Milan, Ohio
Milan is a village in
Erie and
Huron counties in
Ohio. The population was 1,445 at the 2000 census. It is part of the
Sandusky, Ohio metropolitan statistical area.
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Location of Milan, Ohio |
Milan (pronounced MÝ-lin) was the birthplace of inventor and businessman
Thomas A. Edison, and the small hillside brick home where he was born on
February 11th,
1847 is open to the public as a museum. He lived in Milan until he was 7 years of age when his family moved to
Port Huron, Michigan.
Milan was platted by Ebenezer Merry in
1817 on the site of a previous
Moravian Indian mission village [1805-1809]. Merry dammed the
Huron River below the village and established a gristmill and sawmill in the river valley.
Prior to the advent of the railroads, area farmers had to bring their harvests to
Lake Erie ports by wagon. The sandy and wet prairies above Milan were not easily crossed by a wagon with a heavy harvest load. For that reason, beginning in 1826, local investors proposed a ship
canal that would make Milan a lake port. Construction of the Milan Canal began in
1833 and it opened to navigation on
July 4th,
1839. For 10 years, the village prospered; becoming one of the busiest ports, for its size, in the world. Large numbers of wagons bringing wheat and other crops to Milan at harvest time would often line up for miles to the south.
The inland harbor also served as a ship building center, in part because of extensive local stands of
white oak timber used in ship building. Approximately 60 ships were built in Milan between 1840 and 1867.
The rapid development of railroads caused the decline of lake commerce using the Milan Canal. The canal's feeder dam failed due to a flood in 1868, ending Milan's direct lake connection. The original canal route can be observed and followed today along a park district recreational trail.
Melon farming prospers in the area due to sandy, fertile soil, and Milan hosts the "Milan Melon Festival" annually on Labor Day weekend.
Milan shares its school system with nearby
Berlin Heights, Ohio; the combined school district is known as the Berlin-Milan Local Schools, and the high school teams are the "Edison Chargers".
Although many residents commute to other cities for employment, the general culture of the area is decidedly rural and agricultural. Because of its limited development after the closure of the canal; Milan retains the appearance of a quaint 19th century town, and surprises many visitors with its charm.
Milan is located at (41.293278, -82.601323).
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 3.0
km² (1.2
mi²). None of the area is covered with water.
The
Huron River (Ohio) flows just north of the village square.
As of the
census of 2000, there were 1,445 people, 540 households, and 406 families residing in the village. The
population density was 476.9/km² (1,229.9/mi²). There were 574 housing units at an average density of 189.4/km² (488.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 98.13%
White, 0.55%
African American, 0.21%
Native American, 0.35%
Asian, 0.28% from
other races, and 0.48% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 0.90% of the population.
There were 540 households out of which 33.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.2% were
married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.8% were non-families. 22.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the village the population was spread out with 24.9% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 25.4% from 45 to 64, and 18.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.1 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $51,204, and the median income for a family was $57,986. Males had a median income of $42,426 versus $26,027 for females. The
per capita income for the village was $23,143. About 3.20% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 7.0% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.
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MilanArea.com web site
