Celina, Ohio

Celina, Ohio
City
City Hall
Motto:  "One Of The 100 Best Small Towns!"
Location of Celina, Ohio
Country	United States
State	Ohio
County	Mercer
Government
• Mayor	Jeffrey Hazel
Area
• Total	5.27 sq mi (13.65 km2)
• Land	4.98 sq mi (12.90 km2)
• Water	0.29 sq mi (0.75 km2)
Elevation Template:GR	876 ft (267 m)
Population  (2010)
• Total	10,400
• Estimate  (2012)	10,395
• Density	2,088.4/sq mi (806.3/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP codes	45822, 45826
Area code	419
FIPS code	39-12868Template:GR
GNIS feature ID	1048589Template:GR
Website	City of Celina, Ohio

Celina (/səˈlaɪnə/ sə-LY-nə) is a city in and the county seat of Mercer County, Ohio, United States.Template:GR The population was 10,400 at the 2010 census. Celina is situated on the western shores of Grand Lake St. Marys.

History

James Watson Riley established Celina in 1834. Celina is the county seat of Mercer County. While traveling through New York state to get the town plat lithographed, Riley came across the town of Salina situated on the edge of Onondaga Lake near Syracuse. Noting the similarity between Salina and the newly founded settlement in Ohio, he named the new town Celina. The spelling was changed to avoid confusion at the post office, or so the story is told from past legends. Another legend has it that the spelling was changed because in Salina, NY, Main Street is oriented east-west (also Market Street is oriented north-south), where in Celina, OH, Main Street is oriented north-south (and Market Steet is oriented east-west).

Celina grew slowly after its founding in 1834. In 1880, only 1,346 people resided in the community, but over the next decade, Celina’s population nearly doubled to 2,684 inhabitants. The primary reason for this population growth was the discovery of oil and natural gas deposits during the 1880s. In 1886, Celina contained three newspaper offices, five churches, and two banks. Numerous manufacturing establishments existed in the community, most of which provided services or products to farmers in the surrounding countryside. This has held true throughout the twentieth century. In 2010, Celina was the largest municipality in Mercer County, with a population of 10,400 people.

Geography

Celina is located at 40°33′5″N 84°34′12″W (40.551459, -84.570057),Template:GR at an elevation of 886 feet (270 m). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.27 square miles (13.65 km²), of which, 4.98 square miles (12.90 km²) is land and 0.29 square miles (0.75 km²) is water.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1870	859		—
1880	1,346		56.7%
1890	2,702		100.7%
1900	2,815		4.2%
1910	3,493		24.1%
1920	4,226		21.0%
1930	4,664		10.4%
1940	4,841		3.8%
1950	5,703		17.8%
1960	7,659		34.3%
1970	7,779		1.6%
1980	9,127		17.3%
1990	9,650		5.7%
2000	10,303		6.8%
2010	10,400		0.9%
2012 (est.)	10,621		2.1%
U.S. Decennial Census

Religion in Celina
religion			percent
Protestant			41.2%
Roman Catholic			39.8%
No Religion			12.4%
Other			1.8%
"Unspecified"			4.7%

The median income for a household in the city was $42,120, and the median income for a family was $48,965. The per capita income for the city was $20,848. About 12.7% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010 census

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2010, there were 10,400 people, 4,264 households, and 2,791 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,087.9 people per square mile (906.2/km²). There were 4,841 housing units at an average density of 1,017.3 per square mile (392.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.9% White, 0.5% African American, 0.4% Native American, 1.2% Asian, 0.4% Pacific Islander. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.8% of the population.

There were 4,329 households of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.5% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.5% were non-families. 30.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 27.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.9% under the age of 19, 24.4% from 20 to 39, 26.2% from 40 to 59, 15.5% from 60 to 79, and 6.1% who were 80 years of age or older. The median age was 38.3 years.

Economy

Huffy Bicycle and Mersman Furniture formerly had manufacturing plants in Celina but have since closed. Companies such as Celina Aluminum Precision Technology—a Honda supplier—, Crown Equipment Corporation (located in Huffy's former location), and Reynolds and Reynolds are the largest manufacturing employers.Eighth Floor, LLC, Thieman Tailgates, McKirnan Brothers, Inc. and Celina Tent Inc. are also based out of Celina. There are also lot of farms as a result of the rich soil after the draining. Celina grows mainly soybeans, corn, and potatoes.

Arts and culture

Celina Lake Festival

During the last weekend in July, Celina hosts the annual Celina Lake Festival to celebrate Celina's history on Grand Lake St. Marys. The Lake Festival is host to one of the largest Amphicar gatherings in the world. The cars gather on Friday night for a "swim-in".Celina is also home to the Mercer County Fairgrounds. The county fair is held here every year with many arts and crafts,livestock, food, rides, and the hard hitting demolition derby.

Mercer County Fair Demo Derby

Freedom Days Picnic

Celina hosts the annual Freedom Days Picnic in early July in honor of American Independence.

Education

Public schools

Celina Public Schools belong to the Celina City School District. The district has three elementary schools, a middle school and a high school.

The schools include East Elementary School (K-4), West Elementary School (K-4), Celina Intermediate Elementary School (5-6), Celina Middle School (7-8), and Celina High School (9-12). There is an alternative high school located at the Education Complex.

The Celina-Mercer County Head Start Program is for children in Pre-School. There are two locations in the Celina district where Head Start is located: The Celina City Schools Education Complex and the Celina City Schools Franklin Building.

There are Tri-Star classes located at the Celina freshman High School, the Celina City Schools Education Complex, and the Franklin Building.

Colleges and universities

Wright State University's Lake Campus is located off State Route 703 on 600 Lake Campus Drive in Celina.

• Wright State University Lake Campus

Media

Grand Lake

Celina is served by a daily newspaper,The Daily Standard, first published in 1848. It circulates about 10,000 copies a day.

Celina is also served by three local radio stations, WCSM AM and FM and WKKI FM. WCSM-FM broadcasts at 96.7 and plays adult contemporary music. WCSM-AM broadcasts at 1350 and features news, talk, and the Music of Your Life adult standards format. WKKI broadcasts at 94.3 and plays rock.

Notable people

• David Esrati, activist.
• Keith Faber, 94th President of the Ohio Senate
• Tennyson Guyer, Former Mayor of Celina and member of the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1981.
• Frank Le Blond Kloeb, Member of the United States House of Representatives from 1933 to 1937.
• Charles Hubert Le Blond 4th Roman Catholic Bishop of St. Joseph, Missouri.
• Shelly Mars, performance artist, actor, and printmaker.
• Wendell Mobley, Country Music songwriter.
• Jim Otis, American football player.
• Cody Reichard, Ice hockey player.
• Keven Stammen, poker player.
• Jackie Tavener, baseball player.
• William E. Tou Velle, Member of the United States House of Representatives from 1907 to 1911.
• Samuel J. Vining, Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1911 to 1913.
• Mike Wessel, Mixed martial arts fighter
• Mildred Wolfe, artist.

External links

• City of Celina
• Celina Library