Tiffin is a city in and the county seat of Seneca County, Ohio, United States. Developed along the Sandusky River, Tiffin is located about southeast of Toledo. The population was 17,953 at the 2020 census.
It is the home of Heidelberg University and Tiffin University. At one time the city was noted as a glass and porcelain manufacturing center. The National Arbor Day Foundation has designated Tiffin as a Tree City USA.
History
The bronze statue of "The Indian Maiden" on Frost Parkway near Miami Street, marks the site of Fort Ball, a military depot of the War of 1812. During a fighting engagement of that war, Erastus Bowe sighted the location where Tiffin later developed. In 1817, he returned to the site and built the Pan Yan Tavern on the North Sandusky River. Its name was likely derived from Penn Yan, New York. Early homesteaders followed soon after Bowe, and the settlement of Oakley sprang up around the Pan Yan on the north side of the river. The chief road of the area followed the path of the stagecoaches through Oakley, which was called Fort Ball after 1824.
In 1821, Josiah Hedges purchased a piece of land on the south bank of the river opposite Oakley and founded another settlement. He named this village in honor of Edward Tiffin, first governor of Ohio and later a member of the United States Senate who had helped gain statehood for the Ohio Territory in 1803. Tiffin was incorporated by an act of the Ohio Legislature on March 7, 1835. In March 1850, Fort Ball was absorbed by Tiffin.
In 1824, with the establishment of Seneca County by the Ohio Legislature, Tiffin was designated as the county seat. The county was named after the Seneca people, the westernmost of the Iroquois League of Six Nations who dominated the territory for centuries.
The discovery of natural gas in the vicinity in 1888 gave new momentum to the city's industrial development. Various companies were founded in or moved to the city during this period, including Webster Industries, Inc., American Standard Companies, Tiffin Glass Works, and the Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company. Now known as Tiffin Parts, it has been operating at the same site since the 1920s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In the spring of 1913, the Upper Mississippi and Ohio River valleys were ravaged by Great Flood of 1913. During a three-day period, Tiffin sustained more than $1,000,000 in property loss, with 46 houses and 2 factories swept away, 10 factories damaged, 69 places of business heavily damaged, 6 bridges within the corporate limits destroyed, and 19 deaths.
Ballreich's Bros., a potato chip company, has operated in Tiffin since 1920. While the company's retail market is Northern Ohio, its products have a reputation that extends beyond its local retail market; these are available for shipping anywhere via the company's website. The company was acquired by a group of local investors in 2019.
Tiffin St. Paul's United Methodist Church was the first church in the world to be lit by Thomas Edison's light bulbs, and the first public building in the United States to be wired for electricity.
Tiffin is the home of the historic Ritz Theatre, built in 1928 as a vaudeville house; it is in the Italian Renaissance style. The Ritz Theatre received extensive renovation and restoration in 1998.
On November 10, 2002, an F3 tornado hit southeast Tiffin, destroying several homes outside city limits. A new Mercy Hospital of Tiffin was built and opened in July 2008.
In 2022, Tiffin City Council elected the city's first female mayor, Dawn Iannantuono. Iannantuono is the 50th mayor of the City of Tiffin.
In 2023, the estimated population of Tiffin is 17,706 people.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The Sandusky River flows through the center of the city. It is located on U.S. Route 224.
Climate
Demographics
2020 census
As of the census of 2020, there were 17,953 people and 7,111 households residing in the city. The population density was . The racial makeup of the city was 88.3% White, 4.3% African American, 0.5% Native American, 1.7% Asian, 0.7% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.3% of the population.
4.3% of residents were under the age of 5, 17.9% were under the age of 18, and 19.1% were 65 or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.7% male and 51.3% female.