78 topographic sheets and 55 fire insurance atlases across 9 places.
This curated hub for Wayne County, Ohio brings together the page's documented record links, visible map or image evidence where published, and routes to related local records.
Use the page's provenance and linked records to distinguish the source material from the site's navigation and summaries.
Open the original record, preserve its repository and identifier, then use the citation tool for this page as a path back to the source.
Follow the county or state hub for related places and records, then use the guide for a source-aware research sequence.
18 National Register listings · 68 businesses named in the fire insurance atlases from 1888 to 1950 · the 1878 county history tells 0 stories and names 7 people · people the book names include Christian B. Beenneman (Wayne Township, 1889) (machine-read).
Sources: the county history on the Internet Archive · the National Register database, National Park Service
Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.
Every property in this county listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the year it was listed and the federal nomination document.
| Photograph | Property | Type | Listed | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Barnet-Hoover Log House | building | 1974 | 74001648 |
 | Beall, Gen. Reasin, House | building | 1976 | 76001548 |
 | Gasche, Charles, House | building | 1989 | 88003192 |
 | Gertenslager Carriage and Wagon Company | building | 1986 | 86000240 |
| Gish Farmhouses | building | 1982 | 13000897 | |
| Gish Farmhouses | building | 1982 | 13000897 | |
| Green Township High School | building | 2013 | 13000684 | |
 | Kister Mill | building | 1974 | 74001647 |
 | Liggett--Freedlander House | building | 1994 | 94000770 |
 | McSweeney, John, House | building | 1974 | 74001649 |
 | Old Wayne County Jail | building | 1982 | 82003665 |
| Overholt House | building | 1983 | 83004345 | |
| Schantz Organ Company | building | 2021 | 100006818 | |
| Smith Orr Homestead | building | 2011 | 11000370 | |
 | Walnut Street School | building | 1984 | 84003811 |
 | Wayne County Courthouse District | district | 1973 | 73001551 |
| Wooster Post Office (Wooster Board of Education) | building | 1978 | 78002213 | |
 | Zimmerman, Ezekiel B., Octagon House | building | 1975 | 75001553 |
Wayne County holds 0 covered bridges on the National Register, more than any other property type here. Each is a listed structure with a federal nomination on file.
Drawn when these were printed as single large sheets: the town seen from the air, and the county divided into its farms with every owner named. Each opens the original at the Library of Congress.
Selected from the Digital Public Library of America's 12 image records catalogued for this county. Every one shown here carries a public-domain status or a licence that permits reuse on a site that carries advertising; non-commercial, share-alike and restricted images are excluded. The selection is spread across the county's towns (at most eight per town), so no single institution's bulk upload crowds out the rest. Each opens the holding library's record, and the complete set at the Digital Public Library of America is one click away.
Flown by the U.S. Geological Survey between 1937 and 1989, the Aerial Photo Single Frames collection is the definitive mid-century view of the land: fields, roads and rivers as the camera saw them. 795 frames touch this county; the selection below spreads across the decades of flights (at most four per year), so one flight cannot crowd out the rest. The full set is free to browse and download at EarthExplorer under the dataset Aerial Photo Single Frames.
The "who lived here, by year" answer: pre-1929 public-domain directory volumes naming the county's people, machine-read and searchable as text.
The thermometers that kept this county's weather, and the gages that watched its rivers, as the federal records hold them. The extremes below are measured values from those records, not estimates.
Who lived here in 1950, one enumeration district at a time, as the Census Bureau described each district. Each row opens its official National Archives result, with Population Schedules and ED Maps available there.
Every Sanborn volume opens with a printed index naming the town's mills, tanneries, hotels and works by proprietor. Those indexes were read off the scanned sheets by machine and then matched to each other, so a business surveyed four times appears here once, with the years it survived. 17 of these 68 were named in more than one atlas. Each carries a crop of the line it was read from: the spelling is the recogniser's and the 1880s lithographer's, and the scan behind it is the proof.
Ice House
1913 to 1950, named in 6 atlases
Appears in 1913 1915 1921 1926 1947 1950
On the National Register as Wooster Post Office (Wooster Board of Education)
Church
1893 to 1915, named in 3 atlases
Read elsewhere as First Methodist Episcopal Church; Pirst Methodist Épiscopal Church.
Church
1911 to 1915, named in 2 atlases
Read elsewhere as Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, -_ 3.
Church
1923 to 1947, named in 2 atlases
Read elsewhere as Zion Lutheran Church.
School
named once, in the 1947 atlas
Appears in 1947
Church
named once, in the 1947 atlas
Appears in 1947
Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 13 of them, burning about 34 acres. 0 started naturally and 2 were recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
The five largest, by the area the report gives. Two of them were set deliberately.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 August 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 25 acres | Ohio State Fire Marshal's Office | not named |
| 13 August 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4.0 acres | Ohio State Fire Marshal's Office | not named |
| 12 November 2010 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 25 April 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Ohio State Fire Marshal's Office | not named |
| 7 April 2004 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 9 March 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Ohio State Fire Marshal's Office | not named |
| 25 November 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 25 June 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Ohio State Fire Marshal's Office | not named |
Every settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it - see the settlement index below.
The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 486 reports for this county, causing 0 deaths, 17 injuries and about $76,271,700 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.
| Kind of event | Reports |
|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 280 |
| Hail | 143 |
| Flash Flood | 27 |
| Tornado | 25 |
| Lightning | 4 |
| Flood | 4 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 |
| Heavy Rain | 1 |
The most serious of them, by death, then injury, then recorded damage. The accounts are quoted exactly as the forecast office filed them.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Chippewa Twp | 6 hurt, $30,000 | no account filed |
| November 2003 | Tornado (F2) | Wooster | 3 hurt, $21,000,000 | A tornado touched down southwest of Wooster near the intersection of U.S. Route 250 and Old Lincoln Highway (County Road 30A). Several businesses were heavily damaged near the site of the initial touchdown. The tornado then crossed State Route 302 and moved over open farmland and into a business park on the southwest side of Wooster. Several more business were damaged in this area. The tornado continued east through residential neighborhoods just north of downtown Wooster. The tornado exited the city near the intersection of State Routes 3/83 and 585. A factory near this location was heavily damaged. The tornado continued east into Green Township and strengthened to F2 intensity at it crossed Geyers Road. Two more businesses were heavily damaged in this area. The tornado weakened to F1 intensity just after severely damaging a home on Canal Road near Eby Road. The tornado continued across open farmland for another four miles before finally lifting just southwest of Orrville near the intersection of Back Orrville Road and North Crown Hill Road. The damage path was around 12 miles in length and up to 125 yards in width. Around 15 businesses and over 100 homes were damaged by this tornado. Ten semi trailers were overturned at one factory and over 30 cars heavily damaged at an automobile dealership. Many other automobiles were damaged along the damage path. In addition, hundreds of trees and dozens of power poles were downed. |
| May 1957 | Tornado (F2) | not stated | 3 hurt, $250,000 | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Tornado (F1) | Dalton | 2 hurt, $300,000 | no account filed |
| May 1973 | Tornado (F2) | not stated | 2 hurt, $250,000 | no account filed |
| August 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wooster | 1 hurt, $50,000 | Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 to 80 mph downed dozens of trees in and around Wooster. Over 100 trees were blown down in a park just south of Wooster. A tree also struck a moving car. The 48 year old female occupant of the car was taken to a local hospital and treated for minor injuries. |
| September 2010 | Tornado (EF2) | Wooster | $35,000,000 | A tornado touched down in Wayne County two miles southwest of downtown Wooster around 5:26 pm. This tornado strengthened to EF2 intensity and continued on the ground for over 11 miles before finally lifting two miles west of Dalton. Extensive damage occurred along the damage path with dozens of homes and buildings damaged. After the initial touchdown, the tornado quickly intensified to an EF2 as it continued on the ground to the east northeast. The tornado crossed Prairie Lane and Timken Road and then moved across St. Mary's Cemetery. Damage at the cemetery was extensive with 80 of 81 large trees knocked down and over two hundred gravestones broken or toppled. From the cemetery, the tornado crossed Madison Avenue and moved across the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC). Significant damage occurred on the OADRC campus with several buildings severely damaged. A laboratory in one the buildings was destroyed. Two historic homes on the property sustained significant roof damage and several greenhouses were destroyed. Two barns and a machine shop were also leveled. The 102 year old Secrest Arboretum on the campus lost over 800 trees and many research projects were damaged or destroyed. The tornado tossed and destroyed several vehicles and a lot of farm machinery was also damaged or destroyed. From the OARDC campus, the tornado continued east along Secrest Road damaging or destroying several homes and buildings. The tornado weakened to EF1 intensity as it crossed Sylvan Road and to an EF0 as it crossed Barnard Road. The tornado then remained either an EF0 or EF1 until it lifted near the intersection of Kidron Road and Old Lincoln Way just west of Dalton. A total of nine homes were either destroyed or sustained major damage. Another 90 homes sustained lesser amounts of damage. In addition, at least 50 barns, garages and other outbuildings were damaged of destroyed. Thousands of trees were also toppled along the damage path which was up to 150 yards in width. Twenty eight utility poles were knocked down in Wooster alone and high tension transmission lines were also torn down by the tornado. The downed transmission lines affected four substations and resulted in around a third of Wayne County loosing power right after the tornado. The OARDC campus was closed for over a week and two local school districts had to close on September 17th because of the power outages. Only one very minor injury was reported. |
| July 2019 | Flash Flood | Maysville | $8,000,000 | Rainfall estimated around 2 to 5 inches caused substantial damage in flash floods across central Wayne County. Preliminary damage assessments reported at least 25 homes categorized as either major damage or destroyed and 6 businesses severely affected. The most significant damage was located south of Wooster near US 250 in the Apple Creek basin. The Apple Creek Fire Department said four residents were rescued from their flooded home in the 5600 block of Dover Avenue by fire crews and a dive team, and that nearly all roads were impassable. At least 400 people were evacuated from Prairie Lane Lake Park campground and about a dozen others were rescued after flash flooding hit the southside of Wooster and areas south of the city. |
| May 2004 | Flash Flood | North Portion | $1,100,000 | A line of severe thunderstorms moved across Wayne County during the late afternoon hours and was quickly followed by a second round of storms. Torrential rain fell as this series of storms moved through. Spotters indicated that as much as two inches of rain fell in an hour. The Rittman area saw the worst flooding. Water as much as waist deep filled portions of the town. Many homes and businesses had to be evacuated. A strip mall was heavily damaged after water outside the mall accumulated to over three feet in depth in less than 30 minutes. The glass store fronts in the mall gave way under the weight of the flood waters and flooded the building in minutes. Dozens of roads in northern Wayne County were either washed out or flooded. Hundreds of homes and vehicles were damaged. |
| June 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Countywide | $950,000 | Hundreds of trees, large limbs, utility poles and power lines were reported down across the county as severe thunderstorms moved across Wayne County during the late afternoon hours of the 22nd. Damage in the City of Wooster was especially bad with many homes damaged by fallen trees. At least 20,000 homes lost power as a result of the storms. It took several days for power to be restored to all areas. Many roads in Wooster and elsewhere in the county had to be closed because of the fallen trees and power lines. A country club in Wooster spent nearly $100,000 cleaning up 189 downed trees on it's property. Near Dalton, a home, barn and silo were damaged by thunderstorm winds. Tree damage in Wooster was as extensive as that seen after a tornado hit the city on November 12th, 2003. |
| July 2013 | Flash Flood | Apple Creek | $850,000 | During the peak of the flooding a large portion of Wooster and Apple Creek were underwater. This included portions of the Wayne County Fairgrounds and Schellin Park. The high water forced the closure of numerous roads across the area including Freedlander, Grosjean, Timken, Baurer Roads and Prairie Lane, Spruce Street, South Bever Street, and Old Lincoln Way. Residents on North Baurer Road and Spruce Street were forced to evacuate. Businesses along Freedlander Road were also evacuated. Four of the city's waste water treatment facilities life stations went down from flood waters. One of the wastewater treatment plants had 6 to 8 feet of sewage in the buidling. In Apple Creek, the creek came out of banks and shut down some local roads. A home and a vehicle where inundated in that town. |
| August 2024 | Flash Flood | Orrville Blatter Arp | $550,000 | Widespread flash flooding in Orrville. Several basements flooded, multiple basement wall collapses, including a home on Hostetler Road. Multiple water rescues from vehicles driving into flooded roadways, including Crown Hill Road and Mineral Springs Street, where the water department experienced flooding. |
| February 2011 | Flood | West Salem | $500,000 | Heavy rain and rapid snow melt led to widespread flooding across Wayne County. Rainfall totals across the county ranged from one to two inches on February 27th and 28th. Up to ten inches of heavy snow was on the ground at the onset of the rain. This snow rapidly melted as temperatures warmed into the 50s on the 28th. Up to an additional inch of water equivalent rainfall was released from the melted snow. Hundreds of homes in the county sustained damage, mainly from basement flooding. Many roads had to be closed because of the flooding. Officially 1.53 inches of rain was measured at the Wooster Airport. |
| April 2001 | Lightning | Creston | $500,000 | Lightning struck a barn at a poultry farm and caused a fire. The fire completely destroyed a barn and killed 12,000 chickens inside. |
| June 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Doylestown | $500,000 | Numerous trees were downed, some on structures and cars. |
| August 2024 | Flash Flood | Orrville | $250,000 | Reports of multiple basements flooded and street flooding with stranded vehicles in Orrville. |
| June 2019 | Flash Flood | Rittman | $250,000 | State of Emergency declared in Rittman due to flooding on June 17. Flash flooding stranded cars and closed the citys only grocery store in Rittman. Around 5 a.m. the Landis Ditch, which runs past the Rittman Shopping Center, breached its banks and quickly flooded the above streets and flooded the businesses in the plaza including the Rittman IGA. The Chippewa Creek also exceeded its banks at a 100 year level, about 8 feet above normal. Water was approximately 3.5 feet deep on Whitman Road between Porr and the railroad tracks. Numerous vehicles stalled in flood waters and needed water rescues. Most flood damages occurred along Main Street and along Industrial and Ohio avenues by Marathon, with the worst areas landing around Seneca and State streets. A couple families were cut off from their homes as a result of the flooding. Flood waters receded by 1130 am. |
| August 2007 | Flash Flood | Rittman | $250,000 | Heavy rain fell across the area during the morning of the 20th and caused flash flooding across primarily northeast portions of the county. Some homes had water flowing into the basements, and a strip mall in the area was also flooded. Enough homes in the area were flooded out that a shelter was opened in Rittman for the flood victims. Rainfall amounts varied significantly across the northern half of Wayne County for this event. While the Wayne County Airport picked up only 0.86 inches between 4 pm Sunday and 4 pm Monday, rainfall reports just north of Rittman into southern Medina County indicate that between 2.0 and 4.0 inches of rain fell there during that same time period. |
| July 2003 | Flash Flood | Countywide | $250,000 | Thunderstorms dumped one to three inches of rain on Wayne County during the afternoon hours. This combined with the locally heavy rains that fell the previous day led to widespread street and lowland flooding. Many homes sustained flooding damage. A county road was washed out between Smithville and Orrville. Over a dozen other roads had to be closed because of flooding. |
| July 1992 | Tornado (F0) | not stated | $250,000 | no account filed |
| June 1981 | Tornado (F1) | not stated | $250,000 | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Flash Flood | Wooster | $200,000 | Numerous thunderstorms across the area during the afternoon and evening hours brought heavy rain to the area. As a result, flash flooding occurred across the northern half of the county, with many reports of roads closed throughout Wooster. Some of the roads closed included State Routes 302 and 3. Many other city streets in Wooster, along with county and township roads, were closed. There were numerous reports of surface water flowing into homes in West Salem and Smithville. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Countywide | $200,000 | A line of severe thunderstorms moved across Wayne County and downed hundreds of trees. Scattered power outages were also reported. The most significant damage in the county occurred in Chippewa and Milton Townships where several homes and vehicles were damaged. A few other homes were damaged elsewhere in the county. |
| November 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | East Union | $200,000 | A thunderstorm downburst caused considerable damage along Carr Road just north of U.S. Highway 30 in East Union Township. One mobile home was turned on its side and destroyed. A second mobile home sustained moderate damage and six others were moved off their foundations. A nearby Amish school building lost most of its roof. A young student outside of the school was tossed around by the thunderstorm winds but was not injured. Many trees were uprooted or knocked over. |
| July 1999 | Tornado (F1) | Rittman | $150,000 | The tornado touched down on the southeast corner of the town of Rittman then traveled east toward Hatfield Road and Ohio 94 where it flattened an apple orchard. Several buildings were also damaged in the vicinity of the orchard including a small concrete block building which was completely destroyed. The roofs of several other buildings were severely damaged. From the site of the orchard, the tornado traveled east and knocked down many trees before finally dissipating near Doylestown. Eye witness reports and damage surveys indicate that the tornado was slightly aloft during a good part of its life cycle. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Countywide | $125,000 | Trees downed across the entire county with the most concentrated damage in and around Wooster. A tree fell onto the roof of a fraternal lodge in Wooster causing considerable damage. A school addition three miles southeast of Wooster was significantly damaged when 38 roof trusses were blown off a roof and destroyed. Several cars were damaged in Wooster by falling trees and another car was destroyed by falling trees in Shreve. |
| July 2022 | Tornado (EF1) | Shreve | $117,000 | The tornado began just north of Centerville Road, about one-mile SSW of Shreve, and destroyed a barn. As the tornado moved east-southeastward in vicinity of Centerville Road, it destroyed another barn and damaged the roofs of two additional barns and a storage shelter. Several trees were snapped and uprooted in vicinity of Schaaf and Centerville Roads before the tornado moved into Holmes County. Estimated peak tornadic winds were 105 mph. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burbank | $100,000 | Church steeple destroyed and several barns had their roofs partially blown off about four-miles SSE of Burbank. |
| June 2013 | Hail | Apple Creek | $100,000 | Hail the size of golf balls was reported. Some damage to vehicles and crops was reported. |
| June 2011 | Hail | Smithville | $100,000 | Thunderstorms produced half dollar to hen egg size hail. Numerous vehicles and homes sustained damage from the large hail. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rittman | $100,000 | Numerous trees, utility poles and power lines were reported down. Trained spotters also reported that two homes had trees fall onto them. |
| July 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wooster | $100,000 | Thunderstorm winds downed many trees in Wooster. Several homes were damaged by the fallen trees. |
| June 2019 | Flash Flood | Doylestown | $80,000 | Flooding of residents across Doylestown including several road closures. Flooding was caused by overland flooding and not river flooding. |
| May 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wooster | $80,000 | During this time severe winds downed several trees on houses. Trees also were reported to have fallen on several cars also causing damage. |
| May 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wooster | $80,000 | Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 mph blew a semi-truck over on U.S. Route 30 near Wooster. Several trees were downed in and around Wooster. |
| November 2017 | Tornado (EF1) | Wooster | $75,000 | An EF1 tornado touched down at the Secrest Arboretum on the south side of Wooster. The tornado tore half the roof off of the Frederick Rice historical home with debris thrown north-northwest through southeast. East of the home, trees were snapped and uprooted in a convergent pattern. A couple greenhouses were also damaged. This tornado was on the ground for less than a quarter mile and was no more than 50 yards in width. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Doylestown | $75,000 | Thunderstorm wind gusts of at least 60 mph damaged six mobile homes at a trailer park near State Route 21 and Edwards Road. Some small sheds were also destroyed. |
| August 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Congress | $75,000 | A severe thunderstorm tracked east across Wayne County during the evening of the 10th. The thunderstorms took down numerous trees, large limbs, and power lines along a path from just south of Congress through Wooster to around Orrville. A large tree was reported to have fallen onto a house, and another fell onto a car. Some of the damaged utility poles caught on fire. The most concentrated reports of damage came from an area from the northern side of Wooster to as far north as Smithville. Some of the areas affected during this event were coincidently hit by a tornado on November 12, 2003. |
| May 2004 | Hail | Creston | $75,000 | Penny to walnut size hail was observed. Many vehicles were damaged by the hail. |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Shreve | $75,000 | Thunderstorm winds downed 20 to 30 trees one mile east of Shreve along Valley Road. At least one home was damaged by the fallen trees. |
| April 2001 | Hail | Wooster | $75,000 | Golf ball size hail was reported. Many cars were damaged. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blachleyville | $60,000 | Straight line winds caused an extensive portion of a roof to be torn off of a barn, with additional roof and wall damage to other buildings. A couple power poles were also brought down by the wind. |
| June 2009 | Tornado (EF0) | Madisonburg | $60,000 | EF0 tornado was confirmed by NWS storm survey. The tornado followed an intermittent path approximately 4 miles long just west of Smithville. Over two dozen trees were snapped along the path of the storm. The tornado destroyed a garden shed on Honeytown Road, causing damage to several trees and scattering debris up to a mile away. The tornado left a well defined path through an adjacent potato field. |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Countywide | $60,000 | no account filed |
| August 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Dalton | $50,000 | A large tree was blown down onto an exterior garage. The structure collapsed onto several cars. |
| July 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orrville | $50,000 | Thunderstorm winds downed at least 16 trees and many large limbs in the Orville area. One home had a window blown out as well. Scattered power outages were reported. |
| August 2013 | Tornado (EF1) | East Union | $50,000 | A National Weather Service storm survey team confirmed an EF1 tornado occurred near Orrville along Mc Quaid Rd. The tornado was on the ground for approximately 1 mile with a width maximum winds estimated to be 95 mph. The maximum width was approximately 50 yards. The tornado pulled most of a roof off a home and caused other minor damage. |
| June 2006 | Lightning | Wooster | $50,000 | A house was struck by lightning causing significant damage. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Countywide | $50,000 | Thunderstorm winds downed trees and large limbs across the county. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Countywide | $50,000 | Thunderstorm winds downed trees and large limbs across the county. A small mobile home near Wooster was crushed by fallen trees. |
| April 2002 | Hail | Smithville | $50,000 | Golf ball size hail was reported. |
| April 2001 | Hail | Apple Creek | $50,000 | Tennis ball size hail was reported one mile north of Apple Creek. Several cars were damaged. |
| April 2001 | Hail | Wooster | $50,000 | Walnut size hail was reported. A few cars were damaged. |
| April 2001 | Hail | Apple Creek | $50,000 | Golf ball size hail was reported. Several cars were damaged. |
| July 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Countywide | $50,000 | Thunderstorm winds downed many trees in Rittman, Creston, Orrville and Wooster. Scattered trees were knocked down elsewhere across the county as well. A construction trailer was knocked over and destroyed in Rittman. Two homes were damaged by fallen trees in Wooster. |
| June 1998 | Hail | Kidron | $50,000 | Large hail fell two miles east of Kidron. Large hail (1.00") also fell at Dalton, causing damage to cars, roofs and crops. |
| August 1998 | Lightning | Wooster | $50,000 | Lightning struck a two story barn starting a fire that destroyed the barn and six thousand to eight thousand bales of hay and straw stored there. |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sterling | $50,000 | Rittman Dalton,Trees were downed. At least two vehicles were damaged by falling trees in Rittman. |
| January 1997 | Tornado (F1) | Kidron | $50,000 | no account filed |
| March 2026 | Tornado (EF0) | Moreland | $45,000 | A very brief EF0 tornado with estimated peak winds of 85-mph impacted the Apple Creek area. The tornado began just west of Honeytown Road, impacted three residential properties as it moved eastward, and then ended just east of the road. The tornado uprooted and snapped trees, and caused some large tree branches to be impaled into the ground. A carport awning was lofted across a home and knocked over a TV antenna, which caused the chimney to collapse onto the roof. Additional impacts included a blown-down fence, roof damage, and damage to an external propane tank at other residences. |
The Survey's mineral resources record lists 8 workings inside this county. 8 still produce and 0 are closed or unrecorded. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.
| Commodity | Workings |
|---|---|
| Sand and Gravel, Construction | 4 |
| Stone, Crushed/Broken | 2 |
| Stone, Crushed/Broken, Coal | 1 |
| Clay | 1 |
The least common of them first, because a county's hundredth gravel pit says nothing its first ten did not.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orrville Tile Co Pit | Clay | Producer | ||
| Wayne Limestone Quarry & Mill | Stone, Crushed/Broken, Coal | Plant | ||
| Jones Limestone Company Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Rodco Mine | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Prairie Lane Sand & Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Rupp Construction Marshallville Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Wayne County Hwy Dept. | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Zollinger Pit & Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Plant |
Museum specimens collected inside this county and catalogued with a date and a place: 2,691 of them, by kingdom 2,210 animalia, 284 plantae, 156 fungi, 40 chromista, 1 unrecorded. Each is a physical object in a named collection, not a sighting. Held by Ohio State University Acarology Laboratory, Columbus, OH (OSAL), YPM, CM, Ohio State University - Fish Division, Columbus, OH (OSUM), USNM, BPI among others, and each settlement page carries the specimens collected near it.
The oldest of them. A specimen proves something was collected on that day; its absence proves nothing.
| Photograph | Year | Species | Kingdom | Where | Collector | Catalogue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 1877 | Aster ciliolatus Lindl. | Plantae | Station Farm, Wooster | Thorne, B.H. | CM CM212167 |
 | 1883 | Alasmidonta viridis (Rafinesque, 1820) | Animalia | Burton City | Sterki, Victor | CM 61.10675 |
 | 1883 | Anodontoides ferussacianus (I.Lea, 1834) | Animalia | Burton City(ditch in), Newman Creek & Tuscarawas River(ditch to) | Sterki, Victor | CM 61.10658 |
 | 1883 | Lampsilis radiata (Gmelin, 1791) | Animalia | Burton City | Sterki, Victor | CM 61.11000-CM |
 | 1883 | Lasmigona complanata (Barnes, 1823) | Animalia | Burton City(ditch in), Newman Creek & Tuscarawas River(ditch to) | Sterki, Victor | CM 61.10264 |
 | 1883 | Lasmigona compressa (I.Lea, 1829) | Animalia | Burton City(ditch in) | Sterki, Victor | CM 61.10235 |
 | 1883 | Pyganodon grandis (Say, 1829) | Animalia | Burton City(ditch in), Newman Creek & Tuscarawas River(ditch to) | Sterki, Victor | CM 61.10612 |
 | 1883 | Strophitus undulatus (Say, 1817) | Animalia | Burton City(ditch in), Newman Creek & Tuscarawas River(ditch to) | Sterki, Victor | CM 61.10720-CM |
History of Wayne County, Ohio, from the Days of the Pioneers and the First Settlers to the Present Time devotes a chapter to each township: its boundaries and streams, who settled it and when, the mills, the schools and the churches. All 3 are reproduced here in full. Each row shows the township's own shape and where it lies in the county, drawn from the Census Bureau's boundary. Which settlements belong to which township is computed from that same boundary, not taken from the book.
| Shape and position in the county | Township | Settlements in it | Length | Sections |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinton Township | Centerville, Craigton, Custaloga, Shreve | 10,152 words | 1 | |
| Congress Township | Armstrong, Aukerman, Congress, Pleasant Home, West Salem | 1,764 words | 1 | |
| Wayne Township | Devil Town, Linwood Heights, Mechanicsburg, Spruce Tree Village | 229,655 words | 17 |
Everyone History of Wayne County, Ohio, from the Days of the Pioneers and the First Settlers to the Present Time stops to write about, with the section that describes them. Among them are the men who founded the place and governed the Territory. Each name opens the passage itself, in the words of 1878.
Named settlements recorded in the Geographic Names Information System, each with the topographic sheets covering it. Villages, hamlets and abandoned places alike. Each is shown with the watercourse or landform it stands on and the survey quadrangle it falls on. The 9 places that were also surveyed for fire insurance come first, with the number of atlases and photographs held for them.
Canaan township · 44217 · Creston quadrangle
16 sheets, 1901 to 1994
Fire insurance: 5 atlases
Sugar Creek township · 44618 · Dalton quadrangle
17 sheets, 1901 to 1994
Fire insurance: 5 atlases
Chippewa township · 44230 · Doylestown quadrangle
17 sheets, 1901 to 1994
Fire insurance: 5 atlases
Baughman township · 44667 · Orrville quadrangle
15 sheets, 1901 to 1994
Fire insurance: 9 atlases
Rittman city · 44270 · On Little Chippewa Creek · Rittman quadrangle
16 sheets, 1901 to 1994
Fire insurance: 4 atlases
Clinton township · 44676 · Shreve quadrangle
13 sheets, 1912 to 1994
Fire insurance: 7 atlases
Milton township · 44276 · Rittman quadrangle
16 sheets, 1901 to 1994
Fire insurance: 3 atlases
Congress township · 44287 · West Salem quadrangle
11 sheets, 1906 to 1994
Fire insurance: 8 atlases
Wooster city · 44691 · On Little Apple Creek · Wooster quadrangle
17 sheets, 1901 to 1994
Fire insurance: 9 atlases
East Union township · 44606 · On Little Apple Creek · Orrville quadrangle
15 sheets, 1901 to 1994
Congress township · 44214 · On Shade Creek · West Salem quadrangle
11 sheets, 1906 to 1994
Plain township · 44691 · On Funk Bottoms · New Pittsburg quadrangle
11 sheets, 1906 to 1994
Wooster township · 44691 · On Little Killbuck Creek · Wooster quadrangle
17 sheets, 1901 to 1994
No longer a settlement
Canaan township · 44214 · On Little Killbuck Creek · Creston quadrangle
16 sheets, 1901 to 1994
Wooster township · 44691 · On Apple Creek · Wooster quadrangle
17 sheets, 1901 to 1994
Chester township · 44214 · On Cedar Run · New Pittsburg quadrangle
11 sheets, 1906 to 1994
Clinton township · 44611 · Shreve quadrangle
13 sheets, 1912 to 1994
No longer a settlement
East Union township · 44606 · On Little Apple Creek · Orrville quadrangle
15 sheets, 1901 to 1994
Chester township · 44691 · New Pittsburg quadrangle
11 sheets, 1906 to 1994
No longer a settlement
Salt Creek township · 44627 · On North Branch Salt Creek · Fredericksburg quadrangle
15 sheets, 1915 to 1994
Canaan township · 44214 · On Shade Creek · Creston quadrangle
16 sheets, 1901 to 1994
Wooster city · 44691 · On Little Apple Creek · Wooster quadrangle
17 sheets, 1901 to 1994
Plain township · 44691 · On Rathburn Run · New Pittsburg quadrangle
11 sheets, 1906 to 1994
Wayne township · 44691 · On Little Killbuck Creek · Wooster quadrangle
17 sheets, 1901 to 1994
Sugar Creek township · 44667 · Dalton quadrangle
17 sheets, 1901 to 1994
No longer a settlement
Green township · 44667 · Orrville quadrangle
15 sheets, 1901 to 1994
No longer a settlement
Wooster city · 44691 · On Little Apple Creek · Wooster quadrangle
17 sheets, 1901 to 1994
Paint township · 44662 · On North Fork Sugar Creek · Wilmot quadrangle
16 sheets, 1914 to 1994
East Union township · 44667 · On Crosskeys Run · Orrville quadrangle
15 sheets, 1901 to 1994
15 topographic sheets and 9 fire insurance atlases, 1884 to 1939
17 topographic sheets and 9 fire insurance atlases, 1884 to 1945
11 topographic sheets and 8 fire insurance atlases, 1884 to 1951
13 topographic sheets and 7 fire insurance atlases, 1892 to 1950
16 topographic sheets and 5 fire insurance atlases, 1900 to 1930
17 topographic sheets and 5 fire insurance atlases, 1896 to 1929
17 topographic sheets and 5 fire insurance atlases, 1885 to 1947
16 topographic sheets and 4 fire insurance atlases, 1908 to 1932
16 topographic sheets and 3 fire insurance atlases, 1911 to 1926
The complete index, with nothing left out. Each of these is a separate record with its own page: a federal survey report, or the case file that argued a property on to the National Register. Both are public domain and reproduced word for word.
The vanished settlements of Wayne County, the places these records name that are no longer on the map.
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