Local events in Ada
49 events in the next 90 days from 4 public calendars. All local events in Ada
Checked October 20; the events page is refreshed daily.
How Ada began
Ada began as Johnstown, a village platted in 1853 by S. M. Johnson when the railroad reached the site, and was renamed Ada for a postmaster's daughter soon after. The village's fortunes changed permanently in 1871 (some accounts say 1866 for an earlier normal-school effort) when Henry Solomon Lehr founded the Northwestern Ohio Normal School, which grew into Ohio Northern University, still the town's defining institution. A restored 1887 Pennsylvania Railroad depot recalls the rail traffic the school's growth generated, and President William Howard Taft's 1910 commencement visit and Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1968 campus speech both mark Ada's place on the national map far out of proportion to its size. It is Hardin County's second-largest incorporated community.
Settled 1853, platted 1853, by S. M. Johnson.
Where the name comes from
The village was first platted and known as Johnstown, for founder S. M. Johnson. When a post office was established (sources place this around 1854-1861), it was named Ada Post Office after the postmaster's daughter, Ada; the village took the shorter name from the post office.
Before the town
No Native American village, camp, or burial site has been documented at the specific location of Ada or within Liberty Township in the sources checked. The 1883 Hardin County history's account of Liberty Township records only a friendly personal encounter -- an early settler, Robert Hyndman, found a Wyandot man skinning a deer near his barn one morning and the two shared breakfast, and the history notes Native visitors 'often came to his cabin and ate with him' -- which shows Wyandot people were present and moving through the township in the 1830s but does not place a named village or site there. The county-wide record says Wyandot and Shawnee people were the region's original inhabitants and that the last Indian village in Hardin County was abandoned by 1817, well before Ada's 1853 founding.
Nations recorded here: Wyandot, Shawnee.
Timeline
- — Liberty Township, the township Ada sits in, is organized.
- — S. M. Johnson plats the village of Johnstown when the railroad is extended to the site.
- — A post office named Ada, after the postmaster's daughter, is established; the village is renamed Ada.
- — Henry Solomon Lehr founds the Northwestern Ohio Normal School in Ada to train teachers; it later becomes Ohio Northern University. (The 1883 Hardin County history dates an earlier iteration of Lehr's school to 1866; sources disagree on which year marks the true founding.)
- — The Pennsylvania Railroad builds a two-story Stick-Eastlake style depot in Ada, larger and more elaborate than the standard small-town design, to handle passenger traffic generated by the growing normal school.
- — The Methodist Episcopal Church assumes control of the school.
- — The school is renamed Ohio Northern University.
- — President William Howard Taft visits Ada to deliver Ohio Northern University's fall commencement address; he remains the only sitting U.S. president to visit the village.
- — Village residents purchase the by-then-idle Pennsylvania Railroad depot rather than see it demolished, preserving it as what becomes Ada's Railroad Park.
- — Martin Luther King Jr. speaks at Ohio Northern University in January, less than three months before his assassination.
- — Ada is recognized as a Tree City USA community, a designation it has held continuously since.
- — The Ada Pennsylvania Station and Railroad Park, including a preserved 1887 Pennsylvania Railroad caboose, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Stories
A teacher-training school built by one man's persistence
Henry Solomon Lehr came to the small railroad village of Ada in the 1860s determined to train the region's teachers, most of whom at the time had little formal preparation of their own. His Northwestern Ohio Normal School opened its doors in the early 1870s (the exact founding year is given as both 1866 and 1871 in different accounts) just eighteen years after Ada itself had been platted, and it grew fast enough that the village's whole economy reoriented around it. The Methodist Episcopal Church took over the school's operation in 1899, and in 1903 it was renamed Ohio Northern University, the name it carries today with five colleges including a law school. Lehr's original bet -- that a farm-country railroad stop could support a serious institution of higher learning -- is the reason Ada is still known statewide as a college town rather than as one more small county-seat-adjacent village.
A depot too grand for its town, saved by its town
When the Pennsylvania Railroad built a new passenger depot in Ada in 1887, it broke from its own standard small-town design and put up an unusually large, ornate two-story building in the Stick-Eastlake style, a scale normally reserved for bigger stops -- a direct result of the passenger traffic the growing normal school was generating. By the mid-twentieth century, though, passenger rail was fading and the depot sat increasingly idle. Rather than let it be torn down, Ada residents bought the building outright in 1958 and kept it standing as a piece of the village's heritage. It now anchors a small Railroad Park downtown, complete with a preserved 1887 Pennsylvania Railroad caboose, and the depot and park together were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
A president and a civil rights leader on one small campus
For a village its size, Ada has an outsized list of national figures who have stood on its campus. In 1910, President William Howard Taft came to Ada to deliver Ohio Northern University's fall commencement address -- he remains, to this day, the only sitting U.S. president to have visited the village. Nearly six decades later, in January 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the university, just weeks before his assassination in April of that year. Both visits are remembered locally as evidence of how far the reputation of Lehr's teacher-training school, and the university it became, reached beyond Hardin County's borders.
Photographs
Photo: C. F. Landon, public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Nyttend, public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · historic-structures.com · en.wikipedia.org · ohiogenealogyexpress.com · hardincountyohio.gov · commons.wikimedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org
Historic places
1 place in Ada on the National Register of Historic Places. Press a pin or a name for its whole record.
-
Ada Pennsylvania Station and Railroad ParkBuilding · Ada · listed 1998
- Address
- 112 E. Cntral Ave.
- Where
- Ada, Hardin County · ZIP 45810
- What it is
- Building
- Listed on the National Register
- 1998
- NRIS reference number
- 98001014
- Coordinates
- 40.77053, -83.82221
National Register file (NPS) ↗ Search Wikipedia ↗ Street map and directions ↗ On the Cracked Buckeye map
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places point file. The listing year is shown where NPS's certification date agrees with the listing's reference number. Listing recognizes significance; it does not restrict a private owner.
Water
Groundwater wells (3 wells) The water here
- Ada Village96% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)
- Hillcrest Estates Mobile Home Court3% of residentsGroundwater wells (1 wells)
- Green Meadow MHP-hancock Co1% of residentsGroundwater wells (1 wells)
Hospitals, fire stations and more
Inside Ada's boundary: 1 nursing home, 1 fire or EMS station, 1 college, 1 power plant, 3 public schools, 1 library, 3 museums, 1 police station, 4 public charging sites and 1 Toxics Release Inventory facility. Press a pin or a name for its whole record and its source.
Nursing homes (1)
-
Vancrest of Ada2 of 5 stars · Ada
- Address
- 600 West North Avenue, Ada, OH 45810
- Certified beds
- 60
- Residents on an average day
- 53
- Medicare overall rating
- 2 of 5 stars
- Health inspections
- 2 of 5 stars
- Staffing
- 4 of 5 stars
- Quality measures
- 4 of 5 stars
- Penalties since 2023
- none
- Ownership
- For profit - Limited Liability company
- Chain
- VANCREST HEALTH CARE CENTERS
- Takes
- Medicare and Medicaid
- Phone
- (419) 238-0715
- Medicare ID
- 366444
Medicare Care Compare ↗ CMS nursing home data (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: CMS Care Compare nursing home provider and penalties files; Medicare star ratings run 1 to 5.
Fire and EMS stations (1)
-
Ada - Liberty Township Fire DepartmentAda
- Address
- 525 North Main Street, Ada, OH 45810
- Coordinates
- 40.77576, -83.82375
USGS National Map structures (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: USGS National Map structures (most Ohio records last updated 2019 to 2022), checked against the Columbus and Cleveland station lists. The department that answers a call is set by jurisdiction and mutual aid, not by distance.
Colleges (1)
-
Ohio Northern UniversityPrivate nonprofit college · Ada
- What it is
- Private nonprofit college
- City
- Ada
- Students, 2023-24 (12-month count)
- 3,084
- Tuition and fees, in state
- $37,800
- Graduation rate
- 70% of bachelor's students, within six years (a class of 491)
- IPEDS unit ID
- 204635
College Navigator (NCES) ↗ IPEDS data (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: NCES IPEDS 2024 directory, 2023-24 enrollment and tuition, graduation rates for the 2017 (four-year) and 2020 (two-year) entering classes.
Power plants (1)
-
Ohio Northern University Solar SiteSolar · 3 MW
- Capacity
- 3 MW
- Main source
- Solar
- Technology
- Solar Photovoltaic
- Operator
- AEP Onsite Partners, LLC
- Sector
- IPP Non-CHP
- Where
- Ada, Hardin County
- Generating units
- 2
- Built
- 2016 (first unit); newest unit 2018
- EIA plant code
- 60913
EIA plant page ↗ EIA-860 (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: EIA-860 power plant inventory via HIFLD (February 2025), with plant codes, units and years from EIA-860 2025.
Public schools (3)
-
Ada Bulldog AcademyAda
- Address
- 725 W North Ave, Ada, OH 45810
- Kind (NCES)
- Regular School
- Students, 2023-24
- 0
- NCES school ID
- 390451806088
-
Ada Elementary School4 of 5 stars · Ada
- Address
- 725 W North Ave, Ada, OH 45810
- School district
- Ada Ex Vill School District
- Kind (NCES)
- Regular School
- Students, 2023-24
- 471
- Teachers (full-time equivalent)
- 28
- Report card, 2025-26
- 4 of 5 stars
- Performance index
- 89.4%
- Ohio building IRN
- 000059
- NCES school ID
- 390451802112
NCES school record ↗ Ohio School Report Card ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Ada High School4.5 of 5 stars · Ada
- Address
- 725 W North Ave, Ada, OH 45810
- School district
- Ada Ex Vill School District
- Kind (NCES)
- Regular School
- Students, 2023-24
- 396
- Teachers (full-time equivalent)
- 25
- Report card, 2025-26
- 4.5 of 5 stars
- Performance index
- 81.8%
- Four-year graduation rate
- 100%
- Ohio building IRN
- 000067
- NCES school ID
- 390451802113
NCES school record ↗ Ohio School Report Card ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: NCES EDGE public school locations 2024-25 and Common Core of Data 2023-24 (type, students, teachers); Ohio School Report Cards 2025-26 (Department of Education and Workforce), matched by name within the district.
Public libraries (1)
-
Ada Public School District LibraryCentral library · Ada
- Address
- 320 N Main St, Ada, OH 45810
- What it is
- Central library
- Library system
- Ada Public School District Library
- Open
- 2,572 hours a year, 52 weeks
- Building
- 7,542 sq ft
- System's visits, FY2024
- 42,848
- System's loans, FY2024
- 98,081
- People the system serves
- 7,269
- Phone
- (419) 634-5246
IMLS Public Libraries Survey (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: IMLS Public Libraries Survey FY2024 (outlets and their systems). Any Ohio resident can get a free card at any Ohio public library.
Museums, historical societies, gardens and zoos (3)
-
Elzay Gallery Of ArtArt museum · Ada
- What it is
- Art museum
- City
- Ada
- Coordinates
- 40.77654, -83.82332
Search Wikipedia ↗ IMLS Museum Data Files (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
The museum list is IMLS's 2018 file; a museum may have closed or moved since.
-
Stambaugh Studio Theatre GalleryArt museum · Ada
- What it is
- Art museum
- City
- Ada
- Coordinates
- 40.77654, -83.82332
Search Wikipedia ↗ IMLS Museum Data Files (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
The museum list is IMLS's 2018 file; a museum may have closed or moved since.
-
Wilson Football MuseumMuseum · Ada
- What it is
- Museum
- City
- Ada
- Coordinates
- 40.77226, -83.81784
Search Wikipedia ↗ IMLS Museum Data Files (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
The museum list is IMLS's 2018 file; a museum may have closed or moved since.
Source: IMLS Museum Data Files, 2018.
Police stations (1)
-
Ada Village Police DepartmentAda
- Address
- 115 West Buckeye Avenue, Ada, OH 45810
- Coordinates
- 40.77119, -83.82392
USGS National Map structures (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: USGS National Map structures, police stations, corrected and completed by hand (September 2026). The department that answers a call is set by jurisdiction, not by distance.
Public EV charging (4)
-
ONU DICKE2 Level 2 · Ada
- Address
- 410 S Gilbert St, Ada, OH 45810
- Ports
- 2 Level 2
- Plugs
- J1772
- Network
- ChargePoint Network
- Hours
- 24 hours daily
- Phone
- 888-758-4389
Station Locator (NREL) ↗ Alternative Fuels Data Center (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
ONU INN2 Level 2 · Ada
- Address
- 401 W College Ave, Ada, OH 45810
- Ports
- 2 Level 2
- Plugs
- J1772
- Network
- ChargePoint Network
- Hours
- 24 hours daily
- Phone
- 888-758-4389
Station Locator (NREL) ↗ Alternative Fuels Data Center (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
ONU PHARMACY2 Level 2 · Ada
- Address
- 511 W Lincoln Ave, Ada, OH 45810
- Ports
- 2 Level 2
- Plugs
- J1772
- Network
- ChargePoint Network
- Hours
- 24 hours daily
- Phone
- 888-758-4389
Station Locator (NREL) ↗ Alternative Fuels Data Center (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
ONU SPORTS CENTER2 Level 2 · Ada
- Address
- 609 W Lincoln Ave, Ada, OH 45810
- Ports
- 2 Level 2
- Plugs
- J1772
- Network
- ChargePoint Network
- Hours
- 24 hours daily
- Phone
- 888-758-4389
Station Locator (NREL) ↗ Alternative Fuels Data Center (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: NREL Alternative Fuels Data Center station list (May 2026), public and open stations, the posts at one address counted as one site.
Facilities reporting toxic releases (1)
-
Wilson Sporting Goods.Toxics Release Inventory · Ada
- Address
- 217 N. Liberty St., Ada, OH 45810
- County
- Hardin County
- Status
- Reports to the Toxics Release Inventory (active)
- EPA program ID
- 45810WLSNS217NL
- EPA registry ID
- 110000395527
EPA facility record ↗ EPA Facility Registry Service (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: EPA Facility Registry Service, Toxics Release Inventory reporters. Reporting a release is required of large users of listed chemicals; it is not by itself a violation.
Its ZIP codes
Each ZIP code that touches Ada, with the share of its residents who live here and the same headline figures as the ZIP page.
| ZIP | Share | Water | Radon | Home value | Schools | Flood |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45810 Ada | 68% | Groundwater wells (3 wells) | 4.5 pCi/L average radon | Median year built 1974 | Ada Exempted Village · 4 stars overall | 0.7% of residents in the 1% floodplain |
Local government
Who holds office in Ada, how its elections and ballot issues came out, and the state auditor's record.
Elections for office
| Date | Office | Candidates and votes |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-11-02 | Council | Sean Beck (DEM) 335, 20.63%; Jason Campbell 399, 24.57%; Jeff Oestreich 429, 26.42%; Robert C. Simmons (REP) 461, 28.39% |
| 2019-11-05 | Mayor | David A. Retterer (REP) 479, 100.0% |
| 2019-11-05 | Council | Cathy Cole 207, 21.17%; Sheila M. Coressel (DEM) 224, 22.9%; Ken Lauria 220, 22.49%; Linda Mason (REP) 327, 33.44% |
Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.
Auditor of State record
- No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
- Financial Audit, 2024, released 2025-05-29
The county
Hardin County: 10 ZIP codes, 23 cities, villages and townships, 31,735 people.
Nearby places
Rain and snow
How much has actually fallen on Ada, day by day, from 1893 to now. Daily totals, not averages.
- rain, last 30 days
- 0.89 in
- 2026-09-30 to 2026-10-29
- rain so far in 2026
- 38.3 in
- 5.6 in above normal for the date
- snow so far in 2026
- 13.8 in
- a normal year brings 25.6 in
- a normal year
- 38.3 in
- average of 30 years, 1991-2020
| Month | Rain (in) | Snow (in) | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | 0.89 | — | 29 |
| September 2026 | 6.04 | — | 30 |
| August 2026 | 6.80 | — | 31 |
| July 2026 | 3.15 | — | 31 |
| June 2026 | 4.83 | — | 30 |
| May 2026 | 4.75 | — | 31 |
| April 2026 | 5.91 | — | 30 |
| March 2026 | 4.30 | 0.5 | 31 |
| February 2026 | 0.55 | 3.7 | 28 |
| January 2026 | 1.08 | 9.6 | 31 |
| December 2025 | 1.89 | 7.4 | 31 |
| November 2025 | 1.37 | 4.2 | 30 |
| Wettest year | 2011 — 54.2 in |
|---|---|
| Driest year | 1934 — 23.2 in |
| Snowiest year | 1895 — 60.2 in |
| Wettest day on record | 21 August 2007 — 3.02 in |
| Heaviest snowfall in a day | 13 January 1964 — 8.78 in |
| Deepest snow on the ground | 2 March 1912 — 25.40 in |
Mostly estimated. Only 0% of these days come from a gauge standing inside Ada - the rest are worked out from the nearest gauges around it, so read them as close estimates rather than readings.
48,879 days of records, 1893-01-01 to 2026-10-29. Source: NOAA NCEI GHCN-Daily, 3,240 gauges in and around Ohio. A day is "gauged" when a gauge standing inside the boundary reported it, and the value is the mean of those gauges. Otherwise it is interpolated by inverse distance from every gauge reporting within 50 miles. Nothing is carried forward, back-filled or smoothed. Against NOAA nClimDiv county monthly precipitation over 136,848 complete county-months (checked 2026-10-31): correlation 0.9515, median absolute difference 0.217 in a month. Built 2026-10-31 from the Cracked Buckeye precipitation archive. Snow is the softer number — snowfall is measured by hand with a ruler, no agency publishes a gridded county snowfall series, and blowing snow defeats every observer.
Environmental permits and filings
What Ohio EPA has on file for Ada: permits, inspections, violations, cleanups and the state loans behind sewer and water work. Every line links to the agency's own document.
- facilities and sites on file
- 11
- those placed on the map inside Ada
| Program | Facilities and sites |
|---|---|
| Hazardous waste | 7 |
| State sewer loans | 2 |
| State water loans | 1 |
| Wastewater and stormwater discharge | 1 |
| Date | Facility or site | What |
|---|---|---|
| ADA WTP | State water loans | |
| ADA WTP | State water loans | |
| ADA WTP | Wastewater and stormwater discharge permit | |
| ADA WTP | State water loans | |
| ADA WTP | Wastewater and stormwater discharge permit | |
| ADA WTP | State water loans | |
| ADA WTP | Wastewater and stormwater discharge inspection | |
| ADA WTP | Wastewater and stormwater discharge permit | |
| ADA WTP | Wastewater and stormwater discharge permit | |
| ADA WTP | Wastewater and stormwater discharge inspection | |
| ADA WTP | Wastewater and stormwater discharge permit | |
| RITE AID #7844 | Hazardous waste compliance letter | |
| ADA WTP | Wastewater and stormwater discharge inspection |
Source: Ohio EPA eDocument portal (edocpub.epa.ohio.gov), indexed 2026-10-14. Facilities are placed on the map from Ohio EPA's own map layers, EPA's Facility Registry, coordinates written in the filings, or a geocoded street address. A permit filed under a private person's name (most are household septic systems) is counted but never named, placed or linked; licenses for individual workers and open-burning notices are left out entirely.
Quick answers
What county is Ada, Ohio in?
Ada is a city in Hardin County, Ohio, with 5,334 residents.
When was Ada, Ohio founded?
Ada was settled 1853; laid out 1853. Founders on record: S. M. Johnson. Source
How did Ada, Ohio get its name?
The village was first platted and known as Johnstown, for founder S. Source
What ZIP code is Ada, Ohio?
Most of Ada is in ZIP code 45810.
Where does Ada, Ohio get its water?
The main water source for Ada (Ada Village): Groundwater wells (3 wells).
Cite this page
Cite this page as:
Cracked Buckeye, "Ada, Hardin County", https://crackedbuckeye.com/place/ada/, built 2026-10-31, accessed [date].
How to cite · Report a correction · Built 2026-10-31
