Fremont, Ohio

Fremont, Ohio
—  City  —
Downtown Fremont, Ohio on South Front Street.
Nickname(s): Cutlery Capitol of the World
Location of Fremont, Ohio
Coordinates: 41°20′56″N 83°7′2″W
Country	United States
State	Ohio
County	Sandusky
Government
• Mayor	Jim Ellis
Area
• Total	7.8 sq mi (20.0 km2)
• Land	7.5 sq mi (19.5 km2)
• Water	0.2 sq mi (0.6 km2)
Elevation	627 ft (191 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	17,375
• Density	2,313.1/sq mi (893.1/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	43420
Area code(s)	419, 567
FIPS code	39-28826
GNIS feature ID	1040674
Website	http://www.fremontohio.org/

Fremont is a city in and the county seat of Sandusky County, Ohio, United States. The population was 17,375 at the 2000 census. It was the home of Rutherford B. Hayes, who served as President of the United States from 1877 to 1881. The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center remains one of the focal points of Fremont, OH. The National Arbor Day Foundation designated Fremont as a Tree City USA.^{[citation needed]}

Geography

Fremont is located at 41°20′56″N 83°7′2″W (41.348909, -83.117123), along the Sandusky River.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.7 square miles (20 km²), of which, 7.5 square miles (19 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km²) of it (2.85%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 17,375 people, 6,856 households, and 4,374 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,313.1 people per square mile (893.3/km²). There were 7,368 housing units at an average density of 980.9 per square mile (378.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 82.24% White, 8.29% African American, 0.18% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 5.85% from other races, and 3.19% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.32% of the population.

There were 6,856 households out of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 16.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.06.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.6% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 89.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,051, and the median income for a family was $39,439. Males had a median income of $32,453 versus $22,048 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,014. About 9.8% of families and 12.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.8% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Sandusky County Courthouse in Fremont.

• Mayor - Jim Ellis - Democrat
• City Safety Service Director - Samuel Derr

City Council

Office	Name	Party
President of Council	O. Duane Simmons	Democrat
Councilman-at-Large	Mike Koebel	Republican
Councilman-at-Large	Larry Jackson	Democrat
Councilman-at-Large	Jim Melle	Democrat
1st Ward Councilman	Don Nalley	Democrat
2nd Ward Councilwoman	Bob Marker	Democrat
3rd Ward Councilman	Jim Weaver	Democrat
4th Ward Councilman	Rick Root	Republican
Council Clerk	Linda Swartz	N/A

Economy

• A Heinz ketchup plant is located in this town and is active.

• Ed Valenti and Barry Becher, founders of the Rhode Island based direct marketing agency Dial Media, found a set of knives made in Fremont, Ohio by the Douglas Quikut Division of Scott Fetzer. Originally called Eversharp, Valenti and Becher decided that they had to come up with a more alluring name before the product could become a true success and catch on in mainstream media.^{[citation needed]} After some discussion, the pair came up with the Japanese-sounding name Ginsu (Kanji Japanese: 銀簾, Hiragana: ぎんす).

Cutlery Capitol of the World

• The Christy Company
• Clauss Cutlery Company
• Quikut
• B.A.P. Manufacturing
• Ginsu Cutlery Line

Landmarks

The Rutherford B. Hayes House at Spiegel Grove.

• Birchard Public Library (former site of Fort Stephenson)
• H. J. Heinz Company ketchup factory (the world's largest ketchup factory)
• Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
• Spiegel Grove
• Fremont Speedway

Hospital

• Memorial Hospital
• Physician's Choice Hospital

Media

Fremont's daily newspaper is The News-Messenger.

WFRO (99.1FM) "Eagle 99" broadcasts from Fremont. The callsign was also at one time used by a now-defunct AM station licensed to Fremont (at 900 kHz).

Education

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1850	1,464		—
1860	3,510		139.8%
1870	5,455		55.4%
1880	8,440		54.7%
1890	7,141		−15.4%
1900	8,439		18.2%
1910	9,939		17.8%
1920	12,468		25.4%
1930	13,422		7.7%
1940	14,710		9.6%
1950	16,537		12.4%
1960	18,767		13.5%
1970	18,490		−1.5%
1980	17,887		−3.3%
1990	17,648		−1.3%
2000	17,375		−1.5%

Fremont Public Schools enroll 4,450 students in public primary and secondary schools. The district administers 9 public schools including seven elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school, Fremont Ross. In addition, the city is home to one private catholic high school, SJCC, which is part of the Bishop Hoffman Catholic School (Sacred Heart Campus (Pre-3), St. Joseph Campus (4-8), and SJCC (9-12) which consolidated in the 2010-2011 school year {http://www.bishop-hoffman.net]. Fremont is also home to Terra Community College.

Notable natives and residents

• Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United States
• Bob Brudzinski, National Football League player
• Mark Coleman, mixed martial artist
• Paul Dietzel, college football coach
• Tony Little, television fitness personality
• Rob Lytle, National Football League player
• Charles Woodson, National Football League player

Transportation

The Norfolk Southern railroad serves the city. It uses parts of two defunct railroads as spurs to factories.

Two long-distance US routes run through Fremont, U.S. Route 6 and U.S. Route 20. State Routes 12, 19, 53 and 412 also pass through or terminate in the Fremont area. None of these routes actually pass through Fremont. Instead, they are all multiplexed on a bypass of the city, most of which is 4 lanes. The bypass has both grade level crossings and controlled access interchanges. Prior to the completion of the bypass in the late 1950's, all of these routes passed through Fremont. Their former alignments are currently signed as "City Route (number)" with the number being that of the predecessor highway.

The Ohio Turnpike, another long-distance east west route, passes approximately 4 miles north of the city. The Turnpike is signed as Interstates 80 and 90. Exit 91 (originally Exit 6) links the Turnpike to Fremont via State Route 53.

External links

• Fremont, Ohio Home Page
• Saint Joseph Central Catholic High School
• Fremont City Schools