Hilliard, Ohio
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Hilliard is a city located in Franklin County, Ohio. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 24,230.
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Geography
OHMap-doton-Hilliard.png
Location of Hilliard, Ohio
Hilliard is located at 40°2'4" North, 83°8'34" West (40.034310, -83.142678)Template:GR. It is bordered on the east by Upper Arlington, on the north by Dublin and south by Columbus, and to the west lay open farmland. Downtown Columbus lies in a distance to the southeast, its skyline visible at times when crossing bridges. The only major highway that runs through Hilliard is I-270, which runs north and south slightly east of the middle of the city.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 28.9 km² (11.1 mi²). 28.9 km² (11.1 mi²) of it is land and none of the area is covered with water.
History
Hilliard, Ohio was founded in 1853 by John Hilliard, known as "Hilliard's Station". This lead to the on-and-off reference to Hilliard as "Hilliard's" for some time during the early-to-mid twentieth century, with students graduating from Hilliard's High School.
For most of its history, Hilliard was a small farming community, contained mostly on the area of town appropriately named "Old Hilliard" today.
In the 1950's, the border of Hilliard expanded to the south, after three housing developments were constructed. One was southeast of Scioto-Darby Road and Main Street, the other two further east on Cemetery Road.
On December 12, 1960, Hilliard reported a population of 5,633 and was recognized as a city.
Beginning in the late 1970's, Hilliard became more suburban in character with the addition of new housing developments. The end of the 1980's saw the contruction of the new high school in 1989, now known as Davidson High School. At the end of the decade of the 80's, Hilliard's population was around 10,000. Within a decade, its population would more than double.
Growth began to accelerate rapidly in the 1990's, often too quickly for roads and schools to keep up. This today is Hilliard's greatest problem: Hilliard-Rome Road (the main north/south street of Hilliard) is still only two lines wide in most spots; despite having two high schools, overcrowding is a constant problem. Nonetheless, Hilliard grew in land and population.
Growth in Hilliard itself (as opposed to nearby Columbus) has been reflective of fairly affluent families: homes along Norwich and Main Streets are of course antiquated, ranches can be found along Cemetery and Scioto-Darby Roads, wealthy estates can be found on Davidson Road in Britton Farms and Alton-Darby Road in Heritage Lakes.
Nearby Columbus is often confused with Hilliard itself. This is due in part because half of the Hilliard City School District is in the city of Columbus, but also because the erratic shape Hilliard's border takes is also confusing. Furthermore, housing developments and commercial outlets in Columbus often utilize the name "Hilliard" to attract residents.
As Hilliard has grown, Columbus has built low-income housing nearby and thus contributed the greatest source of growth. In 2004, the Hilliard City School District reported having 3 Hilliard-resident students for every 5 Columbus-resident students.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 24,230 people, 8,577 households, and 6,492 families residing in the city. The population density is 839.8/km² (2,174.8/mi²). There are 8,957 housing units at an average density of 310.4/km² (804.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 92.81% White, 1.47% African American, 0.17% Native American, 3.48% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.72% from other races, and 1.32% from two or more races. 1.76% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 8,577 households out of which 46.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.7% are married couples living together, 7.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 24.3% are non-families. 19.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 5.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.80 and the average family size is 3.26.
In the city the population is spread out with 32.1% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 37.8% from 25 to 44, 17.4% from 45 to 64, and 7.2% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females there are 96.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $69,015, and the median income for a family is $76,207. Males have a median income of $50,551 versus $35,733 for females. The per capita income for the city is $28,496. 2.2% of the population and 0.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 1.0% of those under the age of 18 and 8.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Schools and other public services
The Hilliard City School District is a school district that encompasses the city of Hilliard itself, but also a portion of Columbus that is about the same size of Hilliard. There are a number of elementary schools (Avery, Beacon, Britton, Crossing, Hoffman Trails, JW Reason, Norwich, Ridgewood, Scioto Darby), two sixth-grade schools (Station and Tharp), three middle schools (Heritage, Memorial, and Weaver), and two high schools in the Hilliard City School District (Darby and Davidson). The high school sports teams are named the Panthers and Wildcats, respectively.
Hilliard maintains its own police department (on Cemetery Road) and fire department (on Avery Road), as well as a public library that is a branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library.
Community Events
Hilliard annually hosts a Fourth of July parade and fireworks display, and is home to the Franklin County Fair.