Delphos is a city in Allen and Van Wert counties in the U.S. state of Ohio approximately 14 mi (23 km) northwest of Lima and 13 mi (21 km) east of Van Wert. The population was 7,117 at the 2020 census.
The Allen County portion of Delphos is part of the Lima, Ohio metropolitan area, while the Van Wert County portion is part of the Lima, Van Wert, Wapakoneta, OH, combined statistical area.
At a Glance
- Counties: Allen County and Van Wert County
- State: Ohio
History of Delphos
Delphos had its start in the early 1850s with the merger of neighboring rival towns. These were the towns of Howard (in the northwest), Section 10 (in the east), Bredeick Street (south of Howard) and East Bredeick (named after Father John Otto Bredeick, a priest from Verl, Germany, who had purchased the tract of land in 1840). In 1851, the four towns agreed to form a single town called Delphos. The city’s name is derived from the Greek god Delphus.
The Miami and Erie Canal, a 274 mile (441 km) canal connecting Cincinnati to Toledo, ran through Delphos. The first settlers to Delphos were mainly construction workers attracted by the work being done on the Canal. After 20 years of construction, the Canal was completed, an inaugural canal boat carrying the governor of Ohio passed through Delphos on July 4, 1845.
The Canal was crucial to the economic development of the city in the 19th century, since it positioned Delphos as a center of regional trade. Indeed, Delphos became one of the major ports along the Canal, with transshipment facilities linking the Canal to the growing rail network in the region. Industrialists were also attracted by the Canal. By 1879, more than 100 factories located in Delphos produced goods for national and international trade. However, rail transport eventually came to dominate long haul commercial transport and Delphos’ importance as a hub of commerce waned.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Delphos, Ohio, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.