Auglaize County, Ohio
Auglaize County () is a county in Northwestern Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,442. Its county seat and largest city is Wapakoneta. Auglaize County comprises the Wapakoneta Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Lima-Van Wert-Celina Combined Statistical Area. Etymology The county is named for the Auglaize River. Some sources say it is a corruption of the French description of the clay (glaise) water (eau); others say it comes from a Native American word for fallen timbers. Another remote possibility is that it derives from the French glace [*aux glaces?], meaning "mirror" or "ice" ['at the ices'?]. Eau glaise ("clay water") remains unattested, like the attested terre glaise ("clay soil"), but Ramsey and Stewart agree that Auglaize (and variants, implying "*aux glaises") is American French for "at the lick(s)", literally "at the clays", where wild beasts came to lick salt and minerals from the soil, filling the lacuna in standard French for a salt lick. The spelling "glaize" is archaic (as in Cotgrave's French-English dictionary of 1611). In addition, in Arkansas there is a creek and mountain Glazypeau, from French glaise à Paul ("Paul's lick"). The assumed indigenous American (Algonquian) "fallen timbers" or "overgrown with brush" has no support without any attested etymons supplied and would not match phonetically in the case of Shawnee. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of , of which is land and (0.1%) is water. It is Ohio's second-smallest county by area. The county is crossed by the Auglaize River and the Miami and Erie Canal. The headwaters of the Saint Marys River, the Great Miami River and the Scioto River as well as parts of Grand Lake St. Marys and Lake Loramie are in the county. Adjacent counties Allen County - north Hardin County - east Logan County - southeast Shelby County - south Mercer County - west Van Wert County - northwest Demographics 2000 census As of the census of 2000, there were 46,611 people, 17,376 households, and 12,771 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 18,470 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.12% White, 0.24% Black or African American, 0.18% Native American, 0.41% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.20% from other races, and 0.83% from two or more races. 0.67% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 59.5% were of German, 10.9% American, 6.9% Irish and 6.3% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 97.9% spoke English and 1.2% Spanish as their first language. There were 17,376 households, out of which 35.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.10% were married couples living together, 7.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.50% were non-families. 23.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average