Allen County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. Its county seat and largest city is Lima. The county was created in 1820 and organized in 1831. The county is named in honor of Colonel John Allen, who was killed leading his men at the Battle of Frenchtown during the War of 1812.
Allen County comprises the Lima metropolitan statistical area, and as of the 2020 census, the population was 102,206. Allen County also comprises the entirety of the Lima, OH media market.
History
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Under the terms of the Treaty of Greenville signed in 1795, northwestern Ohio was reserved for Native Americans. Thus the area now comprising Allen County was off-limits to European settlement until the Treaty of Maumee Rapids in 1817. Under the terms of this treaty, the Shawnee tribe was assigned reservations at Wapakonetta and at their "Hog Creek" settlement along the Ottawa River which comprised most of what is the present-day Shawnee Township. The latter treaty opened the way for the Ohio Legislature on March 1, 1820, to create fourteen counties, including Allen, The organization of Bath Township predates that of Allen County, with its first township meeting held on March 2, 1829. On February 12, 1829, an act of the legislature set aside land for a "county town". Wood was appointed commissioner to determine the location of this "seat of justice" for Allen County. This was done on March 3, 1831, with Wood appointed as Town Director. He laid out plots of land to be sold in section 31 of Bath Township, and the plat was filed April 20, 1831, creating what was the beginning of the city of Lima.
Allen County organization's dates from the first meeting of the county commissioners, held on June 6, 1831. Present at this meeting were Commissioners James Daniels, John G. Wood, and Samuel Stewart. Also present was William G. Wood, county auditor; Adam White, county treasurer; and Henry Lippincott, sheriff.
The first court of justice was held in August 1831, They arrived at their new home with few provisions and immediately suffered an epidemic of cholera.
There were several practical implications of these changes to the boundaries of Allen County. Lima, the county seat, became near the county's center, rather than in the northern quarter. The county's western part gained a significant stretch of the Miami and Erie Canal, which was completed in 1845. The reorganization also brought the towns of Spencerville, laid out in 1844 on the canal, and Bluffton within the bounds of the county.
In 1885, oil was discovered in Lima. This began a boom in Allen County which lasted until after 1910.
Allen County Fair
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One of Allen County's notable annual events is its County Fair. Run every August in Lima since 1851, the Fair is among Western Ohio's foremost agricultural showcasing events. In 2005, there were over 220,000 visitors and almost 3,000 exhibitors, making it the largest in the state.
The fair attracted many nationally known performers during the 1980s and 1990s, and combined with significant renovations to the county show grounds, these factors led to a marked increase in attendance and notoriety over the past two decades.
Geography
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According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.1%) is water.
Adjacent counties
- Putnam County (north)
- Hancock County (northeast)
- Hardin County (east)
- Auglaize County (south)
- Van Wert County (west)