Editing Fort Recovery, Ohio

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name                     = Fort Recovery, Ohio
|settlement_type          = [[Village (United States)|Village]]
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    =

<!-- Images -->
|image_skyline            = Fort Recovery obelisk.jpg
|image_caption            = Victory monument in Fort Recovery
|imagesize                = 180px
|image_flag               = 
|image_seal               =

<!-- Maps -->
|image_map                = Mercer County Ohio incorporated and unincorporated areas Fort Recovery highlighted.svg
|mapsize                  = 260px
|map_caption              = Location of Fort Recovery in [[Mercer County, Ohio|Mercer County]] and of Mercer County in [[Ohio]]

<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type         = Country
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = State
|subdivision_name1        = [[Ohio]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Ohio|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Mercer County, Ohio|Mercer]]
|subdivision_type3        = Townships
|subdivision_name3        = [[Gibson Township, Mercer County, Ohio|Gibson]] and [[Recovery Township, Mercer County, Ohio|Recovery]]

<!-- Government -->
|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = Mayor
|leader_name              = Dave Kaup<ref name="Village Officials">{{Cite web |url=http://www.fortrecovery.org/government.htm |title=Village Officials |access-date=July 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100919072212/http://fortrecovery.org/government.htm |archive-date=September 19, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>(update needed)
|leader_title1            = Village administrator
|leader_name1             = Randy Diller<ref name="Village Officials">{{Cite web |url=http://www.fortrecovery.org/government.htm |title=Village Officials |access-date=July 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100919072212/http://fortrecovery.org/government.htm |archive-date=September 19, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>(update needed)
|established_title        = 
|established_date         =

<!-- Area -->
|unit_pref                = Imperial
|area_footnotes           =<ref name="TigerWebMapServer">{{cite web|title=ArcGIS REST Services Directory|url=https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=September 20, 2022}}</ref>
|area_magnitude           = 
|area_total_km2           = 3.25
|area_land_km2            = 3.20
|area_water_km2           = 0.05
|area_total_sq_mi         = 1.25
|area_land_sq_mi          = 1.23
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.02

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_est           = 1474
|pop_est_as_of            = 2024
|pop_est_footnotes        = <ref name="2024 est">{{cite web |title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places in Ohio: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2024 |url=https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/tables/2020-2024/cities/totals/SUB-IP-EST2024-POP-39.xlsx |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=May 29, 2025}}</ref>
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 1501
|population_density_km2   = 469.74
|population_density_sq_mi = 1216.37

<!-- General information -->
|timezone                 = [[North American Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
|utc_offset               = -5
|timezone_DST             = EDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -4
|elevation_footnotes      =<ref name=gnis/>
|elevation_ft             = 942
|coordinates              = {{coord|40|24|43|N|84|46|35|W|region:US-OH|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP Code]]
|postal_code              = 45846
|area_code                = [[Area code 419|419]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 39-27902<ref name="GR2">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 31, 2008 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref>
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 2398904<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2398904}}</ref>
|website                  = {{URL|https://www.fortrecovery.org/|fortrecovery.org}}
}}

'''Fort Recovery''' is a [[village (United States)#Ohio|village]] in [[Mercer County, Ohio|Mercer County]], Ohio, United States. The population was 1,501 at the [[United States Census 2020|2020 census]]. The village is near the location of [[Fort Recovery]], first established in 1793 under orders from General [[Anthony Wayne]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n128 129]}}</ref> The town is located near the headwaters of the [[Wabash River]].

==History==
Two significant battles of the [[Northwest Indian War]] took place at Fort Recovery. At the time, Ohio was claimed and populated by Native American nations, and conflict broke out when the young United States established settlements north of the [[Ohio River]]. In 1791, [[Northwest Territory]] governor [[Arthur St. Clair]] led a campaign north from [[Fort Washington (Ohio)|Fort Washington]] to pacify the [[Western Confederacy]] at [[Kekionga]]. Instead, the United States force was destroyed in the early morning of November 4. [[St. Clair's Defeat]] remains the greatest loss by the United States Army to a Native American force.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hogeland |first=William |title=Autumn of the Black Snake |year=2017 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |location=New York |isbn=9780374107345 |lccn=2016052193 |page=374}}</ref>

As a direct result of the Native American victory, the [[Legion of the United States]] was founded and placed under the command of General [[Anthony Wayne|"Mad Anthony" Wayne]]. In late 1793, Wayne led 300 men to the site of St. Clair's defeat and deliberately had Fort Recovery built there. On December 25, they identified the site due to the large amount of unburied remains.  [[Private (rank)|Private]] George Will wrote that to set up camp, the unit had to move bones to make space for their beds.<ref>{{cite book |last=Winkler |first=John F |title=Fallen Timbers 1794: The US Army's first victory |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |year=2013 |isbn= 978-1-7809-6377-8 |page=46}}</ref> On June 30 of the following year, a large Native American force and a few British officers conducted the [[Siege of Fort Recovery]]. Although the Legion suffered high casualties, they were able to maintain control of the fort, in part because they had recovered cannons lost by St. Clair in 1791.  Wayne used Fort Recovery as a staging ground for advances into the territory. He ultimately defeated the Native American confederacy at the [[Battle of Fallen Timbers]] in August 1794. In 1795, confederacy representatives signed the [[Treaty of Greenville]], which ceded control of most of the modern state of Ohio, using Fort Recovery as a reference point for the border between Native American and United States territories.<ref>{{cite web |title=Treaty of Greene Ville |publisher=Touring Ohio |url=http://touringohio.com/history/greeneville-treaty.html |access-date=November 21, 2019}}</ref>

In 1818, a Virginia soldier who fought at the battle of St. Clair's Defeat returned to the area in search of silver he left by a standing oak tree. The soldier remained in the area for an unknown amount of time and was later found dead in the woods. In 1852, a local resident struck metal with a grubbing hoe. The metal was iron bands encasing a small wooden box, and 900 Spanish [[doubloon]]s were found, valued at ${{Format price|14000}} (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US|14000|1852|r=2}}}} in today's dollars){{Inflation-fn|US}}.<ref>{{cite book|title=History of Van Wert and Mercer Counties Ohio|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofvanwert00sutt|year=1882|publisher=R. Sutton & Co.|location=Wapakoneta, OH|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofvanwert00sutt/page/446 446]}}</ref>

In September 1851, the town organized Bone Burying Day, to inter the remains of bones that had been discovered from the battles at that location.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fort Recovery State Museum |url=http://www.artcom.com/Museums/newones/45846-a.htm |accessdate=October 25, 2021}}</ref>

==Geography==
Fort Recovery is located at {{coord|40.412156|-84.777641|type:city_region:US|format=dms|display=inline}}.<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref>

According to the [[United States Census Bureau|U.S. Census Bureau]], Fort Recovery has a total area of {{convert|1.07|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, of which {{convert|1.05|sqmi|sqkm|2}} is land and {{convert|0.02|sqmi|sqkm|2}} is water.<ref name="Gazetteer files">{{cite web |title=US Gazetteer files 2010 |url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 6, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120702145235/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt |archive-date=July 2, 2012 }}</ref>

The northwest corner of the [[Treaty of Greenville|Greenville Treaty Line]] is located in Fort Recovery.

Fort Recovery is located at the confluence of a number of major area roads, including State Route 119, State Route 49, Sharpsburg Road, Union City Road, Wabash Road, and Fort Recovery-Minster Road. Fort Recovery was a stop along the [[New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad]] that connected [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]] to Chicago and [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]].

The [[Wabash River]] passes through Fort Recovery.

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|align=
|1870= 89
|1880= 102
|1890= 456
|1900= 698
|1910= 708
|1920= 754
|1930= 796
|1940= 822
|1950= 827
|1960= 833
|1970= 847
|1980= 859
|1990= 901
|2000= 1006
|2010= 1430
|2020= 1501
|estyear=2024
|estimate=1474
|estref=<ref name="2024 est"/>
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
}}

===2010 census===
As of the census<ref name ="wwwcensusgov">{{cite web|title=U.S. Census website|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 6, 2013}}</ref> of 2010, there were 1,430 people, 555 households, and 391 families living in the village. The population density was {{convert|1361.9|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 589 housing units at an average density of {{convert|561.0|/sqmi|/km2|1}}. The racial makeup of the village was 97.7% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.1% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.1% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.1% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.7% from [[Race (U.S. Census)|other races]], and 1.3% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 1.1% of the population.

There were 555 households, of which 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.8% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 29.5% were non-families. 27.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.16.

The median age in the village was 34.8 years. 28.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.7% were from 25 to 44; 24% were from 45 to 64; and 14.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 51.0% male and 49.0% female.

==Notable people==
* [[Richard Butler (general)|Richard Butler]], general killed at [[St. Clair's defeat]], buried at Fort Recovery
* [[Rick Derringer]], rock guitarist, vocalist, and entertainer
* [[Richard Schoen]], award-winning mathematician at the [[University of California, Irvine]]
* [[Harry Schwartz (U.S. senator)|Henry Schwartz]], [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] from [[Wyoming]]

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="220px" heights="165px">
File:Gville_Treaty_Line_marker.jpg|A Greenville Treaty Line marker at Fort Recovery
File:FtRecovery Cannonballs.jpg|Cannonballs left from the battle are on display at the Fort
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.fortrecovery.org/ Historic Fort Recovery]
* [http://www.ohiohistory.org/places/ftrecovr/#info Fort Recovery] on Ohio Historical Society site

{{Mercer County, Ohio}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Mercer County, Ohio]]
[[Category:Villages in Ohio]]