Ohio is a state in the Midwest region of the USA. The state has natural boundaries to the north (Lake Erie) and to the south (Ohio River) and is bordered by the states of Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Ohio also shares Lake Erie as a border with the Canadian province of Ontario. The terrain is generally flat in the northwestern parts due to ancient glaciers, and gradually gets hillier as one heads east and southeast toward the Allegheny and Appalachian mountain ranges. Aside from a Great Lake (Erie) and a major navigable river (Ohio), the State of Ohio offers a national park (Cuyahoga Valley), a national forest (Wayne), a number of National Wildlife Refuges, and a bundle of islands on Lake Erie.
Regions
Comprised of 88 counties, Ohio can be roughly characterized as having 5 regions:
Cities
Other destinations
Understand
Ohio is the 35th largest state by size, but 7th by population (11,459,011 residents in 2004 according to the US Census Bureau). Ohio's nickname is "The Heart of It All", purportedly because of its shape (kind of like a heart), its central location to the densely populated areas of the US, its mosaic of big commercial cities, small towns, industry and farmland, and its critical role in "America's Heartland" (which can refer to the Midwest agricultural sector and the Great Lakes industrial base).
Ohio has always played and continues to play a critical role in the development of the United States history and government. One of Ohio's contributions to history was the Underground Railroad network which helped escaped slaves move to the free northern states and Canada. Many Ohioans, most notably Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe and John Brown campaigned against slavery.
Ohio has also been home to eight American Presidents, giving it the nickname Mother of US Presidents. American Presidents from Ohio were Ulysses Grant (18th, born in Point Pleasant), Rutherford Hayes (19th, Delaware), James Garfield (20th, Orange), Benjamin Harrison (23rd, North Bend), William McKinley (25th, Niles), William Taft (27th, Cincinnati), and Warren Harding (29th, Corsica/Blooming Grove). William Henry Harrison (9th), born in Virginia but settled (and buried) in North Bend.
Ohio is considered one of the most important states in Presidential elections due to its 20 electoral votes and is often one of the few states that can go to either party. Unlike California, Illinois, New York that lean Democratic and Texas which almost always votes Republican, Ohio's voting tendencies changes from election to election.
The Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur, inventors of the airplane, were from Dayton in Ohio, giving the state one reason to call itself the Birthplace of Aviation Pioneers (though the brothers actually flew the airplane first in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, which claims to be the "First in Flight"). Ohio, however, has other claims to the nickname. Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk the moon was an Ohioan, as was former U.S. Senator and astronaut John Glenn, who was the first American in space. Ohio has also been home to 23 other astronauts, the Wright Patterson Air Force Base, the NASA John H. Glenn Research Center, and National Museum of the United States Air Force.
Get in
By plane
By car
The State of Ohio is served by the following interstate highways:
By train
By boat
Many boaters utilize the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence Seaway and their connection points as a travel route. There are many marinas and public boat ramps available for this purpose. Also, the Great Lakes Cruising Company and the American Canadian Caribbean Line provide cruises that include Cleveland on the itineria. There are also steamboat and cruise options connecting points along Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
Get around
Most points within Ohio are easily accessible by auto with longest distances across the state of about 300 miles and less than 5 hours in driving time. For instance, driving from Cleveland-to-Columbus and Columbus-to-Cincinnati via I-71 takes about 2 hours (give or take 15 minutes). The larger cities in the state all have public mass transit systems.
By bus
By car
See
If you want to string together an itinery of all things Ohio, below are some themes that can guide you throughout the Buckeye State.
Museums, Galleries, and Zoos
Itineraries
Do
Festivals
Sports
Amusement parks
Ohio has been nicknamed the "Roller Coaster Capital of the World" due to the number of record breaking amusement park rides that call Ohio home. The two most noteworthy parks in Ohio are Cedar Point and King's Island.
Eat
Not only are there great places to dine and things to eat throughout Ohio, but these cuisines, several of which define American Food, were born in Ohio:
Drink
Ohio Wineries
The first major winery in Ohio was founded by Nicholas Longworth near the banks of the Ohio River in Southwest Ohio. Due to the fertile land wine producing became one Ohio's important industry's and at by the 1860's was leading the U.S. in wine production. Due to crop disasters and prohibition wine producing in Ohio dwindled. Wines produced in Ohio have become increasingly popular, though, still largely undiscovered by tourists and locals alike.
Stay healthy
Ohioans passed "SmokeFree Ohio" ballot measure in 2006 banning smoking in most public areas with very few exceptions. Hotels that have designated smoking rooms in hotels, motels, and other lodging facilities may still allow smoking in smoking rooms under the new law. Restaurants and bars are forbidden from allowing smoking on their premises unless they have an outdoor patio. The law takes effect December 7, 2006. If you're at a place that is in violation of the law you can report the violation to the Ohio Department of Health by calling the toll-free number: 1-866-559-6446. Alternatively, you can email a complaint to . You must include the following information for a complaint to be followed up on: the business' name, nature of the complaint, a complete address; including the street number, street name, city and zip code. While the smoking ban is in effect it will not be enforced until April or May of 2007, at the earliest. The reason for this is due to a lawsuit filed by the Buckeye Liquor Permit Holders Association to have the law overturned.
Stay safe
In general, Ohio is a fairly safe state. The biggest threat toward all visitors is the weather. Ohio's climate consists of four very distinct seasons. The spring, late fall, and even early winter can bring strong storms and tornadoes. Tornadoes, particularly common in southwestern Ohio, have been reported as late as late November.
The winter, especially, in northern Ohio can see snow storms, particularly in the Snow Belt region, which is subject to Lake Effect Snow, located east and northeast of Cleveland.
Summers, are normally hot and very humid. Smog warnings are also common throughout the summer and it is advised that no one be outside for extended times without plenty of water. Be sure to keep yourself hydrated during the summer.
Although extremely rare, relatively minor earthquakes can occur in Ohio. Ohio partially falls on the New Madrid Faultline, which has been responsible for several violent earthquakes.
Ohio (IPA: /oʊˈhaɪ.oʊ/) is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. Part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads. At the time of European contact and in the years which followed, Native Americans in today's Ohio included the Iroquois, Miamis, and Wyandots. Beginning in the 1700s, the area was settled by people from New England, the Middle States, Appalachia, and the upper south.
Prior to 1984, the United States Census Bureau considered Ohio part of the North Central Region. That region was renamed "Midwest" and split into two divisions. Ohio is now in the East North Central States division.
Ohio was the first state admitted to the Union under the Northwest Ordinance. Its U.S. postal abbreviation is OH; its old-style abbreviation is O. Natives of Ohio are known as Ohioans.
Etymology
The name "Ohio" derives from the Seneca word ohi:yo’, meaning "beautiful river" or "large creek", which was originally the name of both the Ohio River and Allegheny River.
History
Native Americans
After the so-called Beaver Wars, the powerful Iroquois confederation of the New York-area claimed much of the Ohio country as a hunting and, probably most importantly, a beaver-trapping ground. After the devastation of epidemics and war in the mid-1600s, which had largely emptied the Ohio country of indigenous people by the mid-to-late seventeenth century, the land gradually became repopulated by the mostly Algonquian-speaking descendants of its ancient inhabitants, that is, descendants of the Adena, Hopewell, and Mississippian cultures. Many of these Ohio-country nations were multi-ethnic and sometimes multi-linguistic societies born out of the earlier devastation brought about by disease, subsequent social instability, Iroquois. They subsisted on agriculture (corn, sunflowers, beans, etc.) supplemented by seasonal hunts. By the 1650s they were very much part of a larger global economy brought about by fur trade.
The indigenous nations to inhabit Ohio in the historical period (most clearly after 1700), included the Miamis (a large confederation), Wyandots (made up of refugees, especially from the fractured Huron confederacy), Delawares (pushed west from their historic homeland in New Jersey), Shawnees (also pushed west, although they may be descended from the Fort Ancient people of Ohio), Ottawas (more commonly associated with the upper Great Lakes region), Mingos (like the Wyandot, a recently-formed composite of refugees from Iroquois and other societies), and Eries (gradually absorbed into the new, multi-ethnic "republics," namely the Wyandot).
Ohio country was also the site of Indian massacres, such as the Yellow Creek Massacre (Chief Logan) and Gnadenhutten.
Colonial and Revolutionary Eras
During the 18th century, the French set up a system of trading posts to control the fur trade in the region.
In 1754, France and Great Britain fought a war known in the United States as the French and Indian War. As a result of the Treaty of Paris, the French ceded control of Ohio and the rest of the Old Northwest to Great Britain. Pontiac's Rebellion in the 1760s challenged British military control, which ended with the American victory in the American Revolution. In the Treaty of Paris in 1783 Britain ceded all claims to Ohio to the United States.
Northwest Territory: 1787-1803
The United States created the Northwest Territory under the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Slavery was not permitted. Settlement began with the founding of Marietta by the Ohio Company of Associates, which had been formed by a group of American Revolutionary War veterans. Following the Ohio Company, the Miami Company (also referred to as the "Symmes Purchase") claimed the southwestern section and the Connecticut Land Company surveyed and settled the Connecticut Western Reserve in present-day Northeast Ohio. The old Northwest Territory originally included areas that had previously been known as Ohio Country and Illinois Country. As Ohio prepared for statehood, Indiana Territory was created, reducing the Northwest Territory to approximately the size of present-day Ohio plus the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and the eastern tip of the Upper Peninsula.
Under the Northwest Ordinance, any of the states to be formed out of the Northwest Territory would be admitted as a state once the population exceeded 60,000. Although Ohio's population numbered only 45,000 in December 1801, Congress determined that the population was growing rapidly and Ohio could begin the path to statehood with the assumption that it would exceed 60,000 residents by the time it would become a state. On February 19 1803, President Jefferson signed an act of Congress that approved Ohio's boundaries and constitution. However, Congress never passed a resolution formally admitting Ohio as the 17th state. The current custom of Congress declaring an official date of statehood did not begin until 1812, with Louisiana's admission as the 18th state. Although no formal resolution of admission was required, when the oversight was discovered in 1953, Ohio congressman George H. Bender introduced a bill in Congress to admit Ohio to the Union retroactive to March 1 1803. At a special session at the old state capital in Chillicothe, the Ohio state legislature approved a new petition for statehood that was delivered to Washington, D.C. on horseback. On August 7 1953 (the year of Ohio's 150th anniversary), President Eisenhower signed an act that officially declared March 1 1803 the date of Ohio's admittance into the Union.
Statehood: 1803 - present
Eight U.S. presidents hailed from Ohio at the time of their elections, giving rise to the nickname "Mother of Presidents", a sobriquet it shares with Virginia. Seven presidents were born in Ohio, making it second to Virginia's eight, but Virginia-born William Henry Harrison and his grandson, Benjamin Harrison, (who also lived part of his adult life in Indiana) settled in, led their political careers from and/or were buried in North Bend, Ohio on the family compound, founded by William's father-in-law John Cleves Symmes.
In 1835, Ohio fought a mostly bloodless boundary war with Michigan over the Toledo Strip known as the Toledo War. Congress intervened and, as a condition for admittance as a state of the Union, Michigan was forced to accept the western two-thirds of the Upper Peninsula, in addition to the eastern third that was already part of the state, in exchange for giving up its claim to the Toledo Strip. (A war between two states may be unusual, but the Toledo War is not unique; Pennsylvania and Maryland fought Cresap's War over a border dispute a century earlier.)
Ohio's central position and its population gave it an important place during the Civil War, and the Ohio River was a vital artery for troop and supply movements, as were Ohio's railroads. At the End of the Civil War the three top Union generals were all from Ohio, Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan. Ohio also contributed more soldiers per-capita than any other state in the Union.
In 1912 a Constitutional Convention was held with Charles B. Galbreath as Secretary. The result reflected the concerns of the Progressive Era. It introduced the initiative and the referendum, allowed the General Assembly to put questions on the ballot for the people to ratify laws and constitutional amendments originating in the Legislature as well. Under the Jeffersonian principle that laws should be reviewed once a generation, the constitution provided for a recurring question to appear on Ohio's general election ballots every 20 years. The question asks whether a new convention is required. Although the question has appeared in 1932, 1952, 1972, and 1992, it has never been approved. Instead constitutional amendments have been proposed by petition to the legislature hundreds of times and adopted in a majority of cases.
Law and government
Ohio's capital is Columbus, located close to the center of the state. Governor Ted Strickland took office as governor in January 2007. Ohio has 18 seats in the United States House of Representatives.
Geography
Ohio's geographic location has proved to be an asset for economic growth and expansion. Because Ohio links the Northeast to the Midwest, much cargo and business traffic passes through its borders on its well-developed highways. Ohio has the nation's 10th largest highway network, and is within a one-day drive of 50% of North America's population and 70% of North America's manufacturing capacity. To the North, Lake Erie gives Ohio 312 miles (502 km) of coastline, which allows for numerous seaports. Ohio's southern border is defined by the Ohio River (with the border being at the 1793 low-water mark on the north side of the river), and much of the northern border is defined by Lake Erie. Ohio's neighbors are Pennsylvania to the east, Michigan to the northwest, Ontario to the north, Indiana to the west, Kentucky on the south, and West Virginia on the southeast.
Ohio's borders were defined by metes and bounds in the Enabling Act of 1802 as follows:
Note that Ohio is bounded by the Ohio River, but the river itself belongs mostly to Kentucky and West Virginia. The border with Michigan, has also changed, as a result of the Toledo War, to angle slightly northeast to the north shore of the mouth of the Maumee River.
Much of Ohio features glaciated plains, with an exceptionally flat area in the northwest being known as the Great Black Swamp. This glaciated region in the northwest and central state is bordered to the east and southeast first by a belt known as the glaciated Allegheny Plateau, and then by another belt known as the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. Most of Ohio is of low relief, but the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau features rugged hills and forests.
The rugged southeastern quadrant of Ohio, stretching in an outward bow-like arc along the Ohio River from the West Virginia Panhandle to the outskirts of Cincinnati, forms a distinct socio-economic unit. Known somewhat erroneously as Ohio's "Appalachian Counties" (they are actually in the Allegheny Plateau), this area's coal mining legacy, dependence on small pockets of old manufacturing establishments, and even distinctive regional dialect set this section off from the rest of the state and, unfortunately, create a limited opportunity to participate in the generally high economic standards of Ohio. In 1965 the United States Congress passed the Appalachian Regional Development Act, at attempt to "address the persistent poverty and growing economic despair of the Appalachian Region." This act defines 29 Ohio counties as part of Appalachia. While 1/3 of Ohio's land mass is part of the federally defined Appalachian region, only 12.8% of Ohioans live there (1.476 million people.)
Significant rivers within the state include the Cuyahoga River, Great Miami River, Maumee River, Muskingum River, and Scioto River. The rivers in the northern part of the state drain into the northern Atlantic Ocean via Lake Erie and the St. Lawrence River, and the rivers in the southern part of the state drain into the Gulf of Mexico via the Ohio and then the Mississippi. The worst weather disaster in Ohio history occurred along the Great Miami River in 1913. Known as the Great Dayton Flood, the entire Miami River watershed flooded, including the downtown business district of Dayton. As a result, the Miami Conservancy District was created as the first major flood plain engineering project in Ohio and the United States.
Grand Lake St. Marys in the west central part of the state was constructed as a supply of water for canals in the canal-building era of 1820–1850. For many years this body of water, over 20 square miles (52 km²), was the largest artificial lake in the world. It should be noted that Ohio's canal-building projects were not the economic fiasco that similar efforts were in other states. Some cities, such as Dayton, owe their industrial emergence to location on canals, and as late as 1910 interior canals carried much of the bulk freight of the state.
Climate
The climate of Ohio is a humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dfa) throughout most of the state except in the extreme southern counties of Ohio's Bluegrass region section which are located on the northern periphery of the humid subtropical climate and Upland South region of the United States. Summers are hot and humid throughout the State, while winters are generally cool to cold. Precipitation is moderate year-round. Severe weather is not uncommon in the State as it is a battleground between cold Arctic air and warm Gulf air for much of the year, although there are fewer tornadoes in Ohio than in states farther to the west. Severe lake effect snowstorms are also not uncommon on the southeast shore of Lake Erie, which also provides a moderating effect on the climate there.
Although predominantly not in a subtropical climate, some warmer-climate flora and fauna does reach well into Ohio. Evidencing this climatic transition from a subtropical to continental climate, several plants such as the Southern magnolia, Albizia julibrissin(mimosa), Crape Myrtle, and even the occasional Needle Palm are hardy landscape materials regularly used as street, yard, and garden plantings in the Bluegrass region of Ohio; but, these same plants will simply not thrive in much of the rest of the State. This interesting change may be observed while traveling through Ohio on Interstate 75 from Cincinnati to Toledo; the observant traveler of this diverse state may even catch a glimpse of Cincinnati's common wall lizard, one of the few examples of permanent "subtropical" fauna in Ohio.
Annual Averages
Records
The highest recorded temperature was 113 °F (45 °C), near Gallipolis on July 21 1934.The lowest recorded temperature was -39 °F (-39 °C), at Milligan on February 10 1899.Important cities
metropolitan area 2,113,011 metropolitan area 2,250,871 metropolitan area 1,725,570
Note: The Cincinnati metropolitan area extends into Kentucky and Indiana, and the Youngstown metropolitan area extends into Pennsylvania.
Economy
Ohio is a major producer of machines, tires and rubber products, steel, processed foods, tools, and other manufactured goods. This is not immediately obvious because Ohio specializes in capital goods (goods used to make other goods, such as machine tools, automobile parts, industrial chemicals, and plastic moldings). Nevertheless, there are well known Ohio consumer items including some Procter & Gamble products, Smuckers jams and jellies, and Day-Glo paints.
Ohio is the site of the invention of the airplane, resulting from the experiments of the Wright brothers in Dayton. Production of aircraft in the USA is now centered elsewhere, but a large experimental and design facility, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has been located near Dayton and serves in the co-ordination of production of US military aircraft. On the base are located Wright Hill and Huffman Prairie, where many of the earliest aerodynamic experiments of the Wright brothers were performed. Ohio today also has many aerospace, defense, and NASA parts and systems suppliers scattered throughout the state.
As part of the Corn Belt, agriculture also plays an important role in the state's economy. There is also a small commercial fishing sector on Lake Erie, and the principal catch is yellow perch. In addition, Ohio's historical attractions, varying landscapes, and recreational opportunities are the basis for a thriving tourist industry. Over 2,500 lakes and 43,000 miles (70,000 km) of river landscapes are a paradise for boaters, fishermen, and swimmers. Three major amusement parks, Cedar Point, Geauga Lake, and Kings Island, are also important to the tourism industry. Of special historical interest are the Native American archaeological sites—including grave mounds and other sites.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Ohio's gross state product in 2004 was $419 billion[1]. Per capita personal income in 2003 was $30,129, 25th in the nation. Ohio's agricultural outputs are soybeans, dairy products, corn, tomatoes, hogs, cattle, poultry, and egg. Its industrial outputs are transportation equipment, fabricated metal products, machinery, food processing, and electricity equipment.
Ohio is recognized for its health care, due to several flagship hospitals that operate in the northeast region of the state. The Cleveland Clinic, ranked among the three leading hospitals in the U.S., has its world headquarters and main campus in Cleveland. Its rival, the University Hospitals of Cleveland health system, includes the Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, ranked among the top ten children's hospitals in the country.
Demographics
As of 2006, Ohio has an estimated population of 11,478,006,which is an increase of 7,321 from the prior year and an increase of 124,861 since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 263,004 people (that is 938,169 births minus 675,165 deaths) and a decrease from net migration of -145,718. Immigration from outside the United States contributed of a growth of 92,101 people, most coming from Asia, yet net migration within the country resulted in a decrease of 237,819 people. Ohio has witnessed an increase in the Laotian American and Thai American populations, as well as Asian Indians and Latin Americans.
The center of population of Ohio is also located in Morrow County, in the county seat of Mount Gilead [2].As of 2004, Ohio's population included about 390,000 foreign-born (3.4%).
The largest ancestry groups in Ohio are German (25.2%), Irish (12.7%), African American (11.5%), English (9.2%), American (8.5%), and Italian (6.0%).
German is the largest reported ancestry in most of the counties in Ohio, especially in the northwest. Ohioans who cited American and British ancestry are present throughout the state as well, particularly in the south-central part of the state. The cities of Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Dayton have large African-American communities. The cities of Cleveland and Toledo have sizable Hispanic populations, while the Cleveland and Columbus areas have the largest Asian populations. Greater Cleveland is home to a notably large Jewish community. Other Ohio cities, such as Cincinnati, also have sizable Jewish populations.Today, Dayton remains largely segergrated with African-Americans residing on the west side of the city, and White residences on the east in the city proper.
6.6% of Ohio's population were reported as under 5, 25.4% under 18, and 13.3% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 51.4% of the population.
Political demographics and history
"This slice of the mid-west contains a bit of everything American—part north-eastern and part southern, part urban and part rural, part hardscrabble poverty and part booming suburb," notes The Economist.
Politically, Ohio is considered a swing state. The mixture of urban and rural areas, and the presence of both large blue-collar industries and significant white-collar commercial districts leads to a balance of conservative and liberal population that (together with the state's 20 electoral votes, more than most swing states) makes the state very important to the outcome of national elections. Ohio was a deciding state in the 2004 presidential election between George W. Bush and John Kerry. Bush narrowly won the state's 20 electoral votes by a margin of 2 percentage points and 50.8% of the vote [3]. The state supported Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, but supported Republican George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. Ohio was also a deciding factor in the 1948 presidential election when Democrat Harry S. Truman defeated Republican Thomas Dewey (who had won the state four years earlier) and in the 1976 presidential election when Democrat Jimmy Carter defeated Republican Gerald Ford by a slim margin in Ohio and took the election.
Ohio's demographics cause many to consider the state as a microcosm of the nation as a whole. A Republican presidential candidate has never won the White House without winning Ohio, and Ohio has gone to the winner of the election in all but two contests since 1892, backing only losers Thomas E. Dewey in 1944 (Ohio's John Bricker was his running mate) and Richard M. Nixon in 1960. Consequently, the state is very important to the campaigns of both major parties. Ohio had 20 electoral votes in the Electoral College in 2004.
The most solidly Democratic areas of the state are in the northeast, including Cleveland, Youngstown, Lorain/Elyria, and other industrial areas. Specifically, the core of this region includes eight counties stretching east along Lake Erie from Erie County to the Pennsylvania border and south to Mahoning County. Southwestern Ohio, especially the suburbs of Cincinnati, Warren County, Butler County, and Clermont County is particularly Republican.
Ohio is known as the "Modern Mother of Presidents", having sent eight of its native sons to the White House. Seven of them were Republicans, and the other was a member of the Whig Party.
"Ohio has excelled as a recruiting-ground for national political leaders. Between the Civil War and 1920, seven Ohioans were elected to the presidency, ending with Harding's election in 1920. At the same time, six Ohioans sat on the US Supreme Court and two served as Chief Justices....'Not since the Virginia dynasty dominated national government during the early years of the Republic' notes historian R. Douglas Hurt, 'had a state made such a mark on national political affairs.'
Ohioans dominated national politics for seventy years, because Ohio was to a large extent a microcosm of the nation. Hurt writes that the elements of that microcosm were 'the diversity of the people, the strength of the industrial and agricultural economy, and the balance between rural and urban populations.' He continues: 'The individuals who played major roles in national affairs appealed to broad national constituencies because they learned their skills in Ohio, where political success required candidates to reconcile wide differences among the voters. Ohioans were northerners and southerners as well as easterners and westerners. Consequently, Ohio's politicians addressed constituencies that were the same as those across the nation.' Finally, the pragmatic and centrist character of Ohio politics, Hurt asserts, has made it 'job-oriented rather than issue oriented.'"
Education
Ohio's system of public education is outlined in the state constitution's Article VI and Ohio's Revised Code Title XXXIII. Ohio's system is substantially similar to other states'. Ohio has a Department of Education, a State Board of Education, and then nearly 700 districts that have their own boards of education and administrations. The Ohio Board of Regents governs and assists with Ohio's system of higher education, especially public colleges and universities.
Colleges and universities
- 13 state universities
- University of Akron, Akron, Ohio
- Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio
- Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio
- University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio
- Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
- Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
- Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
- Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
- Shawnee State University, Portsmouth, Ohio
- University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio
- Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio (Fairborn, Ohio)
- Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio
- (note: the University of Dayton is not one of Ohio's state universities; it is a private, Roman Catholic university run by the Society of Mary)
- 24 state university branch and regional campuses
- 46 liberal arts colleges and universities
- 6 free-standing state-assisted medical schools
- University of Toledo College of Medicine (formerly Medical University of Ohio)
- Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
- Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health
- Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine
- University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
- Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine
- 2 private medical schools
- Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine
- Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
- 15 community colleges
- 8 technical colleges
- over 24 independent non-profit colleges
Ohio is home to some of the nation's highest-ranking public libraries. The 2006 study by Thomas J. Hennen Jr. ranked Ohio as number one in a state-by-state comparison. For 2006, Ohio's three largest library systems were all ranked in the top ten for American cities of 500,000 or more:
- Cuyahoga County Public Library (first)
- Columbus Metropolitan Library (third)
- The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (eighth)
Ohio also offers the OhioLINK program, allowing Ohio's libraries (particularly those from colleges and universities) access to materials in other libraries. The program is largely successful in allowing researchers access to books and other media that might not otherwise be available.
Sports
Ohio is home to many professional sports teams, including six major professional sports league franchises. Ohio is currently the only state to have teams in each of the major leagues where no one city or metro area could lay claim to the "Grand Slam," although Cleveland had Grand Slam status from 1974 to 1976. The state is one of eight which could host an in-state World Series, although that matchup (Reds vs Indians) has never occurred. The Cincinnati Reds were the world's first openly all-professional team.
Transportation
Many major east-west transportation corridors go through Ohio. One of those pioneer routes, known in the early 1900s as "Ohio Market Route 3", was chosen in 1913 to become part of the historic Lincoln Highway which was the first road across America, connecting New York City to San Francisco. In Ohio, the Lincoln Highway linked many towns and cities together, including Canton, Mansfield, Lima, and Van Wert. The arrival of the Lincoln Highway to Ohio was a major influence on the development of the state. Upon the advent of the federal numbered highway system in 1926, the Lincoln Highway through Ohio became U.S. Highway 30.
Ohio also is home to 228 miles of the Historic National Road.
Ohio has a highly developed network of roads and interstate highways. Major east-west through routes include the Ohio Turnpike (I-80/I-90) in the north, I-76 through Akron to Pennsylvania, U.S. 30 (the Lincoln Highway) a bit further south through Canton, Mansfield, Lima, and Van Wert, I-70 through Columbus and Dayton, and the Appalachian Highway (Ohio 32) running from West Virginia to Cincinnati. Major north-south routes include I-75 in the west through Toledo, Dayton, and Cincinnati, I-71 through the middle of the state from Cleveland through Columbus and Cincinnati into Kentucky, and I-77 in the eastern part of the state from Cleveland through Akron, Canton, New Philadelphia and Marietta down into West Virginia. Interstate 75 between Cincinnati & Dayton is one of the heaviest section of traveled interstate in Ohio.
Air travel includes Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, which is a major hub for Continental Airlines, as well as Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (located in the state of Kentucky), which is a major hub for Delta Air Lines. Other major airports are located in Dayton, Columbus, and Akron-Canton. Skybus Airlines is an airline started and based in Columbus, which started operations on May 22, 2007.
Transportation Lists
- List of Ohio state highways
- List of Ohio train stations
- List of Ohio railroads
- List of Ohio rivers
- Historic Ohio Canals
- State animal: White-tailed Deer
- State bird: Cardinal
- State capital: Columbus
- State flower: Scarlet Carnation
- State wildflower: Large white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)
- State insect: Ladybug Beetle
- State song: "Beautiful Ohio"
- State rock song: "Hang On Sloopy"
- State tree: Buckeye
- State fossil: Trilobite genus Isotelus
- State drink: Tomato juice
- State reptile: Black racer snake
- State gemstone: Ohio Flint
- State motto: "With God all things are possible."
- Unofficial Motto 1: "The heart of it all!" Used on Ohio's license plates and welcome signs between the years 1991 and 2001.
- Unofficial Motto 2: "So much to discover." Adopted as part of state bicentennial campaign. Also used on welcome signs since 2001.
- Unofficial Motto 3: "Birthplace Of Aviation" Used on Ohio license plates and welcome signs since 2001. It also appears in Ohio's design for the 50 State Quarters program.
- The Ohio-class SSBN program and the first ship of the program, the USS Ohio (SSBN-726), were named after Ohio.
- State of Ohio Official Website
- State of Ohio Official Travel and Tourism Website
- USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Ohio
- U.S. Census Bureau
- Ohio State Facts
