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

Willshire, Ohio

13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1911 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Willshire Township. It lies in ZIP code area 45898. It stands on Duck Creek. The Survey maps it on the Willshire quadrangle. 405 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 797 feet above sea level.

Willshire within Van Wert County

Population over time

2 figures

Willshire grew from 397 to 405 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	397
2020	405	+8 (+2%)

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 Willshire, surveyed 1986

Topographic sheet of Willshire, surveyed 1911

Compare 1911 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 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.

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 64 shown

Museums hold 64 specimens collected within 10 miles of Willshire between 1850 and 1970: 61 Animalia, 3 Plantae. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by H. Price, Moser, M. A. (Marshall A.) & Moser, J. A. (Jill A.), P. Kirsch 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
Argia tibialis (Rambur, 1842)	1942	H. Price	St. Mary's River
Lestes dryas Kirby, 1890	1942	H. Price	St. Mary's River
Cerastium glomeratum Thuill.	1850	not recorded	Ohio City.
Aphredoderus sayanus (Gilliams, 1824)	1893	P. Kirsch	St. Marys River, Rockford, Ohio
Campostoma anomalum anomalum	1930	Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) & Foster, R. (Robert)	Saint Marys River, no more precise locality provided, near Willshire OH, western Willshire Township
Erimyzon oblongus claviformis (Girard, 1856)	1930	Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) & Foster, R. (Robert)	Saint Marys River, no more precise locality provided, near Willshire OH, western Willshire Township
Etheostoma nigrum Rafinesque, 1820	1930	Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) & Foster, R. (Robert)	Saint Marys River, no more precise locality provided, near Willshire OH, western Willshire Township
Moxostoma anisurum (Rafinesque, 1820)	1930	Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) & Foster, R. (Robert)	Saint Marys River, no more precise locality provided, near Willshire OH, western Willshire Township
Noturus flavus Rafinesque, 1818	1930	Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) & Foster, R. (Robert)	Saint Marys River, no more precise locality provided, near Willshire OH, western Willshire Township
Percina caprodes (Rafinesque, 1818)	1930	Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) & Foster, R. (Robert)	Saint Marys River, no more precise locality provided, near Willshire OH, western Willshire Township
Percina maculata (Girard, 1859)	1930	Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) & Foster, R. (Robert)	Saint Marys River, no more precise locality provided, near Willshire OH, western Willshire Township
Phenacobius mirabilis (Girard, 1856)	1930	Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) & Foster, R. (Robert)	Saint Marys River, no more precise locality provided, near Willshire OH, western Willshire Township

All 64 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Storms nearby

19 since 1995

The National Weather Service names Willshire in 19 storm reports between 1995 and 2022: 11 thunderstorm wind, 5 tornado, 1 hail, 1 flash flood. The reports record 2 deaths and 17 injuries. 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
November 2002	Tornado (F4)	Willshire	2 killed, 17 hurt, $30,000,000	This tornado touched down in the southwest corner of Van Wert County about 4 miles northeast of Willshire and moved northeast across the western portion of the city of Van Wert, and then crossed U.S. 30 and continued northeast before exiting the county about 7 miles east of Scott. NWS ground and aerial surveys showed the tornado quickly intensified to F4 about 5 miles southwest of the city of Van Wert near Zook road, where a 75 year old male was killed in his home. The tornado continued moving northeast as an F4 into the city of Van Wert, were it hit the Twin Cinemas and the Vision Industrial Park. At this point the tornado was about one half mile wide. 60 persons watching a movie in the cinemas, mostly children, took shelter before the tornado hit, with only minor injuries. Vehicles from the parking lot were thrown into the seats where the children had been sitting. An 18 year old male driving past the cinemas was thrown from his vehicle and killed. The tornado then destroyed five industries in the Vision Industrial Park, before moving north of U.S. 30, producing F4 damage to additional businesses and homes. The tornado weakened to F3 as it moved northeast and crossed into Paulding county. 164 homes were damaged in Van Wert county, and 43 were totally destroyed. 27 businesses sustained damage, with 5 totally destroyed in Vision Park. Three county engineer buildings were destroyed, with one house used by a township. Total damage in Van Wert county was near 30 million dollars.
June 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Willshire	$100,000	Widespread trees and power lines down. All roads closed in town due to being blocked by downed trees and power lines. Numerous homes and barns sustained structural damage, both from wind, and from falling trees. A grain elevator sustained significant damage, and the village's communication system was destroyed.
February 2008	Flood	Willshire	$50,000	Several county roads were closed due to high water, including State Route 49 just north of Wilshire.
June 1998	Tornado (F1)	Willshire	$25,000	Emergency management reported F1 damage from a tornado northeast of Willshire. The tornado was on the ground for one and one half miles, touching down 2 miles northeast of Willshire and lifting 3 and one half miles northeast of Willshire. F1 damage was a leveled barn and trees uprooted and torn out of the ground. The tornado was about 75 yards wide at its widest point..
June 2006	Tornado (F0)	Willshire	$20,000	Very brief touchdown near the intersection of Harrison Willshire Rd. and state route 81. Several storage sheds, silos, grain elevators, and trees sustained damage.
June 2006	Tornado (F1)	Willshire	$15,000	Brief touchdown near the intersection of state route 81 and Glenmore Rd. A garage sustained significant structural damage. Total path length was about 100 yards.
June 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Willshire	$3,000	Large trees were downed, some across a county road.
October 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Willshire	$3,000	no account filed
July 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Willshire	$500	Untied mobile home blown over
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Willshire	-	A trained spotter estimated wind gusts to 70 mph just north of Willshire.
June 2013	Tornado (EF0)	Willshire	-	A circulation touched down on the west side of Willshire, along State Road 81 near the Indiana/Ohio State Line. The tornado traveled southeast down Green Street to the intersection of Green Street and State Route 49. An eyewitness observed the funnel make contact with the ground in his yard, snap off two large trees and continue down the street. The survey revealed additional tree damage along the path. Another eyewitness observed condensation vortices being injected into the funnel as his garage was rolled off its foundation. A portion of a house roof was removed and thrown over a neighbors home. A total of 13 homes suffered varying degrees of damage. The circulation was on the ground less than 3 minutes with a maximum width of 80 yards and maximum wind speeds around 85 mph. The same storm continued into Mercer County and later produced another weak tornado.
March 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Willshire	-	A semi was blown over while in motion on US 33 near Wilshire. No injuries were reported.
August 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Willshire	-	Power line reported down in the area.
July 2003	Flash Flood	Willshire	-	Emergency management reported several roads closed in and around Wilshire due to flash flooding.
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Willshire	-	Emergency management reported trees down in Willshire.
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Willshire	-	Emergency management reported power lines down in Willshire.
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Willshire	-	Emergency management reported power lines down in Van Wert.
July 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Willshire	-	TREES DOWN AND POWER LINES DOWN. SOME MINOR DAMAGE TO HOMES.
May 1998	Hail	Willshire	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Van Wert 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
Schumm	3.4 miles	13
Wren	3.7 miles	12
Abanaka	5.0 miles	13
Glenmore	5.5 miles	13
Dull	6.7 miles	13
Middlebury	7.1 miles	13
Ohio City	9.4 miles	14
Wolfcale	9.8 miles	14

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 Willshire	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2587505	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 1061791. 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.

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.