Ohio Theme
State of Ohio
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| Nicknames | The Buckeye State; The Mother of Presidents; Birthplace of Aviation; The Heart of It All |
|---|---|
| Motto | With God, all things are possible |
| Demonym | Ohioan; Buckeye (colloq.) |
| Capital | Columbus |
| Largest city | Columbus |
| Largest metro area | Greater Cleveland, Greater Cincinnati |
| Area | Ranked: 34th in the US
Total: 44,825 sq miWidth: 220 miles Length: 220 miles Water: 8.7% |
| Population | Ranked: 7th in the US
Total: 11,536,504 (2010)Density: 256.2/sq mi |
| Elevation | Highest Point: Campbell Hill 1,550 ft Mean: 853 ft Lowest Point: Ohio River 455 ft |
| Before statehood | Northwest Territory |
| Admission to Union | March 1, 1803 (17th) Declared retroactively on August 7, 1953 |
State Symbols
| Animal | White-tailed Deer |
|---|---|
| Beverage | Tomato juice |
| Bird | Cardinal |
| Flower | Red carnation |
| Fossil | Trilobite genus Isotelus |
| Herb capital | Gahanna |
| Insect | Ladybug |
| Reptile | Black racer snake |
| Rock song | Hang On Sloopy |
| Song | Beautiful Ohio |
| Stone | Ohio Flint |
| Tree | Buckeye |
| Wildflower | Large white trillium |
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S., it is the 7th-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents. The state’s capital is Columbus. The Anglicized name ‘Ohio’ comes from the Iroquois word ohi-yo’, meaning ‘great river’. The state, originally partitioned from the Northwest Territory, was admitted to the Union as the 17th state (and the first under the Northwest Ordinance) on March 1, 1803. Although there are conflicting narratives regarding the origin of the nickname, Ohio is historically known as the Buckeye State (relating to the Ohio buckeye tree) and Ohioans are also known as Buckeyes.
The government of Ohio is composed of the executive branch, led by the Governor; the legislative branch, which comprises the Ohio General Assembly; and the judicial branch, which is led by the Supreme Court. Currently, Ohio occupies 18 seats in the United States House of Representatives. Ohio is known for its status as both a swing state and a bellwether in national elections.
The population density of Ohio ranks ninth among all U.S. states. Nonetheless, Ohio currently has a negative net population migration, and an increasing rate of unemployment.
Silly Joke
A man from Cleveland went into an airport in New York City. “One ticket to Cleveland, please,” he said to the clerk.
“Do you want to go by way of Buffalo?” the clerk asked.
“No,” the man answered. “I want to fly!”
Theme Elements
The repeating image across the top of the page are buckeye nuts because if Ohio is known for one thing, it’s known for being the buckeye state. The image in the lower-left corner of the page was taken by snapdragon in Goshen Memorial Park, Mechanicsburg, OH, and used for October in the 2010 letterboxing calendar.
The image in the lower right corner was taken by me (Green Tortuga) during the All Aboaaarrrddd! The Letterboxing Express! event from a moving train through Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The interesting thing about the Cuyahoga Valley—it contains the Cuyahoga River, which is what you see in this photo. Nice and scenic, don’t you think? But it hasn’t always been this way. Oh, no.... The Cuyahoga River is the river that’s famous for catching on fire over and over again. At least 13 fires have been reported on the Cuyahoga River, the first occurring in 1868. The largest river fire in 1952 caused over $1 million in damage to boats and a riverfront office building. Fires erupted on the river several times between the 1952 fire and June 22, 1969, when a river fire that day captured the attention of Time magazine, which described the Cuyahoga as the river that “oozes rather than flows” and in which a person “does not drown but decays.”
You might be thinking but rivers don’t catch on fire! But they can and do catch on fire when the water is so polluted that the pollution in the water can ignite and burn. The 1969 Cuyahoga River fire helped spur an avalanche of water pollution control activities including the Clean Water Act. The river today is much nicer than in the past. =)
Members
Now, time for a quick shout out to everyone on Atlas Quest from this state!
Letterboxing Cities
And, here are all of the cities in Ohio we’ve hit with letterboxes!