Lebanon, Ohio

Lebanon is in the Symmes Purchase. The first European settler in what is now Lebanon was Ichabod Corwin, uncle of Ohio Governor Thomas Corwin, who came to Ohio from Bourbon County, Kentucky, and settled on the north branch of Turtle Creek in March 1796.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} The site of his cabin is now on the grounds of Berry Intermediate School on North Broadway and is marked with a monument erected by the Warren County Historical Society.

The town was laid out in September 1802 on land owned by Ichabod Corwin, Silas Hurin, Ephraim Hathaway, and Samuel Manning in Sections 35 and 35 of Town 5, Range 3 North and Sections 5 and 6 of Town 4, Range 3 North of the Between the Miami Rivers Survey. Lebanon was named after the Biblical Lebanon because of the many juniper or Eastern Red cedar trees there, similar to the Lebanon Cedar.{{cite book|last=Gannett|first=Henry|title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ|year=1905|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n132 183]}} It is known today as "The Cedar City".

City legend has it that Lebanon didn't grow as large as Cincinnati or Dayton because of the 'Shaker Curse'. During their migration, the Shakers decided an area outside of town was a suitable place for them to create a homeland for themselves. There was a disagreement with some of the locals and it was said the Shakers placed a curse on the city to hinder the city's prosperity. In reality, the Shakers thrived in the area, and built a settlement about {{convert|4|mi|km}} west of Lebanon called Union Village.{{cite web|url=http://www.historiclebanonohio.com/?q=book/export/html/43|title=Text Timeline|website=www.historiclebanonohio.com|access-date=Feb 18, 2020}} A local man, Malchalm Worley was their first convert. Since the Shakers did not engage in procreation, they relied on converts to increase their numbers. By 1900, there were almost no Shakers left in Ohio.{{cite web|url=https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Shakers?rec=630|title=Shakers - Ohio History Central|website=ohiohistorycentral.org|access-date=Feb 18, 2020}}

The city is one of the few in the nation to once operate a government-run cable television and telephone service, as well as being a fiber-to-the-neighborhood Internet service provider. Controversial since it began operation in 1999, the Lebanon telecommunications system had struggled to recover its expenses and had accumulated over $8 million in debt. However, residents in the area at the time paid up to 50% less for the aforementioned services than neighboring communities, therefore saving over $40 million of the residents' money. In the 2006 general election, however, voters approved the sale of this city-run telecommunications system to Cincinnati Bell.{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}}

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of {{convert|12.97|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, of which {{convert|12.96|sqmi|sqkm|2}} is land and {{convert|0.01|sqmi|sqkm|2}} is water.{{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=2013-01-06 |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=2012-07-02 }}

{{US Census population

|1820= 1079

|1830= 1165

|1840= 1528

|1850= 2088

|1860= 2559

|1870= 2749

|1880= 2703

|1890= 3050

|1900= 2867

|1910= 2698

|1920= 3396

|1930= 3222

|1940= 3896

|1950= 4818

|1960= 5993

|1970= 7934

|1980= 9620

|1990= 10453

|2000= 16962

|2010= 20033

|2020= 20841

|footnote=Sources:{{cite web|title=Population of Civil Divisions Less than Counties|url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1870a-08.pdf|work=Statistics of the Population of the United States at the Ninth Census|date=1870|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=17 May 2020}}{{cite web|title=Population of Civil Divisions Less than Counties|url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1880a_v1-11.pdf|date=1880|work=Statistics of the Population of the United States at the Tenth Census|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=17 May 2020}}{{cite web|title=Population: Ohio|url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/36894832v3ch3.pdf|work=1910 U.S. Census|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=17 May 2020}}{{cite web|title=Population: Ohio|url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/03815512v1ch08.pdf|work=1930 US Census|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=17 May 2020}}{{cite web|title=Number of Inhabitants: Ohio|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1960/population-volume-1/37749282v1p37_ch02.pdf|date=1960|work=18th Census of the United States|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=17 May 2020}}{{cite web|title=Ohio: Population and Housing Unit Counts|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/cen1990/cph2/cph-2-37.pdf|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=17 May 2020}}

}}

As of the census{{cite web|title=U.S. Census website|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=2013-01-06}} of 2010, there were 20,033 people, 7,436 households, and 5,213 families living in the city. The population density was {{convert|1545.8|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 7,920 housing units at an average density of {{convert|611.1|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|units |units|}}. The racial makeup of the city was 92.7% White, 2.6% African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 1.6% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.5% of the population.

There were 7,436 households, of which 41.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.3% were married couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 29.9% were non-families. 24.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.12.

The median age in the city was 34.7 years. 29.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 29.5% were from 25 to 44; 23.9% were from 45 to 64; and 10.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.0% male and 51.0% female.

As of the census of 2000, there were 16,962 people living in the city. The population density was {{convert|1,440.6|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 6,218 housing units at an average density of {{convert|528.1|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|units |units|}}. The racial makeup of the city was 90.98% White, 6.36% African American, 0.32% Native American, 0.64% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.37% from other races, and 1.31% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.13% of the population.

There were 5,887 households, out of which 40.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.8% were married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.5% were non-families. 24.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.6% 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 3.08.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.2% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 36.8% from 25 to 44, 16.8% from 45 to 64, and 8.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 114.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $46,856, and the median income for a family was $52,578. Males had a median income of $40,361 versus $27,551 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,897. About 4.7% of families and 6.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.6% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those aged 65 or over.

{{Unsourced section|date=March 2025}}

Prisons operated by the Ohio Department of Corrections in the area include Lebanon Correctional Institution and Warren Correctional Institution.

• Lebanon Blues Festival
• Lebanon Country Music Festival
• Warren County Fair
• Country Applefest
• Horse Drawn Carriage Parade and Christmas Festival
• Third Friday block party on Mulberry Street

Image:Golden Lamb Hotel 129200pu-repair.jpg

The Golden Lamb Inn is the oldest hotel in Ohio, having been established in 1803.{{NRISref|2008a}} The present structure is built around the 1815 rebuilding of the inn and has been visited by 12 presidents.{{cite web | url=http://www.goldenlamb.com/pages/inn/default/3/ | title=Homepage | publisher=The Golden Lamb | access-date=19 June 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141121065653/http://www.goldenlamb.com/pages/inn/default/3 | archive-date=21 November 2014 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}{{better source needed|date=April 2021}}

The Warren County Historical Museum includes the Harmon Museum, housed in Harmon Hall, a three-story, {{convert|28000|sqft}} building with displays and exhibits of art and artifacts from prehistoric eras to the mid-20th century.{{cite web|url=https://www.wchsmuseum.org/|title=Warren County Historical Society Home|website=Warren County Historical Society|access-date=Feb 18, 2020}}{{better source needed|date=April 2021}}

The Glendower State Memorial, owned by the Warren County Historical Society, was built in 1836 by Amos Bennett for John Milton Williams, a Lebanon merchant, and named for Owain Glyndŵr. It has been called "one of the finest examples of Residential Greek Revival architecture style in the Midwest".{{cite web |title=Glendower Historic Mansion and Arboretum |url=https://www.wchsmuseum.org/glendower.html |publisher=Warren County Historical Society |access-date=August 6, 2022}}

File:Lebanon train station at Broadway and South.jpg station]]

Lebanon is home to the Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad, where passengers follow a scenic old stagecoach route along the right-of-way of the former Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway.{{cite web|url=https://lebanonrr.com/|title=Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad|website=Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad|access-date=Feb 18, 2020}}

The Countryside YMCA is one of the largest in the U.S.{{cite web|url=https://countrysideymca.org/about-us/|title=About Us - History and Opportunities | Countryside YMCA|website=countrysideymca.org|access-date=Feb 18, 2020}}{{better source needed|date=April 2021}} consists of: four basketball gyms, two weight rooms, five indoor pools, two outdoor pools, tennis courts, baseball fields, racquetball courts, preschool and daycare, gymnastics center, outdoor soccer fields, five aerobics rooms, senior citizen center, two waterparks (one inside, one outside), sports medicine center, rock climbing wall, two indoor tracks, outdoor track, acres of forest and trails, pond, outdoor playground, locker rooms, outdoor volleyball, and flag football fields.

Harmon Golf Club is a nine-hole, par 36 public golf course located on South East Street. It was built in 1912.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

Lebanon City Schools operates the following public schools:

• Bowman Primary School (K–2)
• Donovan Elementary School (3–4)
• Berry Intermediate School (5–6)
• Lebanon Junior High School (7–8)
• Lebanon High School (9–12)

The city is served by a lending library, the Lebanon Public Library.{{cite web | url=https://lebanonlibrary.org | title=Homepage | publisher=Lebanon Public Library | access-date=3 March 2018}}

• Today's Pulse (based in Liberty Township, Butler County)

• Channel 6 - The Lebanon Channel City Cable{{cite web|url=http://www.lebanonohio.gov/index.aspx?NID=104|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330174056/http://www.lebanonohio.gov/index.aspx?NID=104|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 30, 2012|title=Lebanon, OH - Official Website - Channel 6|date=Mar 30, 2012|access-date=Feb 18, 2020}}
• Broadcast television from Cincinnati and Dayton markets

{{Unsourced section|date=March 2025}}

• Interstate 71
• U.S. Route 42
• Ohio State Route 48
• Ohio State Route 63
• Ohio State Route 123
• Ohio State Route 741

• Neil Armstrong, first man to walk on the Moon (during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission); made his home in Lebanon for 23 years after the Moon landing
• Sarah B. Armstrong, 19th-century physician, alumnist and faculty member of Lebanon University
• Cyrus Ball, judge
• Amos Booth, baseball player for Cincinnati Red Stockings 1876–77
• John Chivington, officer in American Civil War and Sand Creek Massacre
• Clay Clement, actor of 1930s films
• Thomas Corwin, Governor of Ohio from 1840 to 1842; U.S. Senator from 1845 to 1850
• Charles Cretors, invented the first popcorn machine in 1885
• Greg Demos, bass player for Guided by Voices
• Abby Franquemont, writer, revivalist of the art of hand spinning with a spindle
• George E. Gard, police chief of Los Angeles in 19th Century
• Scooter Gennett, MLB player for the Cincinnati Reds
• Woody Harrelson, (moved from Texas at age 12),{{Cite web |title=not found |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=0F504F41A7D42079&p_docnum=1 |access-date=March 2, 2025 |website=nl.newsbank.com}} film and TV actor, Emmy Award winner and three-time Academy Awards nominee
• Bruce Edwards Ivins, government scientist who committed suicide while under investigation for 2001 anthrax attacks
• Jill Jones, singer, songwriter, and actress
• Maldwyn Jones, motorcycle racer, American Motorcyclist Association Hall of Fame Inductee in 1998
• Michael Larson, famous game show contestant on Press Your Luck in 1984
• Andrew McBurney, Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, 1866–1868
• John McLean, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1829 to 1861
• Ormsby M. Mitchel, West Point grad, astronomer, surveyor, general from 1812 to 1825
• Marcus Mote, early Ohio artist
• Corwin M. Nixon, state representative 1962–1992, minority leader 1979–1992
• F. E. Riddle, lawyer and Oklahoma Supreme Court justice[https://books.google.com/books?id=Be01AQAAMAAJ&q=The+History+of+Tulsa,+Oklahoma+volume+III Douglas, Clarence B. The History of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Volume III. S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. Chicago-Tulsa (1921) p.490-1]. Accessed May 20, 2020.
• Gordon Ray Roberts, U.S. Army Medal of Honor recipient
• Marty Roe, lead singer of the band Diamond Rio
• Dean Roll, pro wrestler known as Shark Boy or Dean Baldwin
• Casey Shaw, NBA player with the Philadelphia 76ers
• Larry Sparks, bluegrass singer and guitarist
• Russel Wright, industrial designer and artist; responsible for wide acceptance of Modernism in America

The 1978 movie Harper Valley PTA with Barbara Eden and the 1994 movie Milk Money with Ed Harris and Melanie Griffith were both shot in Lebanon.{{Cite web |title=AFI Catalog - Harper Valley PTA |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56348 |access-date=2024-08-19}}{{Cite web |title=Filmed in Ohio: 18 movie locations you can visit, from Cleveland to Mansfield to Cincinnati |url=https://www.cleveland.com/travel/2018/03/filmed_in_ohio_18_movie_locati.html |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=Cleveland.com}}{{Cite web |title=How to shop and stroll in the charming small town of Lebanon, Ohio |url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/2021/07/31/historic-downtown-lebanon-full-fun-shops-and-restaurants/7990820002/ |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=Cincinnati.com}}

In October 2013, a Hallmark Channel movie titled The Christmas Spirit was filmed in Lebanon.{{Cite news |last=Wegener |first=Scott |title=Hallmark Channel 'The Christmas Spirit' television movie being filmed in Lebanon |url=http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hallmark-channel-the-christmas-spirit-television-movie-being-filmed-in-lebanon |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20150702200334/http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hallmark-channel-the-christmas-spirit-television-movie-being-filmed-in-lebanon |archive-date=2015-07-02 |access-date=2025-03-02 |work=WCPO |language=en-US}} In 2014, the movie Carol, starring Cate Blanchett, was partially filmed in Lebanon.{{Cite web |url=http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/blanchett-to-film-in-lebanon/nd6tc |title=Oscar winner to film movie in Lebanon | www.daytondailynews.com |access-date=2015-06-10 |archive-date=2015-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150611043418/http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/blanchett-to-film-in-lebanon/nd6tc/ |url-status=dead }}

{{Portal|Ohio}}

• Lebanon Countryside Trail
• Warren County Canal
• Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway
• Lebanon-Warren County Airport
• Fort Ancient (Lebanon, Ohio)

{{Reflist}}

• Elva R. Adams. Warren County Revisited. [Lebanon, Ohio]: Warren County Historical Society, 1989.
• The Centennial Atlas of Warren County, Ohio. Lebanon, Ohio: The Centennial Atlas Association, 1903.
• John W. Hauck. Narrow Gauge in Ohio. Boulder, Colorado: Pruett Publishing, 1986. {{ISBN|0-87108-629-8}}
• Josiah Morrow. The History of Warren County, Ohio. Chicago: W.H. Beers, 1883. (Reprinted several times)
• Ohio Atlas & Gazetteer. 6th ed. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme, 2001. {{ISBN|0-89933-281-1}}
• William E. Smith. History of Southwestern Ohio: The Miami Valleys. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1964. 3 vols.
• Warren County Engineer's Office. Official Highway Map 2003. Lebanon, Ohio: The Office, 2003.

{{wikivoyage|Lebanon (Ohio)|Lebanon, Ohio}}

• [https://www.lebanonohio.gov/ Official site]
• [http://www.lebanonchamber.org/ Lebanon Area Chamber of Commerce]
• [https://www.loc.gov/rr/rarebook/coll/shaker.html Shaker Collection] From the Rare Book and Special Collection Division at the Library of Congress
• {{Cite AmCyc|wstitle=Lebanon (borough, village and towns)|display=Lebanon. IV. A village and the capital of Warren co., Ohio |short=x}}

{{Warren County, Ohio}}

{{Ohio county seats}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Cities in Warren County, Ohio

Category:County seats in Ohio

Category:Populated places established in 1802

Category:Cities in Ohio