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The town of Van Wert is the county seat of Van Wert County, Ohio. In 1837, James Watson Riley established the community. Riley named Van Wert after the county. The town grew slowly, but thanks to the presence of two railroad lines and the discovery of oil in the region, making Van Wert a center of trade, the community had 5,548 residents in 1890.
In 1888, Van Wert contained four newspapers and nine churches. Numerous manufacturing businesses existed in the community. The town