Timeline of Ohio History

Prehistoric Period: 13000 B.C.-A.D. 1650

• 13,000-8,000 B.C: Paleoindian Period - Ohio's first human inhabitants.
• 8000-800 B.C: Ohio's Archaic Period - Most indigenous people live as hunters and gatherers.
• 800 B.C-A.D.1200: Ohio's Woodland Period - The region's indigenous populace increasingly relies on agriculture to sustain themselves.
  • 800-100 B.C: Early Woodland Period
    • 800 B.C-A.D. 100: The Adena Culture thrives in Ohio.
  • 100 B.C-A.D. 500: Middle Woodland Period
    • A.D. 1-400: The Hopewell Culture builds large mound complexes in Ohio, including the Newark Earthworks.
• A.D. 500-900: Late Woodland Period
• A.D. 900-1650: Late Prehistoric Period
  • A.D. 1000-1650: Ohio's Fort Ancient Culture flourishes in central and southern Ohio. Other Late Prehistoric cultures in Ohio include the Sandusky Culture (northwestern), Whittlesey Culture (northeastern) and the Monongahela Culture (eastern).

Early Historic Period to Statehood: 1650-1803

Note: By the time the first European explorers arrived in North America in the late 1400s, the original indigenous people had inhabited what is today the State of Ohio for over 14,000 years. Starting with Ohio’s earliest ancient inhabitants, American Indian tribes and nations built and sustained rich, sophisticated, and productive societies and cultures. Ohio was not discovered by European explorers or settlers, as these lands were already claimed by American Indian groups as ancestral homelands, and many American Indians today consider Ohio their true home.

• 1640: Beaver Wars–The Haudenosaunee, also called the Five Nations (later called the Six Nations in 1722), start a campaign called the Beaver Wars, during which they fight other American Indian groups, including those in Ohio Country, for their lands and territories in order to gain access to their fur–bearing animal game, especially beavers and deer.

• Mid-17th century: Europeans arrive and begin to build permanent settlements.

• 1670: Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, a French explorer and the first European in the Ohio Country, discovered the Ohio River for Europeans.

• 1748: The Ohio Company forms in Virginia to settle the Ohio River Valley.

• ca. 1745–1765: Emigrant Tribes come to Ohio, requiring new alliances and “Wampum Diplomacy”. The Lenape (Delaware) emigrate during this period, negotiating with the Seneca, Wyandot, and Miami for new lands in Ohio.

• 1754-1763: French and Indian War

• • 1763: Treaty of Paris–ends the French and Indian War, and surrenders all French controlled lands to the British, including Ohio Country.
  • 1763: Pontiac's Rebellion–In an attempt to prevent the British from allowing colonists to settle on Indian lands, Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawa Tribe, organizes an alliance with other tribes to drive the British from west of the Appalachian Mountains.
  • 1763: Proclamation of 1763–After the British end Pontiac’s Rebellion, Britain issues the Proclamation of 1763, which forbids British colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains.

• 1768: Treaty of Fort Stanwix–Signed by British officials and Haudenosaunee leaders, the treaty relinquishes Haudenosaunee claims to lands south of the Ohio River. While the Iroquois agree to give up this land, other tribes living in Ohio do not, including the Lenape, Seneca–Cayuga, and Shawnee Tribes.

• 1774: Lord Dunmore's War–Anglo–American settlers ignore the Proclamation of 1763, which led to violent confrontations with American Indian groups in Ohio Country. Lord Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia, sends one thousand Virginia militiamen into West Virginia to attack the Shawnee in retaliation for a series of attacks led by Chief Cornstalk (Shawnee) and Chief Logan (Seneca–Cayuga).

• 1775-1783: The American Revolution

• • 1775: Hostilities begin with Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts.

• • 1776: Declaration of Independence–Thirteen colonies declare their independence from England and form the United States of America.

• • 1781: Final major battle fought at Yorktown, Virginia.

• 1782: Gnadenhutten Massacre–Pennsylvania militia murder 96 Christian Lenape men, women, and children at the Moravian missionary village in Gnadenhütten, Ohio.

• 1783: Treaty of Paris–officially ends the American Revolution. England recognizes American independence and cedes all lands in the Ohio Country.

• 1785: Land Ordinance of 1785–Establishes methods for surveying and dividing land in the Ohio Country.

• 1786: Ohio Company of Associates forms in Massachusetts to sell land in what is now southeast Ohio.

• 1787: Northwest Ordinance–establishes the Northwest Territory, which included modern-day Ohio, and the Confederation Congress appoints Arthur St. Clair as the first governor of the Northwest Territory.

• 1788: Marietta, the Northwest Territory's and Ohio's first permanent New American settlement is founded.

• 1790-1794: Ohio Indian Wars–a series of violent skirmishes between the United States and American Indian tribes living in Ohio following the American Revolution.

• • 1790: Harmar's Defeat–Indian militia, led by Myaamia (Miami) Chief Little Turtle, defeats Josiah Harmar, commander of the U.S. Army in the Northwest Territory after launching an attack on American Indian villages in western Ohio.

• • 1791: St. Clair's Defeat–Little Turtle leads Myaamia warriors in victory against American troops commanded by Arthur St. Clair.

• • 1794: Battle of Fallen Timbers–On August 20, 1794, an American Indian Alliance and the United States Army, led by General Anthony Wayne, come together at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in present-day Toledo, Ohio. This is the culmination of the Northwest Indian Wars as American Indian tribes attempt to thwart Anglo–American settlers from encroaching on their lands in the Ohio Country.

• • 1795:Treaty of Greeneville (1795)–After eight months of negotiations, American Indian tribal leaders and the United States sign the Treaty of Greeneville, which relinquishes all Indian Territory south and east of the treaty line, and white settlers cede all land north and west of the treaty line. The treaty ends the Ohio Indian Wars.

• 1800: Chillicothe becomes the capital of the Northwest Territory.

• 1802: Enabling Act–sets the stage for Congress to admit Ohio to the Union.

• 1802: Constitutional Convention meets at Chillicothe to draft Ohio's first constitution.

• 1802: Thomas Worthington presents Ohio constitution to Congress for approval.

Early Statehood: 1803-1846

• 1803: President Jefferson signs legislation making Ohio the seventeenth state of the Union.

• 1804: Ohio General Assembly charters Ohio University.

• 1812: City of Columbus is founded and named the new state capitol.

• 1812-1814: The War of 1812 – was fought between the United States and Britain, with American Indian tribes divided between the two sides. Tecumseh, a Shawnee military leader, and his confederacy fought with the British to defend Indian lands.

• • 1813: Battle of Lake Erie–Under the command of Oliver Hazard Perry, Americans defeat the British fleet, cutting off British supply lines and forcing them to abandon Fort Detroit.

• 1816: State government relocates to Columbus.

• 1825: Work on the National Road and the canal system in Ohio begins.

• 1833: Oberlin College, the first coeducational college in the United States is founded.

• 1833: The Ohio and Erie Canal is complete.

• 1835: Boundary dispute between Michigan and Ohio leads to the Toledo War.

• 1840: Ohioan William Henry Harrison is elected the 9th President of the United States.

• 1842: Treaty with the Wyandots (1842)–The Wyandot Indians relinquish all land claims in Ohio and Michigan, making them the last tribe to forcibly leave Ohio.

• 1845: The Miami and Erie Canal is complete.

• 1846-1848: Mexican War –the United States and Mexico fight after the U.S. annexation of Texas. By signing the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico recognizes U.S. sovereignty over Texas.

• 1850: The first Ohio State Fair is held in Cincinnati.

• 1850: Ohio's second Constitutional Convention is held in Chillicothe.

• 1851: The Ohio Constitution of 1851 is adopted.

• 1852: Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin, written in Ohio by Harriet Beecher Stowe, increases tensions between the North and the South.

American Civil War: 1860-1865

• 1860: Abraham Lincoln is elected president.

• 1861: The Ohio Statehouse is complete.

• 1862: Emancipation Proclamation– President Lincoln signs an executive order freeing enslaved Africans in southern states.

• 1863: Following a six-week siege, Confederate forces surrender Vicksburg to Federal troops led by Ohioan Ulysses S. Grant.

• 1863: Morgan's Raid–Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan leads troops on a daring raid across southern Ohio.

• 1863: Battle of Buffington Island–the only Civil War battle fought on Ohio soil.

• 1864: President Lincoln promotes Ulysses S. Grant to supreme commander of all Union forces.

• 1864: Union forces under the leadership of Ohioan William T. Sherman captures Atlanta.

• 1864: Sherman leads his troops on his " March to the Sea" from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia.

• 1864-1865: Ulysses S. Grant leads the Army of the Potomac in pursuit of Robert E. Lee's forces during the Wilderness Campaign.

• 1865: Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

Industrialization and Urbanization: 1866-1900

• 1868: Ohioan Ulysses S. Grant is elected to his first of two terms as the 18th President of the United States.

• 1869: The Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first professional baseball team, is founded.

• 1870: The Ohio General Assembly charters The Ohio State University, which was originally called the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College.

• 1876: Ohioan Rutherford B. Hayes is elected the 19th President of the United States.

• 1876: The Ashtabula Train Disaster

• 1879: Ohioan Thomas Edison invents the electric light bulb.

• 1880: Ohioan James A. Garfield is elected the 20th President of the United States.

• 1881: Charles Guiteau shoots President Garfield, who dies three months later, in Washington D.C.

• 1884: Cincinnati Courthouse Riot brings destruction and death to Cincinnati.

• 1888: Ohioan Benjamin Harrison is elected the 23rd President of the United States.

• 1894: Invention of the first gasoline-powered automobile in the U.S.

• 1896: Ohioan William McKinley is elected to his first of two terms as the 25th President of the United States.

The Progressive Era: 1901-1928

• 1901: Leon Czolgosz assassinates President McKinley in Buffalo, New York.

• 1902: The Ohio General Assembly officially adopts Ohio's state flag.

• 1903: Ohioans Orville and Wilbur Wright complete the first successful flight of a powered airplane.

• 1908: Ohioan William H. Taft is elected the 27th President of the United States.

• 1908: The Collinwood School Fire near Cleveland kills 173 pupils, two teachers, and one firefighter.

• 1913: Flood of 1913– at least 428 Ohioans die and properties across Ohio are destroyed.

• 1914-1918: World War I

• • 1917: Camp Sherman is constructed in Ross County to train World War I soldiers.
  • 1918: Approximately 1,200 troops die at Camp Sherman during the Influenza Epidemic of 1918.
  • 1918: Colonel Charles Young rides on horseback from Wilberforce, Ohio, to Washington D.C. after the U.S. denies his request to command U.S. troops in Europe.

• 1920: Ohioan Warren G. Harding is elected the 29th President of the United States.

• 1925: The dirigible Shenandoah crashes near Ava, Ohio, killing 14 people.

The Great Depression and World War II: 1929-1945

• 1929-1941: Great Depression

• 1930: Ohio Penitentiary Fire kills 322 inmates.

• 1937: Ohio River Flood of 1937

• 1944: East Ohio Gas Company Explosion–kills 131 people in Cleveland.

• 1941-1945: The World War II entangles the United States and Ohio.

• 1949: The Ohio General Assembly creates the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

The Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement: 1946-1975

• 1950-1953: The Korean War

• 1953: Correcting an oversight, Congress passes a resolution officially recognizing Ohio Statehood and declaring Ohio's date of entry into the Union as March 1, 1803.

• 1958: Completion of the St. Lawrence Seaway connects Ohio cities on Lake Erie to international trade opportunities.

• 1959: The Ohio General Assembly creates the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.

• 1962: Ohioan John Glenn becomes the first person from the United States to orbit the earth.

• 1963: William O. Walker becomes Ohio's first African-American cabinet member.

• 1963: The Pro Football Hall of Fame opens in Canton, Ohio.

• 1964-1974: Vietnam War

• 1967: Carl Stokes becomes the first African American mayor of a major city ( Cleveland).

• 1969: Ohioan Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the moon.

• 1970: Kent State Shootings–The Ohio National Guard kills four unarmed students at Kent State University during anti–war protests.

• 1972: The Ohio General Assembly enacts the Ohio Income Tax.

• 1973: Ohio voters approve the Ohio Lottery.

• 1974: The deadly Xenia Tornado kills 33 people.

Modern Ohio

• 1978: Blizzard of 1978–The worst winter storm in Ohio's history.

• 1979: Public schools in Columbus, Dayton and Cleveland begin busing pupils to eliminate segregation.

• 1986: Astronaut Judith Resnik, of Akron, dies in the Challenger space shuttle explosion.

• 1993: The Lucasville Prison Riot results in the deaths of nine prisoners and one guard.

• 1995: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum opens in Cleveland.

• 1995: International negotiations at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton lead to the Bosnian Peace Agreement.

• 1998: At the age of 77, astronaut John Glenn becomes the oldest man to travel into space.

• 2001: Terrorist attacks on September 11 in New York City, NY and Washington D.C., lead to a flurry of anti-terrorist activities in Ohio and throughout the nation.

• 2006: Ohio voters pass Ohio's Statewide Smoking Ban in public places.