Wood

Formed April 1, 1820 (71^st county)

Wood County (132,251), Bowling Green (30,802)

The excellent stone Richardsonian Romanesque building was constructed in 1896.  It is on a square on Prospect Street between Court and Summit streets.  Ohio State Highway 25 is one block west of the courthouse.  Joseph Warren Yost and Frank L. Packard were the designers.  A 1976 County Administration Building augments the courthouse.  The courthouse features a tower and the grounds have veteran memorials.  Wood County was organized on April 1, 1820 as the 71^st county.  Perrysburg was the first county seat until 1893 when Bowling Green assumed the role.  The county is named for War of 1812 Captain Eleazar D. Wood.  The county seat is named for Bowling Green, Kentucky. 

Wood County government consists of an auditor, a sheriff, an attorney, and a coroner (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Four Common Pleas Court Judges and a court clerk serve Williams County (judicial.)  Wood County is in northwest Ohio.  Toledo, Ohio is directly north and Columbus, Ohio is southeast of the county.  The county center is in Bowling Green 1.2 miles North of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky, Seneca, Hancock, Putnam, and Henry counties. 

The area of the county is 617.3 square miles.  It is 6 out of 88 in the state.  It ranks 22 out of 88 in population in the state.  It has a density of 214.2 persons per square mile making it 27 out of 88 in the state.  Wood County has 66.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 75 crosses through the county from north to south from Lucas County to Hancock County.  Interstate Highways 80/90 enter from Ottawa County, northeast, and exit into Lucas County, northwest.  United States Highway 6 goes east to west from Sandusky County to Henry County.  United States Highway 20 parallels Interstate Highway 80 from Sandusky to Lucas counties.  United States Highway 23 comes from Lucas County, north, and follows the border with Sandusky County into Seneca County, southeast.  The county is a rectangle with the northwest corner cut away.  Bowling Green is located slightly south of center in the county.  Bowling Green is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 23.3% of the county population.  This county is in the Toledo Metropolitan Statistical Area.