A Brief History Of Van Wert, Ohio

Van Wert and Van Wert County were named in honor of Isaav Van Wart, one of three patriots who in 1780 captured the notorious Bristish spy Major John Andre during the Revolutionary War. Van Wert was founded in 1834 when Peter Aughenbaugh, George Marsh, and James Watson Riley bought 240 acres of land in the center of Van Wert County. This plat was finished on March 30, 1835. Although no clear record exists, the first road leading into Van Wert was either Walnut Street or Greenville Road. The first home was built on what is now West Central Street.

The County Commissioners agreed in 1838 to move the county seat from Willshire to Van Wert in exchange for half of the lots in the newly formed town. Lots were set aside for a school and a courthouse. Several acres in the center of town were allocated as parks.

Construction of the Van Wert County Courthouse started in 1874. Work was finished in 1876. The Van Wert County Courthouse is U.S. Dept. of the Interior's National Register of Historic Places, and sketches of the building's classic architecture are on display in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.



Van Wert also boasts the nation's first public county library in the form of the Brumback Library.