Ohio: Individual County Chronologies|work=Ohio Atlas of Historical County Boundaries|publisher=The Newberry Library|date=2007|access-date=February 14, 2015|archive-date=April 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406154847/http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/OH_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is [[List of Ohio county name etymologies|named]] for [[John Paulding]], one of the captors of Major [[John André]] in the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oWwxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cAAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3093%2C2087995 | title=Paulding Communities Cut Out Of Great Forests | work=Toledo Blade | date=April 5, 1953 | access-date=April 30, 2015 | author=Miller, Ray | pages=7–3}}</ref>

==History==
{{more citations needed section|date=July 2021}}

The [[Ottawa tribe]] of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] were the prevalent occupants of the region before Europeans arrived in [[North America]] following the 1492 expedition of [[Christopher Columbus]]. By 1750, however, there were [[Miami tribe|Miamis]], Prankaahaws, Delawares, Shawnee, Kickapoos, Muscounteres, Huron, Weas, Wyandotts and Mohawks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History - HicksvilleUSA.com |url=http://www.hicksvilleusa.com/history.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103215943/http://www.hicksvilleusa.com/history.html |archive-date=November 3, 2016 |access-date=January 23, 2023 }}</ref>

Under the [[Northwest Ordinance]] of 1787, the [[Continental Congress]] opened what is now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin to settlement. However, the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] that ended the [[American Revolution]] in 1783 allowed the British to remain in the [[Northwest Territory]] until matters were resolved with the Indians. General [[George Washington|Washington]] sent General "Mad" [[Anthony Wayne]] to subdue the native population. He built a series of forts, including Fort Brown, located between Charloe and Melrose. In order to defend against Indian ambush, he cut a swath of woods a mile wide, known as the [[Wayne Trace]]. His campaign culminated in a decisive 1794 victory by the [[Legion of the United States]] against Indians led by Chief [[Little Turtle]] of the nearby [[Maumee, Ohio]] in the [[Battle of Fallen Timbers]], and signing of the [[Treaty of Greenville]] in 1795.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/bicentennial/propage/OH/oh-9_h_kaptur5.html|title = Local Legacies: Celebrating Community Roots (Library of Congress)|website = [[Library of Congress]]}}</ref>

Paulding County was originally part of territory set aside for Ohio's Indian people by the [[Treaty of Greenville]], though that did not last long. Paulding County was organized by the legislature on April 1, 1820, from lands that were formerly part of [[Williams County, Ohio|Williams County]]. At that point, it consisted of 12 perfectly square townships. In 1845, [[Defiance County, Ohio|Defiance County]] was formed from lands that were part of Williams County, plus the northern half of Auglaize Township. It was at this time that four sections of Emerald Township were transferred to Auglaize Township.

Settlement of Paulding County was slow, due to the difficult living conditions. Farmers complained that they grew two crops a year - frogs and ice. Many residents suffered from the ague, a disease later determined to be [[malaria]]. The primary industries were based on the thick forests. Many timbers were floated up the [[Maumee River]] to be used as ship's [[Mast (sailing)|masts]]. The trees were so large that one man lived in a hollow tree. There were also many who earned money through the winter by crafting barrel staves with an adze.

[[George Washington]] had promoted the construction of canals to provide interior transportation for the fledgling nation. Once the [[Erie Canal]] was opened in 1825, entrepreneurs promoted other canals, including the [[Miami and Erie Canal]] and the [[Wabash and Erie Canal]]. The Miami and Erie ran from Lake Erie to the [[Little Miami River]] near [[Cincinnati]], through Paulding County, and the Wabash and Erie Canal went west into Indiana, meeting the Miami and Erie in Junction, a community in Auglaize township. The canal excitement was so great that people were leaving [[Fort Wayne, Indiana]] for Junction, feeling that it had a much brighter future. Canal workers choosing Paulding County as their tax home built the county's population to 25,000 people in 1835, a number it has never approached since.

The combined canal system was the largest canal system in the world, but was profitable for only a short period. The canal was useless in winter, and the banks were constantly caving in, requiring constant dredging to remain passable. To protect the banks, canal boats had to operate at extremely slow speed. The canal system started being abandoned even before it was completely built. The coming of the [[railroad]] quickly supplanted the canals as the primary means of long-haul travel.

A relic of this era is the Furnace Farm near Cecil. Ore was brought in by canal, where it was turned into iron using the ample local fuel. One furnace remains, where it was allowed to cool without being emptied, there being no point in pouring iron that could not be shipped economically to market.

Built in the 1910s, the [[Paulding County Carnegie Library]] was the first [[Carnegie library]] to serve an entire county instead of a single city.<ref>Renck, Melissa.  ''National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Paulding County Carnegie Library''.  [[National Park Service]], 1982-09-30, 3.</ref>  In addition to the library, Andrew Carnegie matched local funds to install a pipe organ in what is now known as Paulding United Methodist Church.

In the early 20th century, Paulding had the highest unsolved murder rate of any county in the USA. The [[The Purple Gang|Purple Gang]] was thought to be exporting the corpses of their victims to the rural countryside, where they could be dumped without being seen. The sheriff argued that they were not local people, not murdered locally, and it was not worth spending large sums of tax dollars on what was essentially a littering problem.

==Geography==
According to the [[U.S. Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of {{convert|419|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|416|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|2.4|sqmi}} (0.6%) is water.<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_39.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=February 10, 2015|date=August 22, 2012|title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140504223453/http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_39.txt|archive-date=May 4, 2014}}</ref>

The center of the county is 723 feet above sea level,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.city-data.com/city/Paulding-Ohio.html|title = Paulding, Ohio (OH 45879) profile: Population, maps, real estate, averages, homes, statistics, relocation, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, moving, houses, news, sex offenders}}</ref> and the rest of the county does not vary much from that. The land is the most level of any county in the state, and plats look like a checkerboard, with roads every mile. This level terrain resulted in Paulding County being entirely within the [[Great Black Swamp]], unlike any other.

The county contains U.S. Routes [[U.S. Route 127|127]], [[U.S. Route 24|24]], and [[U.S. Route 30|30]] (the Lincoln Highway). There are two major rivers, the [[Auglaize River|Auglaize]] and the [[Maumee River|Maumee]], as well as numerous small creeks. The largest bodies of water are manmade ponds.

===Adjacent counties===
* [[Defiance County, Ohio|Defiance County]] (north)
* [[Putnam County, Ohio|Putnam County]] (east)
* [[Van Wert County, Ohio|Van Wert County]] (south)
* [[Allen County, Indiana]] (west)

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1830= 161
|1840= 1034
|1850= 1766
|1860= 4945
|1870= 8544
|1880= 13485
|1890= 25932
|1900= 27528
|1910= 22730
|1920= 18736
|1930= 15301
|1940= 15527
|1950= 15047
|1960= 16792
|1970= 19329
|1980= 21302
|1990= 20488
|2000= 20293
|2010= 19614
|2020= 18806
|estyear=
|estimate=
|estref=
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=February 10, 2015}}</ref><br />1790-1960<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu|title=Historical Census Browser|publisher=University of Virginia Library|access-date=February 10, 2015}}</ref> 1900-1990<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/oh190090.txt|title=Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990|publisher=United States Census Bureau|editor-last=Forstall|editor-first=Richard L.|date=March 27, 1995|access-date=February 10, 2015}}</ref><br />1990-2000<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf|title=Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000|publisher=United States Census Bureau|date=April 2, 2001|access-date=February 10, 2015}}</ref> 2020 <ref name="2020 census"/>
}}

===2000 census===
As of the [[census]]<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> of 2000, there were 20,293 people, 7,773 households, and 5,689 families living in the county. The [[population density]] was {{convert|49|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|people&nbsp;|people|}}. There were 8,478 housing units at an average density of {{convert|20|/mi2|/km2|adj=pre|units&nbsp;}}. The racial makeup of the county was 95.85% [[Race (United States Census)|White]], 0.96% [[Race (United States Census)|Black]] or [[Race (United States Census)|African American]], 0.29% [[Race (United States Census)|Native American]], 0.15% [[Race (United States Census)|Asian]], 0.01% [[Race (United States Census)|Pacific Islander]], 1.41% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 1.33% from two or more races. 3.02% of the population were [[Race (United States Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Race (United States Census)|Latino]].

There were 7,773 households, out of which 34.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.90% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 8.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.80% were non-families. 23.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.06.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 26.80% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 28.00% from 25 to 44, 24.00% from 45 to 64, and 12.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 96.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $40,327, and the median income for a family was $45,481. Males had a median income of $35,809 versus $21,965 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the county was $18,062. About 4.90% of families and 7.70% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 9.50% of those under age 18 and 7.10% of those age 65 or over.

===2010 census===
As of the [[2010 United States Census]], there were 19,614&nbsp;people, 7,769&nbsp;households, and 5,467&nbsp;families living in the county.<ref name="census-dp1">{{cite web
  |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/0500000US39125
  |title=DP-1 Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data
  |access-date=December 27, 2015
  |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]
  |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213015336/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/0500000US39125
  |archive-date=February 13, 2020
  |url-status=dead
}}</ref> The population density was {{convert|47.1|PD/sqmi}}. There were 8,749 housing units at an average density of {{convert|21.0|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|units&nbsp;|units|}}.<ref name="census-density">{{cite web
  |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/GCTPH1.CY07/0500000US39125
  |access-date=December 27, 2015
  |title=Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County
  |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]
  |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213234255/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/GCTPH1.CY07/0500000US39125
  |archive-date=February 13, 2020
  |url-status=dead
  }}</ref> The racial makeup of the county was 95.7% white, 0.9% black or African American, 0.3% American Indian, 0.2% Asian, 1.3% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 4.3% of the population.<ref name="census-dp1"/> In terms of ancestry, 40.1% were [[Germans|German]], 10.5% were [[Irish people|Irish]], 10.4% were [[English people|English]], and 10.4% were [[Americans|American]].<ref name="census-dp2">{{cite web
  |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US39125
  |title=DP02 SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
  |access-date=December 27, 2015
  |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]
  |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213014421/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US39125
  |archive-date=February 13, 2020
  |url-status=dead
}}</ref>

Of the 7,769&nbsp;households, 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.1% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.6% were non-families, and 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 2.99. The median age was 40.0 years.<ref name="census-dp1"/>

The median income for a household in the county was $46,459 and the median income for a family was $56,170. Males had a median income of $38,656 versus $27,182 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,919. About 8.6% of families and 11.0% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 17.6% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.<ref name="census-dp3">{{cite web
  |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP03/0500000US39125
  |title=DP03 SELECTED ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
  |access-date=December 27, 2015
  |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]
  |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213012516/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP03/0500000US39125
  |archive-date=February 13, 2020
  |url-status=dead
}}</ref>

==Politics==
Paulding County is a Republican stronghold county in presidential elections. [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] in 1964 was the last Democratic candidate to win the county. In the [[1980 United States Senate election in Ohio|1980 Senate election]], while Democrat [[John Glenn]] won the state by 40 points, Paulding County was the only county he lost, by 5.5 points, after winning it by 24 points in his previous election where he carried all counties.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1974&off=3&class=undefined&elect=0&fips=39&f=0|title=1974 Senatorial General Election Results - Ohio}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1980&off=3&class=undefined&elect=0&fips=39&f=0|title=1980 Senatorial General Election Results - Ohio}}</ref> However, the county would back Glenn again in his last two elections in [[1986 United States Senate election in Ohio|1986]] and [[1992 United States Senate election in Ohio|1992]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1986&off=3&class=undefined&elect=0&fips=39&f=0|title=1986 Senatorial General Election Results - Ohio}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1992&off=3&class=3&elect=0&fips=39&f=0|title=1992 Senatorial General Election Results - Ohio}}</ref>
{{PresHead|place=Paulding County, Ohio|source=<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=May 3, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|7,203|1,987|138|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|7,086|2,213|185|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|6,500|2,093|502|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|5,354|3,538|258|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|5,317|4,165|303|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|6,206|3,610|63|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|5,210|3,384|352|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|3,760|3,449|1,387|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|3,652|3,293|2,565|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|5,381|3,114|76|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|5,545|2,811|83|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|4,971|2,778|745|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1976|Republican|3,593|3,229|165|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|4,553|2,283|189|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|4,074|2,703|908|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|3,254|4,465|0|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|4,961|2,825|0|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|4,885|2,170|0|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|4,837|2,386|0|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1948|Republican|3,579|2,512|19|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1944|Republican|4,515|2,355|0|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1940|Republican|4,949|3,155|0|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|3,853|4,179|219|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|3,201|4,165|119|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|4,093|2,473|58|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|3,648|2,242|422|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|4,549|2,739|78|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1916|Republican|2,647|2,313|108|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|1,542|2,296|1,431|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1908|Republican|3,049|2,767|91|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1904|Republican|3,496|2,505|151|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|3,597|3,284|85|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1896|Democratic|3,580|3,656|26|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1892|Democratic|2,900|2,997|204|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1888|Republican|2,975|2,781|134|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1884|Republican|2,182|2,082|19|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1880|Republican|1,527|1,431|5|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1876|Republican|1,313|1,180|0|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1872|Republican|979|637|7|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1868|Republican|834|623|0|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1864|Republican|805|360|0|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1860|Republican|554|391|9|Ohio}}
{{PresRow|1856|Republican|497|170|5|Ohio}}
|}
{{U.S. SenHead|place=Paulding County, Ohio|Seat=1|source=<ref>{{cite news |title=2024 Senate Election (Official Returns) |website=Commonwealth of Texas by county |date=November 5, 2024 |access-date=December 5, 2024 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/ohio-senate-results}}</ref>}}
<!-- U.S. SenRow should be {{U.S. SenRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{U.S. SenRow|2024|Republican|6,678|2,056|456|Ohio}}
{{U.S. SenFoot}}

==Education==
In 1971, the Ohio Board of Education revoked the charters of Payne, Blue Creek, Grover Hill and Auglaize-Brown school districts. Blue Creek was itself the merger of Latty and Haviland schools only a few years prior. Payne, Blue Creek, and Grover Hill merged to form the Wayne Trace school district, and Auglaize-Brown joined Paulding Exempted Village Schools.
* Antwerp Local School District <ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.noacsc.org/paulding/aw/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060202010140/http://www.noacsc.org/paulding/aw/ | archive-date=February 2, 2006 | title=Antwerp Local School }}</ref>
* Paulding Exempted Village School District <ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.noacsc.org/paulding/pv/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060517015201/http://www.noacsc.org/paulding/pv/ | archive-date=May 17, 2006 | title=Welcome to Oakwood Elementary }}</ref>
* Wayne Trace Local School District <ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070206200422/http://www.noacsc.org/paulding/wt/ Wayne Trace Local School District]</ref>
* Vantage Career Center <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vantagecareercenter.com/|title=Vantage Career Center|website=www.vantagecareercenter.com}}</ref>

In the late 1950s, Paulding Exempted Village Schools enacted a pay-as-you-go tax for school construction, designed to reduce overall taxes by paying cash for school construction rather than paying high interest rates on bonds. The pay-as-you-go concept has been adopted in a number of local government units in Ohio.

With students from kindergarten to high school at one location, the Paulding campus of PEVS is one of the largest schools in the state.

==Communities==
[[Image:Map of Paulding County Ohio With Municipal and Township Labels.PNG|thumb|275px|Map of Paulding County, Ohio with municipal and township labels]]

===Villages===
{{div col}}
* [[Antwerp, Ohio|Antwerp]]
* [[Broughton, Ohio|Broughton]]
* [[Cecil, Ohio|Cecil]]
* [[Grover Hill, Ohio|Grover Hill]]
* [[Haviland, Ohio|Haviland]]
* [[Latty, Ohio|Latty]]
* [[Melrose, Ohio|Melrose]]
* [[Oakwood, Paulding County, Ohio|Oakwood]]
* [[Paulding, Ohio|Paulding]] (county seat)
* [[Payne, Ohio|Payne]]
* [[Scott, Ohio|Scott]]
{{div col end}}

===Townships===
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Auglaize Township, Paulding County, Ohio|Auglaize]]
* [[Benton Township, Paulding County, Ohio|Benton]]
* [[Blue Creek Township, Ohio|Blue Creek]]
* [[Brown Township, Paulding County, Ohio|Brown]]
* [[Carryall Township, Paulding County, Ohio|Carryall]]
* [[Crane Township, Paulding County, Ohio|Crane]]
* [[Emerald Township, Paulding County, Ohio|Emerald]]
* [[Harrison Township, Paulding County, Ohio|Harrison]]
* [[Jackson Township, Paulding County, Ohio|Jackson]]
* [[Latty Township, Paulding County, Ohio|Latty]]
* [[Paulding Township, Paulding County, Ohio|Paulding]]
* [[Washington Township, Paulding County, Ohio|Washington]]
{{div col end}}

===Unincorporated communities===
* [[Junction, Ohio|Junction]]
* [[Mandale, Ohio|Mandale]]
* [[Roselms, Ohio|Roselms]]

==Interesting facts==
The Paulding County motto of "No Compromise"<ref>{{cite web | url=http://pauldingcountylibrary.org/countyseal.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060920010914/http://pauldingcountylibrary.org/countyseal.htm | archive-date=September 20, 2006 | title=County Seal}}</ref> came from a banner carried by participants in the [[Reservoir war|Reservoir War]].

Paulding County was the first county in the US to receive funding from steel magnate [[Andrew Carnegie]] to build a library. Carnegie also matched funds to purchase the pipe organ in the Paulding Methodist Church.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.pauldingcountylibrary.org/PauldingUMC.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070425091616/http://www.pauldingcountylibrary.org/PauldingUMC.htm | archive-date=April 25, 2007 | title=Paulding United Methodist }}</ref>

Judge [[Calvin L. Noble]] of Paulding County spent the better part of his life as a Paulding County resident. His claim to fame is that he changed the name of the city of Cleaveland, Ohio to [[Cleveland, Ohio|Cleveland]]. Earlier in life, as a printer, he founded the ''Cleaveland Advertiser''. As the name was slightly too long to fit atop the page, he omitted the one letter.

Paulding County was the last county in the United States with no providers offering coverage through the [[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]] policies on the government's [[healthcare.gov|health insurance exchange]]. In August 2017, CareSources announced plans to sell healthcare through the exchange.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Demko|first1=Paul|title=Ohio insurer fills Obamacare's last 'bare' county|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/24/obamacare-insurer-bare-county-caresource-241991|website=Politico|access-date=August 24, 2017}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Paulding County, Ohio]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |first=Henry|last=Howe |author-link=Henry Howe |title=[[Historical Collections of Ohio]]  |publisher=Henry Howe and Son |location=Columbus, Ohio|year=1903}}

==External links==
* [http://www.pauldingcountylibrary.org/ Paulding County Library]
* [http://paulding.osu.edu/ Extension Office]
* [http://www.progressnewspaper.org/ Paulding Progress newspaper]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060823011053/http://www.pauldingcountyengineer.com/maps.php County Engineer's office] (official maps of the county)
* [http://www.westbendnews.net/ West Bend News newspaper]

{{Geographic Location
|Centre    = Paulding County, Ohio
|North     = [[Defiance County, Ohio|Defiance County]]
|Northeast =
|East      = [[Putnam County, Ohio|Putnam County]]
|Southeast =
|South     = [[Van Wert County, Ohio|Van Wert County]]
|Southwest =
|West      = [[Allen County, Indiana]]
|Northwest =
}}

{{Paulding County, Ohio}}
{{NRHP in Paulding County, Ohio}}
{{Ohio}}

{{Coord|41.12|-84.58|display=title|type:adm2nd_region:US-OH_source:UScensus1990}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Paulding County, Ohio| ]]
[[Category:1839 establishments in Ohio]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1839]]