WARREN, OH

Warren is a city in and the county seat of Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio, approximately northwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 41,558 at the 2010 census. Warren is the second largest city in the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, and anchors the northern part of that area.

History

Ephraim Quinby founded Warren in 1798, on of land that he purchased from the Connecticut Land Company, as part of the Connecticut Western Reserve. Quinby named the town for the town's surveyor, Moses Warren. The town was the county seat of the Western Reserve, then became the Trumbull County seat in 1801.

In 1833, Warren contained county buildings, two printing offices, a bank, five mercantile stores, and about 600 inhabitants.

Warren had a population of nearly 1,600 people in 1846. In that same year, the town had five churches, twenty stores, three newspaper offices, one bank, one wool factory and two flourmills. In June 1846, a fire destroyed several buildings on one side of the town square, but residents soon replaced them with new stores and other businesses. Warren became an important center of trade for farmers living in the surrounding countryside during this period. Songwriter Stephen Foster, his wife Jane McDowell, and their daughter Marion lived briefly in Warren.

During the latter decades of the nineteenth century and throughout the twentieth century, Warren remained an important trading and manufacturing center. By 1888, four railroads connected the community with other parts of Ohio. In that same year, there were five newspaper offices, seven churches, three banks and numerous manufacturing firms in Warren. The businesses manufactured a wide variety of products including linseed oil, furniture, barrel staves, wool fabric, blinds, incandescent bulbs, automobiles and carriages. Warren was the first town in the US to have an electric street illumination, provided by the Packard Electric Company, founded in 1890 in Warren. Warren's population was 5,973 people in 1890. Construction began on the Trumbull County Courthouse in downtown Warren on Thanksgiving Day, 1895.

Warren continued to grow in the twentieth century. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, steel production was a major industry in the county because of large deposits of coal and iron ore in surrounding counties. In recent years, many Warren residents have worked in local service and retail sales businesses. In 2000, Warren was Trumbull County's most populated community, with 46,832 residents. Many examples of late 19th and early 20th century architectural styles still stand in downtown Warren, including the Trumbull County Courthouse, which contains one of the largest courtrooms in the state of Ohio, and the Trumbull County Carnegie Law Library; in addition to office buildings, banks, stores, and homes surrounding the Courthouse Square area.

John Ashbery mentions Warren in his poem 'Pyrography', first published in an exhibition catalogue in 1976 and included in his 1977 collection Houseboat Days. In a later interview, Ashbery said he had never visited the town.

Government

The current form of government is a Mayor-Council system. William "Doug" Franklin is the incumbent Mayor and has been since November 2011. His term expires on January 1st, 2024. James Graham is the President of Council, and has elected not to seek re-election in 2021.

Opponents of the Mayor-Council system, especially 5th Ward Councilman Kenneth Macpherson, have pushed the idea of a Charter system of Government. They argue that this would allow the citizens of Warren to have a bigger say in the governance of the city. Opponents say that this would decrease productivity within the City Government.

City Council Members

Ward 1 - Todd Johnson (I)

Ward 2- Andy Herman (D)

Ward 3 - Greg Greathouse (D)

Ward 4 - Mark Forte (D)

Ward 5 - Ashley Miner (D)

Ward 6 - Cheryl Saffold (D)

Ward 7 - Ronald White Sr. (D)

Councilwoman at Large - Helen Rucker (D)

Councilman at Large - Gary G. Steinbeck (D)

Councilman at Large - Kenneth MacPherson (D)

President of Council - John Brown (D)

Economy

Major employers in Warren include Trumbull Memorial Hospital, St. Joseph Warren Hospital, the Tribune Chronicle, Seven Seventeen Credit Union, Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital, and Thomas Steel Strip.

Geography

Warren is located at (41.238206, −80.814554).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Demographics

95.5% spoke English, 1.6% Greek, 1.1% Spanish, and 0.9% Italian in their homes.

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 41,557 people, 17,003 households, and 10,013 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 20,384 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 67.7% White, 27.7% African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.7% from other races, and 3.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.9% of the population.

Of the 17,003 households 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.8% were married couples living together, 21.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 41.1% were non-families. 35.6% of households were one person and 13.8% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.97.

The median age was 38.3 years. 23.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.2% were from 25 to 44; 25.9% were from 45 to 64; and 16% were 65 or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.1% male and 51.9% female.

2000 census

At the 2000 census, there were 46,832 people, 19,288 households and 12,035 families living in the city. The population density was 2,912.4 people per square mile (1,124.5/km). There were 21,279 housing units at an average density of 1,322.9 per square mile (510.9/km). The racial makeup of the city was 60.94% White, 36.20% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.42% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.30% from other races and 1.98% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.04% of the population.

Of the 19,288 households 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.4% were married couples living together, 19.4% had a female householder with no husband present and 37.6% were non-families. 32.9% of households were one person and 13.7% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 3.01.

The age distribution was 26.3% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64 and 16.8% 65 or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.9 males.

The median household income was $30,147 and the median family income was $36,158. Males had a median income of $32,317 versus $23,790 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,808. About 16.2% of families and 19.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.8% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people