Convoy

• Vance KirklandPerson · 1904-1981

How Convoy began

Convoy was platted June 16, 1854, in the eastern part of Tully Township on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway, and named for Convoy, Ireland, the home town of one of its early settlers. It grew from a rough dozen-house rail stop -- known in its first years for near-daily fights -- into an incorporated village in 1874, survived a devastating downtown fire in 1906 that destroyed 22 buildings, and remains, at over 1,000 residents, the largest incorporated place in the county outside Van Wert itself.

Platted June 16, 1854, incorporated 1874.

Where the name comes from

Named for Convoy, County Donegal, Ireland, the native home of one of the village's first settlers.

Before the town

No Native village, mound or treaty site specific to Convoy was located in the sources consulted. The village's own documented history begins with its 1854 platting, three and a half decades after the 1818 land cession.

Timeline

1. 1839-12-02 — The county commissioners set off Tully Township, in which Convoy later stands; at its first election at John G. Morse's house it is named for Mrs. Morse's home town in New York.
2. 1854-06-16 — Convoy is laid out and platted on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway in Tully Township.
3. 1865 — Convoy has grown to about a dozen houses, a Catholic church, two small general stores, a saloon, a blacksmith shop and a sawmill; the county history recalls 'almost every day...might be seen a free-for-all fight. It was a tough little village then.'
4. 1872 — A Convoy post office opens.
5. 1874 — Convoy incorporates as a village; W. H. Zimmerman is elected its first mayor, and the new council's first expenditure is to build a calaboose (jail) and order officers to enforce law and order strictly.
6. 1890 — Convoy counts 500 residents in the 1890 census table printed in the county history.
7. 1900 — Convoy counts 690 residents in the 1900 census.
8. 1906-01-16 — A fire breaks out in Convoy's business district in the early morning and, driven by a gale-force wind, destroys 22 buildings before being brought under control, at a loss of about $65,000 against $55,000 of insurance.
9. 1906 — The county history describes Convoy as a village of about 1,000 with a brick six-room school, four churches, a bank, two grain elevators, a cement-block factory, a cigar factory and a lumber yard, served by the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway and the Fort Wayne, Van Wert & Lima Traction line.
10. 1906 — Capper Post No. 236 of the Grand Army of the Republic meets at Convoy.
11. 2000 — The census counts 1,110 residents in Convoy.
12. 2010 — The census counts 1,085 residents in Convoy.
13. 2020 — The census counts 1,012 residents in Convoy.
14. 2021-02-26 — The Convoy Opera House-City Hall-Firehouse Building is added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Stories

From a tough little rail stop to a town that rebuilt in brick

In its first fifteen years Convoy earned a rough reputation: a scattering of a dozen houses around a sawmill and a saloon, where the county's 1906 historian recalled that a free-for-all fight could be seen 'almost every day.' Incorporation in 1874 changed the tone fast -- the new village council's very first act, before paving a street or building a school, was to fund a calaboose and order its officers to arrest and punish anyone who broke the peace. The village grew steadily after that into a genuine rail town with a bank, hotels, elevators and stores, until the early morning of January 16, 1906, when a fire broke out downtown and a gale-force wind carried it through the business district, destroying 22 buildings -- nearly the whole commercial core -- at a loss of about $65,000, only $55,000 of it insured. The village rebuilt in brick and cement block rather than wood, a decision the 1906 history notes was already underway as the book went to press, and Convoy has remained the county's largest incorporated place outside Van Wert ever since.

Photographs

Local history sources: archive.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · archive.org · archive.org

Every historic place in Van Wert County on the full map

Mostly private wells The water here

• Convoy Village100% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)

Fire and EMS stations (1)

Public schools (4)

Public libraries (1)

Money issues on the ballot since 2024: 1 of 1 passed.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked. The county's results on file run through 2024-11-05; later elections are not loaded yet.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Agreed Upon Procedures, 2022 to 2023, released 2024-10-10

Statewide question: State Issue 3: Voter ID

Local questions for Convoy, Van Wert County and its school district:

• Convoy Village: Renews a 2-mill property tax levy for the operating expenses of Convoy Village for 5 years, beginning in 2027.
• Convoy Village: Renews a 2-mill property tax levy for the operating expenses of Convoy Village for 5 years, beginning in 2027.
• Crestview Local School District: Renews a 2-mill property tax levy for the permanent improvements of Crestview Local School District for 5 years, beginning in 2027.

Races, candidates and every question for an address: your ballot. County offices and judges are on your county board's sample ballot.

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.

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