Piqua, Ohio

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Piqua, Ohio
Motto: Where Vission becomes reality
Location of Piqua, Ohio
Coordinates: 40°8′51″N 84°14′53″W / 40.1475, -84.24806
Country	United States
State	Ohio
County	Miami
Area
- Total	10.9 sq mi (28.3 km²)
- Land	10.7 sq mi (27.7 km²)
- Water	0.2 sq mi (0.6 km²)
Elevation [1]	873 ft (266 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	20,738
- Density	1,939.2/sq mi (748.7/km²)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	45356
Area code(s)	937
FIPS code	39-62848[2]
GNIS feature ID	1061544[1]

Piqua is a city in Miami County, Ohio, United States. The population was 20,738 at the 2000 census. Piqua was one of the cities that experienced severe flooding during the Great Dayton Flood of 1913. Piqua is pronounced locally pick-wuh, rather than pick-way.

Contents 1 Geography 2 Demographics 3 History 4 Schools 5 Colleges 6 Famous residents 7 Economy 8 Trivia 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Geography

Piqua is located at 40°8′51″N, 84°14′53″W (40.147474, -84.247968)^[3].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.9 square miles (28.3 km²), of which, 10.7 square miles (27.7 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km²) of it (2.19%) is water.

The Great Miami River runs through Piqua. The area at the south end of town on the east side of the river is known as Shawnee.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 20,738 people, 8,263 households, and 5,585 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,939.2 people per square mile (749.0/km²). There were 8,886 housing units at an average density of 830.9/sq mi (320.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.21% White, 3.38% African American, 0.33% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.27% from other races, and 1.37% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.74% of the population.

There were 8,263 households out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.4% were married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 27.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.5% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,681, and the median income for a family was $41,804. Males had a median income of $31,808 versus $22,241 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,719. About 9.6% of families and 12.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.0% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] History

Although officially incorporated in 1807, Piqua's history dates back to a previous settlement in 1747 called Fort Pickawillany located a mile northeast of the present city at the Great Miami River's intersection with Loramie Creek.It was demolished by French troops and their Miami tribe Indian allies in 1752. Piqua started out as two separate communities, Upper Piqua and Lower Piqua in 1780 becoming one community by 1800. Rossville (since incorporated into Piqua) was the first local African-American settlement after the Randolph slaves were freed following the passing of John Randolph in 1833. The Rossville neighborhood and Randolph cemetery are located on the northeast side of the river off North County Road 25-A.

Piqua was home to the first municipally-owned nuclear power plant, in operation from 1962 to 1966 earning its short lived nickname "The Atomic City." During this period a name brand automotive battery, the "Piqua Atomic Power Plant" was manufactured and marketed locally.

Piqua is believed to be a reference to the Shawnee Indian phrase: "Othath-He-Waugh-Pe-Qua" translated as "He has risen from the ashes!" The phrase is mentioned in a painting of a Native American rising up above the flames before a tribe of onlookers in a state of amazement. The painting is on public display inside the main office of Unity National Bank, the former Third Savings and Loan Association in downtown Piqua.

Piqua's Shawnee Native American history became the namesake for the community of Shawnee, founded in 1797 which is bordered on the east side of the river adjacent to downtown and the former Pennsylvania Railroad corridor later used by the merged Penn Central Transportation and subsequently by Conrail. Shawnee has also long since been incorporated into Piqua. The Piqua High School Indians athletic teams also took its inspiration from its local Native American history.

Piqua has two Main Streets, the one being north and southbound along Miami County Road 25-A(the former U.S. Highway 25, also known as the Dixie Highway) the other running east through Shawnee. U.S. 36 also runs through much of the city, cutting the town almost directly in half. Main and Ash Streets (U.S. 36) converge in Piqua's downtown. Also running through downtown is the east to west Conrail corridor which was originally the Pennsylvania Railroad two-track throughway which was abandoned in 1985. A section of it became a bike trail in the summer of 2001 now known as Linear Park. The remaining rail line serving Piqua is the north and southbound Baltimore and Ohio line now operated by CSX Transportation(CSXT).

A long downtown fixture, the Orr-Statler Building at the corner of Main and High streets was erected in 1891 which for many years housed the now defunct Fort Piqua Hotel which closed in the 1980s. The building also provided a temporary home for Piqua National Bank which later moved to a newer building in 1929. That section of the building is now home to Joe Thoma and Sons Jewelers. Other local merchants have also located their businesses in the building over the years.. After years of disrepair and neglect, the building is currently undergoing a long awaited major interior renovation and will become the new home for Piqua's public library upon completion.

[edit] Schools

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Piqua Junior High School won the 2000 and 2001 Ohio State Science Olympiad and in 2002 placed second. The team advanced to Eastern Washington University for Nationals in 2000 in which they took 8th place and the Spirit Award, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in 2001 and placed 6th, and the University of Delaware in 2002 and placed 10th in the nation. Piqua Junior High School also won the 2005 Ohio State Science Olympiad and advanced to the Nationals held at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on May 21, 2005, along with Solon Middle School (the runner up), representing the two Ohio middle school teams. Piqua's Science Olympiad team is one of the oldest and most established in the state of Ohio.

Piqua High School's show choir has performed well during the past few years, receiving many grand champion and first-runner-up awards at Ohio competitions. Under the direction of Tom Westfall, the PHS choral department has earned its first "1" ratings at OMEA competitions in over thirty years. The Piqua High School Marching Band is known as the Pride of Piqua and won many championships in the 80s and currently has over 70 members. The program is currently being rejuvenated by the new director, Mitch Mahaney, and more focus is being given to teaching the elementary age kids the fundamentals of band. Piqua's biggest high school rivals are the Trojans from Troy, OH, a community about five miles south of the city of Piqua.

The Piqua High School football team was also named the Division II state champs for the 2006 season.

Piqua Schools compete in the Greater Western Ohio Conference (GWOC) North Division (Piqua, Troy, Trotwood, Vandalia, Sidney, Northmont). The following sports are available at Piqua High School: Football, Men's/Women's Basketball, Men's/Women's Soccer, Men's/Women's Tennis, Volleyball, Bowling, Golf, Baseball, Softball, Men's/Women's Cross Country, Track and Field, Wrestling, Swimming, Cheerleading, and Gymnastics.

Piqua schools also earned their first 'effective' rating from the state of Ohio during the 2005-2006 school year. During the 2006-2007 school year, Piqua City Schools maintained their 'effective' rating, earning 23/30 state indicators.

[edit] Colleges

Piqua is home to Edison Community College. Edison opened a new, 35,671 square foot addition to its campus during 2007, completed by The Collaborative Inc [1], architects, landscape architects and interior designers out of Toledo, OH. The new building, the Regional Center of Excellence (RCE), is an academic and student life center. The RCE houses classrooms, seminar rooms, library / Learning Center, cyber cafe and a multi-function lobby.

The building is LEED^® Certified, by the US Green Building Council. "Edison College is to be congratulated for achieving LEED Certification," said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO, Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. "The Certification of the Regional Center of Excellence sends a message that Edison cares about the health of the building's students and employees. Everyone's comfort, safety and well-being will benefit from the fresh air and natural day light."

The Regional Center of Excellence also won an AIA Ohio Honor award.

The college has satellite locations in Darke County and in Tipp City.

[edit] Famous residents

• Matt Finkes, linebacker for Ohio State and the New York Jets.^[4]
• Jazz musicians the Mills Brothers, inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998 were born in Piqua.
• World War II ace Don Gentile.
• Posthumous Medal of Honor awardee William H. Pitsenbarger, who was recognized for his actions as an Air Force Pararescueman during the Vietnam War.
• William McCulloch, lawyer and United States Senate member, noted for championing Republican support of the Civil Rights Act in Congress during the 1960s.
• Quinn Pitcock, former starting defensive tackle for the Ohio State University football team and a current member of the Indianapolis Colts.
• Brandon Saine, the 2006 Ohio Mr. Football Award winner and a current running back for The Ohio State University football team.
• Kristin King, who was a player on the bronze medal winning Ladies' U.S. Hockey team at the 2006 Winter Olympics.
• Scott Oglesbee, Pianist, performing artist for Kawia Piano Corporation and Kimball Organ Division 1985 - 1989[2]
• Matt Bogart, star of Broadway theater shows including Miss Saigon, The Civil War, Smokey Joe's Cafe and Aida. Matt was also chosen to perform at the 2002 Kennedy Center Honors honoring Elizabeth Taylor and has been a featured performer in the Tony Awards Show and The Today Show. Matt is currently performing the role of Lancelot in the US touring company of "Camelot" alongside Lou Diamond Phillips and is working on his third solo CD titled "Sky Above Manhattan". ^[5]
• The 2006 Division II Football Ohio State Champs ^[6]
• Scott Phillips, best known as the host of the syndicated program "The American Woodshop" aired on American Public Television.
• Hiram Y. Smith, lawyer and U.S. Representative from Iowa.

[edit] Economy

• The city of Piqua is home of Hartzell Propeller, the leading producer of small aircraft propellers in the world.
• Evenflo of Piqua (formerly Questor Juvenile Furniture) is the leading manufacturer of infant and toddler car seats and has become one of Piqua's leading employers and industries.
• In the late 1890's, Southwest Ohio was the heart of the US flaxseed growing area, and there were as many as 13 linseed oil mills in Piqua, where the flaxseed was "crushed" to extract the vegetable oil, named linseed oil. The flax fiber was used for cloth and paper, and the oil was used for a variety of industrial uses. The name "linoleum" comes from the linseed oil which is the binder. One of the vegetable oil mills in Piqua burned down--a common fate for wooden buildings soaked with vegetable oil--and the owner, American Linseed Oil Company, dispatched Alfred Willard French, their Chief Engineer, from Brooklyn, NY, to organize and supervise the rebuilding of the oil mill.
• During the rebuilding of the linseed oil mill, Alfred W. French included a machine he had invented and patented in 1898, a "cake trimmer", and purchased the most modern equipment then available. He met the leading citizens of Piqua. They were impressed with this engineer, who had graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in only three years, and had entrepreneurial spirit; they decided to invest in a new company he wanted to start.
• The French Oil Mill Machinery Company was founded 25 May 1900, with Alfred W. French as President, to make "improved oil mill machinery". By 1905 the company was exporting its patented and rugged vegetable oil mill extraction machinery all around the world. Today, the company has customers in over 80 countries, still serving the vegetable oil extraction market (to press such seeds as soybeans, cottonseed, rapeseed, canola, and many others). In addition, the company is a world leader in synthetic rubber dewatering and drying machinery, and in hydraulic molding presses for rubber, thermoplastic and composite materials.
• The city also was a major center of underwear production during the late 1800s and much of the 1900s. A yearly "Outdoor Underwear Festival" was held downtown from 1988 until shortly after the demise and demolition of the factory owned by Medalist-Allen A, a direct descendant of the Atlas Underwear Company. Heritage Green Park now occupies the former factory site.
• The Val Decker Packing Company, which operated until 1981 was a local producer of hams, hot dogs, other meats and lard under the tagline "Piquality." The large red steel cans which contained the lard product is now a much sought-after collector's item. The building which housed the meat packing plant was renovated in 1987 and is now home to the Piqua Board of Education and several small businesses.
• Due to the prosperity of past industry in the city of Piqua, much of the area surrounding downtown contains large mansions and homes. Most notable is the Leo Flesh Mansion, built in the Chateauesque style, it looms over many of the surrounding buildings in the neighborhood.
• Piqua's mall, Miami Valley Center, opened in 1988 and was renovated in the mid 90s. Its anchor stores include JC Penney, Elder Beerman, Sears, and Steve and Barry's Sportswear.
• Miami Valley Crossing (formerly Piqua East Mall, opened in 1970) was redesigned and updated in the late 1990s as a plaza with anchor stores W.g. Grinders, Wal-Mart, Jo Ann Fabrics, El Sombrero Restaurant and The Home Depot.
• Two local festivals are held downtown. Taste of The Arts, attracting area artists, local restaurants and tourists alike is held yearly in May. The other is Christmas On The Green, also held yearly at the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.
• The Piqua Heritage Festival, held since 1981, is a yearly event held at the site of the Col. John Johnston farm (aka: Piqua Historical Area) on Labor Day weekend which draws historians, native American tribes, and tourists alike. A restored segment of the Miami-Erie Canal is also located on the site north of the city off State Route 66.
• Tom Hudson was re-elected as mayor in November 2007

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Piqua's Miami Valley Centre Mall was the site for auditions to be a contestant on NBC-TV's "Deal or No Deal" on Saturday April 5, 2008. An estimated 4,000 people coming from Piqua and neighboring communities and from outside Ohio came in as early as 9:00pm the evening before to get their place in line for the Saturday morning auditions.

• A fictionalized version of Piqua is the setting for the Captain Underpants children's book series.

• 1930s Depression-era gangster John Dillinger at one time robbed the Citizens National Bank of Piqua (later Miami Citizens National Bank) at the corner of Main and Ash streets downtown. It is believed the shots fired from his gun upon getaway left bullet holes which remained intact upon a wall of the Orr-Flesh building located across the street for many years.

• The Meteor Motor Car Company (later the Miller-Meteor division of Richmond, Indiana-based school bus manufacturer Wayne Corporation) had a brief run as an independent record label and phonograph manufacturer in the 1920s. Afterward, Miller-Meteor produced ambulances and hearses before closing down in 1979.

• The city of Piqua, Kansas, home of legendary silent film actor Buster Keaton, is named after Piqua, Ohio.

• The statue on top of the Miami County Courthouse, located in Troy, Ohio, faces south with its back (and consequently the figure's rear end) facing Piqua. This was included in the design after Piqua made a failed attempt to become the county seat of Miami County.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Website
• Mainstreet Piqua website
• Piqua Entertainment Information
• Piqua Heritage Festival website

• Piqua, Ohio is at coordinates 40°08′51″N 84°14′53″W / 40.147474, -84.247968 (Piqua, Ohio)Coordinates: 40°08′51″N 84°14′53″W / 40.147474, -84.247968 (Piqua, Ohio)

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