OHOhio Fun Facts

Ohio spent 150 years as a state without the paperwork. Congress approved its constitution and boundaries in 1803 but never passed a formal resolution of admission. Someone noticed in 1953, and Congress fixed it that August with a resolution backdated to March 1, 1803.

Facts most people get wrong

• Ohio's flag is not a rectangle. It is a swallowtail burgee, the only non-rectangular state flag in the country, designed by John Eisenmann and adopted in 1902.
• Seven presidents were born in Ohio, not eight. Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, McKinley, Taft and Harding were born here. William Henry Harrison, the eighth in the usual count, was born in Virginia.
• The 1969 Cuyahoga River fire was not the first. The river had burned repeatedly since the 1860s and the 1952 fire did far more damage. The 1969 blaze got the national magazine coverage, which helped push through the EPA in 1970 and the Clean Water Act in 1972.
• Rock and roll was not invented in Cleveland. The Hall of Fame went there because DJ Alan Freed pushed the phrase on Cleveland radio, staged the Moondog Coronation Ball in 1952, and the city campaigned hard for the building.
• Columbus is the biggest city, not Cleveland or Cincinnati. It holds more residents than those two combined.
• Ohio built the airplane, North Carolina got the flight. The Wright brothers lived and built in Dayton and traveled to the Outer Banks for wind.

Records and firsts

• The Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first all-professional baseball team in 1869.
• Cleveland installed the first electric traffic signal in 1914, at Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street.
• Neil Armstrong, the first person on the Moon, was born in Wapakoneta in 1930. John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, grew up in New Concord.
• Superman was created in Cleveland by two high school students, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The character reached print in 1938.
• The NFL was founded in Canton in 1920, inside a Hupmobile dealership, which is why the Pro Football Hall of Fame sits there.
• Cedar Point in Sandusky opened in 1870 and carries one of the largest roller coaster collections of any park on earth.

Geography that surprises

• Ohio borders Canada. Its northern boundary runs out through Lake Erie to the Ontario line.
• Ohio does not own the Ohio River. The line with Kentucky and West Virginia sits at the northern low-water mark as it stood in 1792, so the water belongs to the neighbors.
• Ohio and Michigan fought over Toledo. The 1835 Toledo War ended with Ohio keeping the Toledo Strip and Michigan taking the Upper Peninsula instead.
• The highest point in the state, Campbell Hill at 1,549 feet, is lower than the lowest point of several western states.
• Lake Erie hands the northeast corner a snowbelt. Towns east of Cleveland measure lake-effect snow in feet while Cincinnati often stays bare.

Where the name comes from

Ohio is named for the river, and the river is named in Seneca. The word is ohi:yo', usually translated as good river or great river. French traders on the same water rendered the idea as la Belle Rivière. When Congress carved the first state out of the Northwest Territory in 1803, it took the river's name. Buckeye State is separate and much later: the Ohio buckeye drops a glossy brown nut with a pale patch that looks like a deer's eye, and the tree was made official in 1953.

Quick stats

• Capital and largest city: Columbus
• Admitted: March 1, 1803, the 17th state
• Area rank: 34th of 50 · Time zone: Eastern · Nickname: Buckeye State
• Motto: With God, all things are possible
• Bird: northern cardinal · Flower: scarlet carnation · Tree: Ohio buckeye

Common questions

What is Ohio known for?

Seven native-born presidents, the Wright brothers of Dayton, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Cedar Point, and the only non-rectangular state flag.

Why did Ohio become a state in 1953?

It did not, but the paperwork did. Congress approved Ohio's constitution and boundaries in 1803 without passing a formal admission resolution. The gap was noticed in 1953, and Congress passed one that August backdated to March 1, 1803.

Why is Ohio called the Buckeye State?

For the Ohio buckeye tree. Its nut is glossy brown with a pale spot that resembles the eye of a male deer. The tree became the official state tree in 1953.

Why is Ohio's flag not a rectangle?

It is a swallowtail burgee designed by John Eisenmann and adopted in 1902. It is the only state flag in the United States that is not a rectangle.

How many presidents came from Ohio?

Seven were born in Ohio: Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, McKinley, Taft and Harding. Ohio claims eight by adding William Henry Harrison, born in Virginia but based in Ohio.

Bordering states

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