Harpster

How Harpster began

Harpster was laid out in 1876 as Fowler by stock dealers David Harpster and John Wood, on the Columbus, Hocking Valley and Toledo Railroad in the middle of Pitt Township, and named for their neighbor C. R. Fowler. The plat was recorded in 1877. Harpster, a self-made stock and sheep dealer who owned 7,520 acres in 1884, built its store, mill, warehouse and bank, and later gave his name to the town; the 1913 county history says the name was changed some twenty years earlier, perhaps around 1893. The 1910 census counted 239 residents and the 2020 census 160.

Settled 1876, platted 1877, by David Harpster and John Wood, who owned the land, just south of the old Wyandot Reservation line in Section 33.

Where the name comes from

Founded and platted as Fowler (the founder also called it Fowler City) for C. R. Fowler, whose lands adjoined the plat on the east. The 1913 county history says 'Harpster was formerly known as Fowler' and that the name was changed 'some twenty years ago' (about 1893); it does not say who changed it, though David Harpster built the town's store, mill, warehouse and bank.

Before the town

No Wyandot village, trail or burial is recorded at Harpster. The 1884 history places Fowler 'just south of the old Wyandot Reservation line' in Section 33, and the older village of Little Sandusky, once a Native village and trading post, lies a few miles away in the same township. Elsewhere in Wyandot County, the record includes the reserve at Upper Sandusky, the treaties and the removal of 1843.

Nations recorded here: Wyandot.

Timeline

1. 1845 — David Harpster buys 700 acres at the government land sales, and eventually owns 3,100 acres in Pitt Township and 1,300 in Mifflin.
2. 1871 — Harpster builds a mansion one-half mile north of the future Fowler at a cost of $15,000.
3. 1876 — David Harpster and John Wood found the village of Fowler; Harpster begins a brick store block 22 by 80 feet.
4. 1877 — The town plat is recorded; William H. Parkins of Crawford Township builds the first house (a story and a half, 16 by 28 feet, on Lot 15), John Gregory of Marion builds a warehouse, and Harpster & Sears open a general store.
5. 1878 — Hunt & Frater establish a tile factory, one of the village's chief industries; the Methodist society builds a brick church, 40 by 60 feet, in 1878-79 for $5,000.
6. 1879 — L. W. Murphy begins the grist mill that he fails to finish; in 1880 he also builds a sawmill.
7. 1882 — Harpster adds a second store building, 22 by 100 feet.
8. 1883 — The Harpster Bank is organized with J. L. Lewis as cashier and $120,000 capital; Harpster finishes the grist mill (frame, three stories, three run of buhrs, 75 barrels a day, about $10,000).
9. 1884 — The county history calls it a 'thriving young village' with one store, a mill, a warehouse, a tile factory, a bank and a hotel run by Henry C. Jury.
10. c. 1893 — The village's name is changed from Fowler to Harpster, 'some twenty years ago' by the 1913 county history's count.
11. 1910 — Harpster has 239 residents; it stands on the Hocking Valley railroad about seven miles south of Upper Sandusky.
12. 1913 — The Harpster Bank, a private bank, belongs to David Harpster's daughters Sarah A. Sears and Iva H. Bones, with capital of $60,000 and surplus and profits of $110,000.
13. 2020 — The census counts 160 residents, down from a high of 302 in 1960.

Stories

What David Harpster offered for a railroad

David Harpster, born in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania in 1816, began as a poor boy and by 1884 owned 7,520 acres. One of the early surveys of the Columbus, Hocking Valley and Toledo line from Marion to Sandusky passed through Pitt Township some distance east of where it was finally built, which disappointed settlers in the western part. Coming home from visiting the surveyors along the Little Sandusky and Bowsherville road, a companion asked Harpster what he would give to have the railroad on the road they were then traveling. According to the 1884 county history he answered the right-of-way for three and a half miles and a wool clip. The line was built on that road, and Harpster founded the town at its crossing in 1876. In selling lots he put a clause in every deed forbidding the sale of liquor on the lot.

Fowler City becomes Harpster

The 1884 county history calls it 'this thriving young village' and records that its first store, brick block, bank and mill all belonged to David Harpster. The town was platted in 1877 as Fowler, for C. R. Fowler, a stock and wool dealer whose lands joined the plat; Harpster's own biography calls it Fowler City. A generation later the 1913 history says the name 'was changed some twenty years ago' to Harpster, so the village carried its first name for about seventeen years. Neither history says who proposed the change. By 1913 Harpster stood on the Hocking Valley railroad seven miles south of Upper Sandusky, had 239 people and a 'splendid system of public schools.'

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

No water-system data is linked to Harpster's ZIP codes yet.

Fire and EMS stations (1)

Money issues on the ballot since 2020: 3 of 3 passed.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

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.
• Basic Audit, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-06-03

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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