Decorative drawing: a small American settlement seen from a low hill. Not a photograph of this place.

Swanton, Ohio

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1911 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Fulton Township. It lies in ZIP code area 43558. The Survey maps it on the Swanton quadrangle. 3,897 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 682 feet above sea level.

Swanton within Fulton County

Population over time

2 figures

Swanton grew from 3,690 to 3,897 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

Year	People	Change
2010	3,690
2020	3,897	+207 (+6%)

Then and now

1911 to 1986

The same ground, surveyed 75 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Swanton, surveyed 1986

Topographic sheet of Swanton, surveyed 1911

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

What happened here

An account from the chapter on Fulton township, The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.

From Fulton County, Ohio Death Records Transcriptions Book #2 1886-1902, published 1902 - Fulton Township

Colonial Dames Of America

AND FINALLY DESTROYED AT THE OUTBREAK OF PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY 10TH MAY 1783 WHEN THE FORT WAS BURNED THE ENTIRE GARRISON MASSACRED WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE COMMANDANT ENSIGN PAULI WHO WAS CARRIED OFF A PRISONER TO PONTIAC THEN BESIECINC DETROIT ERECTED BY THE OHIO SOCIETY COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA

Read the rest of this passage

In the county-history sources

538,920 words on this township

A Standard History of Fulton County, Ohio, an Authentic Narrative of the Past, with an Extended Survey of Modern Developments in the Progress of Town and County, published 1920 names this settlement in its chapter on Fulton Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Elmer A. Michael, son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael, of S wanton, was a member of 62nd Infantry, and was early in the service. His body lies in France, his mother, Rebecca, duly being presented with the French Government certificate written in his honor.

Passage source: A Standard History of Fulton County, Ohio, an Authentic Narrative of the Past, with an Extended Survey of Modern Developments in the Progress of Town and County, published 1920.

Again, however, the directors were to be disappointed, for across that minute the incoming chairman of the board, in the following month wrote, in a bold hand, "illegal procedings on the 14 of April 1851." However, such a state of affairs could not continue for long, and at a special meeting of the voters, held on the 19th of May, of that year, "thare wase a tax voted of Seventeen dollars, for the purpose of hying a Stove and brick for a hearth, bucket, and dipper & repairs for the Schoolhouse, and other purposes." The end of the story came on "November 22, A. D. 1851" when "An order ishued for twelve dollars, for to get a stove by William Critzer and James Watkins. Signed by me, John Watkins, Clark, and handed to Thomas Martin and William Critzer to purchase the stove, and they said they paid ten dollars for the stove." So that instead of paying fifty dollars, they eventually purchased one for ten, and, during the years of negotiation, apparently had the free use of a stove of fairly presentable appearance.

Passage source: A Standard History of Fulton County, Ohio, an Authentic Narrative of the Past, with an Extended Survey of Modern Developments in the Progress of Town and County, published 1920.

J. W. Roseborough, himself a teacher in early manhood and throughout his life an interested and strong advocate of better schools, would surely have been pleased had he lived to see the fine centralized schools of Fulton and Chesterfield Township, a change in school policy developed to some extent by the incessant agitation of such men as he, who constantly used the columns of local papers to further the thought. The editor of the "Fulton County Tribune" wrote, on January 8, 1904: "For a number of years the most ardent friends of the country schools have been advising that the schools of a township be conducted in one building, erected near the center of the township." The beginning of centralization in Fulton county, and indeed in the whole of northwestern Ohio, may be attributed to the defection of the teacher in charge of the school in District No. 3, of Fulton Township, in the spring of 1903. He resigned about two months before the end of the school term. Centralization had been theoretically agitated for many years, but the action of the teacher referred to brought the question before the directors of Fulton Township schools for immediate and practical decision. They decided to arrange for the transportation of pupils of No. 3 District school to that of District No. 2, at Ai, each morning, and return them to their homes each night. It was a success, and in the following year the pupils of District No. 8 were aho conveyed to and from the Ai school. Eventually came complete centralization of schools in that township, and the building of the present splendid schoolhouse at Ai.

Passage source: A Standard History of Fulton County, Ohio, an Authentic Narrative of the Past, with an Extended Survey of Modern Developments in the Progress of Town and County, published 1920.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Fulton Township - it names this place 9 more 9 times.

Fires near this place

10 since 2007

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 10 fires within 5 miles of Swanton between 2007 and 2015, burning about 31 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Debris and open burning	8
Equipment and vehicle use	1
Arson/incendiarism	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
16 July 2012	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	not named
13 July 2007	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	not named
26 April 2014	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	not named
23 April 2007	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	not named
9 March 2013	Debris and open burning	1.2 acres	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	not named
30 March 2015	Debris and open burning	10 acres	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	643
28 March 2013	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	not named
13 March 2009	Arson/incendiarism	6.0 acres	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Fulton County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 118 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 118 specimens collected within 10 miles of Swanton between 1924 and 1975: 102 Animalia, 14 Plantae, 2 Fungi. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by Adams, K.; Adams, S., Conan J. Taylor, Davis, H.A.; Davis, T. and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Species	Year	Collected by	Where, as recorded
Capnodium Mont., 1849	1928	W.M. Burkett	Metamora
Speyeria idalia (Drury, 1773)	1924	Pardon S. Remington	Swanton
Carex tetanica Schkuhr	1925	Moseley, E.L.	NW of Neapolis
Platanthera flava var. herbiola (R.Br.) Luer	1926	Moseley, E.L.	Engles, S of Swanton
Aureolaria pedicularia var. ambigens (Fernald) Farw.	1927	Wherry, E.T.; Pennell, F.W.	SE of Brailey
Calamagrostis canadensis (Michx.) P.Beauv.	1927	Moseley, E.L.	0.5 mi E of Brailey
Carpiodes carpio (Rafinesque, 1820)	1927	MB Troutman	Bad Creek, near and at border.
Carpiodes cyprinus (Lesueur, 1817)	1927	MB Trautman	Bad Creek, near and at border of Henry Co.
Silene noctiflora L.	1927	Moseley, E.P.	near Swanton
Esox vermiculatus Lesueur, 1846	1929	Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard)	Swan Creek, near Swanton, ~1.6 mi S of Swanton, Swan Creek township
Fundulus notatus (Rafinesque, 1820)	1929	Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard)	Swan Creek, near Swanton, ~1.6 mi S of Swanton, Swan Creek township
Notemigonus crysoleucas (Mitchill, 1814)	1929	Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard)	Swan Creek, near Swanton, ~1.6 mi S of Swanton, Swan Creek township

All 118 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Storms near this place

13 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Swanton in 13 storm reports between 1994 and 2021: 6 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
August 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Swanton	$10,000	Numerous trees and power lines were downed.
June 1997	Flash Flood	Swanton	$10,000	no account filed
August 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Swanton	-	Local fire officials reported power lines down on SR 64 at County Road K in Fulton Township.
August 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Swanton	-	Local fire officials reported power lines down on Brookside Drive.
August 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Swanton	-	Amateur radio operators reported a tree was blown down onto a house in Swanton, off of Brookside Drive.
June 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Swanton	-	Several public reports were noted on social media of trees down in the town of Swanton.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Swanton	-	Law enforcement reported trees and power lines down in Swanton.
May 1999	Hail	Swanton	-	Three-quarter inch hail reported by NWS spotter at Swanton.
September 1994	Hail	Swanton	-	,,,,,,,,Thunderstorm Winds Large limbs were downed, some on power lines. Large hail fell.
June 2013	Hail	Swanton	-	no account filed
May 2010	Hail	Swanton	-	no account filed
August 2000	Hail	Swanton	-	no account filed
July 1999	Hail	Swanton	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Fulton County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Swissaire Estates	0.7 miles	11
Brailey	2.8 miles	11
Swanton Meadows	3.4 miles	11
Ai	3.6 miles	12
Dutch Ridge	5.0 miles	12
Peaceful Valley	5.2 miles	11
Maplewood Park	5.5 miles	11
Lytton	5.8 miles	12

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Swanton	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2037522	The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1061667. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.