Ohio: The Buckeye State

Ohio: The Buckeye State — page 1 — 4 OHIO INTRODUCTION Ohio is a remarkable state with rich farmland beautiful scenery exciting cities and a well preserved history Ohio’s geographic location makes the state an important crossroads between the Eastern Seaboard and the Midwest Early settlers developed transportation routes across and between Lake Erie in the north and the Ohio River in the south and east Ohio is known for its fertile plains and rolling hills but the state is also famous for a tall triangular building in Cleveland The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum showcases exhibits about rock and roll’s great artists and influences such as Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin Many people visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to learn about the A mile-long boardwalk guides visitors through Ohio’s Cedar Bog Nature Preserve which has many rare plants and animals legendary musicians who have made rock and roll one of the world’s most popular forms of music Ohio even has an official rock song Hang on Sloopy which was a hit in 1965 for the McCoys Cincinnati is the third largest city in Ohio The city has been a major port on the Ohio River since the early 1800s Ohio became the 17th state on March 1 1803 The state motto With God All Things Are Possible was not adopted until 1959 well after most other states had chosen their mottoes Ohio’s official nickname is the Buckeye State in honor of the buckeye tree which grows throughout the area People who live in Ohio are called Ohioans or Buckeyes The name Ohio comes from an Iroquois word that means beautiful river or large river

Ohio: The Buckeye State — page 2 — INTRODUCTION 5 Ohio borders Michigan and Lake Erie to the north Kentucky and West Virginia are across the Ohio River to the south and southeast Indiana is to the west and Pennsylvania is to the east Throughout the state’s history the Ohio River and Lake Erie have been important transportation routes Toledo and Cleveland are major shipping ports on Lake Erie Cincinnati grew up around its busy river port At several points along the Ohio River ferries transport cargo and passengers between Ohio and neighboring states There are many other ways to reach Ohio Air travelers can land in many Cleveland Hopkins International Airport serves more than 10 million passengers a year The state stone is Ohio flint a type of quartz found in many colors Native Americans made spear points and arrowheads out of this stone Beautiful Ohio the state song was originally written about the Ohio River not the whole state Lawmakers later adopted a new chorus with lines about Ohio’s farms cities and industries The state flower is the scarlet carnation Ohio also has an official wildflower the grand trillium which is found in every county in the state Ohio cities including Akron Dayton and Toledo The busiest airports are in Cleveland and Columbus Some of the country’s oldest railroad lines cross Ohio and Amtrak has several passenger routes through the state For those who prefer to travel by bus or automobile state and federal highways cross the state in all directions Ohio Location Map Capital Columbus Interstate highways 0 0 30 48 60 96 Mi Km Scale Population 11,353,140 Size 44,828 square miles Highest peak Campbell Hill 1,550 feet

Ohio: The Buckeye State — page 3 — Many inventions and technological firsts came from Ohio The state witnessed the birth of electric streetlights with the world’s first commercial arc lamps installed in a Cleveland park by Charles F Brush in 1879 Before Henry Ford introduced his first automobile John Lambert chugged down the streets of Ohio City in the nation’s first gasoline-powered car in 1891 The state also saw the nation’s first traffic light in 1914 You may think of Ohio the next time you board an airplane One of the greatest inventions of the 20th century originated in Ohio The Wright brothers Orville and Wilbur designed and built the world’s first powered airplane in their Dayton workshop On Dec 17 1903 at the hilly North Carolina beach where they took the plane for testing Orville managed to get the airplane into the sky for a thrilling 12 seconds Ohio has the Wright brothers to thank for its place in aviation history 6 OHIO Ohio’s state bird is the cardinal adopted in 1933 The cardinal is known for its clear strong song and brilliant red feathers Columbus is Ohio’s state capital Neil Armstrong the first man to walk on the Moon was born in Wapakoneta Always fascinated by mechanics the Wright brothers repaired bicycles in their own bicycle shop before they became interested in flying Peppermint Life Savers TM were introduced by a Cleveland chocolate manufacturer in 1912 The 1905 Wright Flyer III is housed in Wright Hall at Carillon Historical Park in Dayton It was the world’s first airplane capable of sustained controlled flight

Ohio: The Buckeye State — page 4 — Cleveland Hopkins International Airport serves more than 10 million passengers a year Ohio has more than 29,000 miles of year-round rivers and streams Lake Erie and the Ohio River are natural features that serve as state boundaries The Ohio River handles more cargo every year than the Panama Canal INTRODUCTION 7 Ohio has an unusual state flag the only one in the United States not rectangular in shape Instead it is pennant-shaped Adopted by the Ohio legislature in 1902 the flag has three red and two white horizontal stripes and a blue triangle The triangle represents Ohio’s hills and valleys and the stripes stand for roads and waterways The red disk suggests the seed of the buckeye the official state tree The white O around it represents the first letter of the state name The 17 white stars recall that Ohio was the 17th state admitted to the Union Ohio’s state seal has gone through many changes over the years but the final version became official in 1996 An image of the Scioto River crosses the middle of the seal separating farm fields from Mount Logan in the background over which the sun rises A sheaf of wheat represents Ohio’s strength in agriculture and a bundle of 17 arrows stands for Ohio’s rank in joining the Union The 13 rays around the sun represent the original American colonies caption The Scioto River runs through central and southern Ohio It is used primarily for recreation and drinking water

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