Mansfield is the largest city and county seat of Richland County, Ohio. According to the 2004 United States Census, the city had a total population of 50,557.
Mansfield's twin cities are Mansfield, England and Funehiki, Japan. Mansfield's official nickname is "The Heart of Ohio". Mansfield is also known as the "Carrousel Capital of Ohio".
Mansfield is located at 40°45'17" North, 82°31'22" West (40.754856, -82.522855).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 77.5 km2 (29.9 mi2). All of it is land and none of the area is covered with water.
As of the census of 2000, there are 49,346 people in the city, organized into 20,182 households, and 12,028 families. The population density is 637.0/km2 (1,650.1/mi2). There are 22,267 housing units at an average density of 287.4/km2 (744.6/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 76.77% White, 19.65% African American, 0.63% Asian, 0.28% Native American, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.56% from other races, and 2.07% from two or more races. 1.23% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 20,182 households out of which 27.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.5% are married couples living together, 15.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 40.4% are non-families. 34.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 13.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.28 and the average family size is 2.93.
In the city the population is spread out with 23.9% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 98.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 96.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $30,176, and the median income for a family is $37,541. Males have a median income of $30,861 versus $21,951 for females. The per capita income for the city is $17,726. 16.3% of the population and 13.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 24.5% of those under the age of 18 and 9.6% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
The city was founded in 1808 and named for Jared Mansfield, the U.S. surveyor-general who directed its planning. It was incorporated as a village in 1828 and as a city in 1857. The area that is now Richland County, so named for the fertility of its soil, and the City of Mansfield were first settled in 1800. The city grew towards the north and the west. The first courthouse in the country was one of two blockhouses erected on the public square during the war of 1812.
Mansfield associates itself with many famous names such as John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed; as well as Pulitzer Prize winning author, Louis Bromfield. Chapman found the fertile land of Ohio ideal for his nurseries. The heartland of Chapman's nurseries was located along the stream valleys between Mansfield and Loudonville, just east of Interstate 71. Many of his orchards and nurseries are still found in Mansfield and the surrounding county. As a child, author Louis Bromfield played at his aunt's house, Oak Hill, in a neighborhood of Mansfield. The gothic house, built in 1847, served as the inspiration for "Shane's Castle" in his 1924 novel The Green Bay Tree.
The coming of the railroads in 1846, followed by the Lincoln Highway in 1913, ushered in Mansfield's greatest period of industrial expansion led by the city's nascent farm equipment and stove manufacturing industries, including the Tappan Company. By the late 1920s, Westinghouse became the city's largest employer, specializing in electric lighting, industrial heating and engineering, and home appliances.
However, like many Rust Belt cities, Mansfield saw a precipitous decline in its manufacturing and retail sectors. Beginning with the Steel Recession of the 1970's, the loss of jobs to overseas manufacturing, prolonged labor disputes, and deteriorating factory facilities all contributed to heavy industry leaving the area. Westinghouse, Tappan, and many other manufacturing plants were either bought-out, relocated or closed, leaving only the AK Steel Plant in Mansfield and the General Motors Fisher Body Stamping Plant in Ontario as the last two remaining heavy industry employers. The AK Steel Plant, formerly Armco Steel, was the location of a violent 3-year United Steelworkers Union lock-out and strike from 1999 to 2002.
With the loss of the jobs, locally owned businesses in downtown Mansfield closed, as did much of the retail built in the 1960's along Park Avenue West (formerly known as "The Miracle Mile") and Lexington Avenue. New big-box retail and franchise restaurants have been built in the adjacent suburban city of Ontario, Ohio, which has replaced Mansfield as the major economic and retail center for Richland County and North-Central Ohio.
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Mansfield, OH
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