Middleburg Heights, Ohio

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Middleburg Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 15,542 at the 2000 census.

[edit] Geography

Middleburg Heights is located at 41°22′0″N, 81°48′32″W (41.366725, -81.808893)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 21.0 km² (8.1 mi²). 20.9 km² (8.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.25%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 15,542 people, 6,705 households, and 4,257 families residing in the city. The population density was 743.6/km² (1,924.8/mi²). There were 7,094 housing units at an average density of 339.4/km² (878.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.63% White, 1.33% African American, 0.15% Native American, 2.26% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.28% from other races, and 1.28% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.27% of the population.

There were 6,705 households out of which 21.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% were non-families. 31.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.84.

In the city the population was spread out with 17.7% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 21.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 90.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $47,893, and the median income for a family was $60,015. Males had a median income of $44,707 versus $28,608 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,201. About 2.0% of families and 3.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.2% of those under age 18 and 2.6% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Economy

One of the city's more notable businesses is RMS Aquaculture. Unlike many pet stores, RMS (which stands for Rob, Mike, and Steve - the founders of the company) specializes in fresh- and saltwater fishes. Although the "Aquarium Superstore"'s headquarters is in Middleburg Heights, the business expanded to include a fishfarm, stores at two different locations in Parma, as well as stores in Willoughby, Ohio and Strongsville, Ohio, respectively, and an online pet supplies and live animals ordering service. The company currently has three stores in the Greater Cleveland area, including one in Parma, which has carried such exotic animals as pigs, sting rays, basset hounds, eels, chinchillas, snakes, lizards, octopuses, stone fish, snakeheads, skunks, and sugar gliders.

[edit] Trivia

• Middleburg Heights was once known as the onion capital of the United States as it was built upon an onion farm.

• In the parking lot of the Middleburg Heights Regal Cinema one can find a ten by ten patch of grass containing the remains of the founder of Middleburg Heights. It is also known to be the place of an Indian burial ground.

• It is home to a Dollar Paradise which boasts that it is the "world's largest dollar store".

• During a Homedays Festival in the early 90's the city conducted a fireworks show at one of the baseball diamonds. The fireworks were shot off from the outfield while viewers were seated in the bleachers. This was a tragic mistake, for there was not enough distance between the two resulting in hot embers raining down upon the viewers setting several Homedays tents on fire and burning many citizens. The fires were put out without much damage.

• One of Middleburg Heights' most notable attractions is its gazebo located near the City Hall. It is often used for prom photos, wedding photos, and various events.

• Rumor has it that the founder of Middleburg Heights reportedly conceived of the name of the city while dicing onions one day. While dicing these onions he accidentally chopped off his finger at the second knuckle or "middle knuckle". He put the remnant of his finger in a crate of cold chopped onions. He later forgot to get the remnant of his "middle knuckle" and it was reportedly shipped in the onion box to University Heights. He then named the suburb Middleburb Heights. However, the illiterate farmer's 'b' looked very much like his 'g'. The city was then known as Middleburg Heights.
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• In 1931, Middleburg Heights had a population of 1,900 living in a 10-square mile area. There were no churches, schools, or libraries in the village at the time.

[edit] History

The first European settlers to the area that became Middleburg Township, Ohio, were originally from Connecticut. Middleburg fell within Connecticut's Western Reserve and was surveyed and divided into Townships and Ranges by one Gideon Granger. A Revolutionary War veteran, Abram Hickox, bought the first plot and in 1808 set out west from CT. Dissuaded by the swampy and heavily forested land he decided to settle in Cleveland. He became quite successful as Cleveland's first full time blacksmith. His plot of land was sold to his nephew, Jared Hickox who came to the area with his wife Sarah and family in 1809. They followed an ancient Indian highway down through the forest from Cleveland and then, at what is currently the corner of Bagley and Pearl roads began to hack their way directly west. About two miles in they found Granger's plot markers and set up their homestead. Today this area is a strip mall on Bagley Road. The area was a swampy lowland and the Hickox's two grown up sons died shortly after arrival from typhoid fever.

Jared, himself died his first winter in the area. His death was a particularly ghastly one and runs like this^{[citation needed]}:

Jared had walked up to Cleveland to purchase a pair of oxen for his farm. On the way back he met a neighbor who turned out to be the last person to see him living. The neighbor reported that Jared was carrying the oxen's yoke on his own neck and explained the oxen were not used to being in the yoke. This was in December of 1810. Jared never made it home that night, and the next day his frantic family went up the trail to see what had come of him. There, leaning upright, ramrod straight against a tree and covered with frost was Jared, stone cold dead. The only explanation they could come up with was that he got a crick in his back which prevented him from walking and leaned up against the tree and died from exposure during the night. Local legend has it that Jared's ghost sometimes haunts the strip mall's movie theater, scaring late night theater goers and railing against the desecration of his family's homestead.

The family farm was in dire straits having been so severely depleted of male laborers. Love came to the rescue however and the area's spirits were lifted by its first marriage, that of Jared's daughter Amy Hickox to a recent arrival, Abijah Bagley. Bagley ended up taking over the farm and managing it into a successful concern. Today, One of Middleburg Heights's largest streets bears his name.

[edit] External links

• City of Middleburg Heights
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 41.366725° -81.808893°
  • Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA

	Cuyahoga County, Ohio Cleveland, county seat
Municipalities	Bay Village | Beachwood | Bedford | Bedford Heights | Bentleyville | Berea | Bratenahl | Brecksville | Broadview Heights | Brook Park | Brooklyn | Brooklyn Heights | Chagrin Falls | Cleveland | Cleveland Heights | Cuyahoga Heights | East Cleveland | Euclid | Fairview Park | Garfield Heights | Gates Mills | Glenwillow | Highland Heights | Highland Hills | Hunting Valley | Independence | Lakewood | Linndale | Lyndhurst | Maple Heights | Mayfield | Mayfield Heights | Middleburg Heights | Moreland Hills | Newburgh Heights | North Olmsted | North Randall | North Royalton | Oakwood | Olmsted Falls | Orange | Parma | Parma Heights | Pepper Pike | Richmond Heights | Rocky River | Seven Hills | Shaker Heights | Solon | South Euclid | Strongsville | University Heights | Valley View | Walton Hills | Warrensville Heights | Westlake | Woodmere
Townships	Chagrin Falls | Olmsted