Ohio Genealogy Fast Facts

• Statehood: 1803
• First extant federal census: 1820
• Available state censuses: Quadrennial voter “censuses” (1803-1911) on FHL microfilm
• Statewide birth and death records begin: 1908
• Statewide marriage records begin: 1949
• Public-land state
• Counties: 17 in 1803; 88 today; boundaries finalized in 1888
• Contact for vital records: Ohio Department of Health, Vital Statistics, Box 15098, Columbus, OH 43215, (614) 466-2531, 

Ohio Genealogy Websites, Books and Organizations

 

 

Timeline

1763 France cedes land east of the Mississippi to Britain in the Treaty of Paris

1814 America’s first oil well is drilled at Caldwell

1832 The Ohio and Erie Canal links the Ohio River at Portsmouth with Lake Erie at Cleveland

 

1833 The country’s first integrated, coeducational college opens in Oberlin

 

1869 Cincinnati’s Red Stockings become the first professional baseball team

1879 James Ritty of Dayton patents the cash register

1901 Actor Clark Gable is born in the eastern Ohio town of Cadiz

1937 Ohio River flooding in January and February devastates southern Ohio

1955 The Ohio Turnpike opens across northern Ohio

1969 Wapakoneta’s Neil Armstrong is the first man on the moon

1978 “WKRP in Cincinnati” sitcom debuts on CBS

1995 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum opens in Cleveland

 

Modern Map of County Boundaries

 

 Click here to see a detailed 1886 map of Ohio on the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection website.

 

From the January/February 2017 Family Tree Magazine