Local events in Highland
Nothing is posted for Highland itself yet; here is what is on within 20 miles. All local events in Highland
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Checked October 20; the events page is refreshed daily.
Lakes near Highland
The history under the water: the valley before, the dam, the stories. All Ohio lakes
How Highland began
The village now called Highland was first laid out in 1816 under the name Lexington, in what became the west side of Fairfield Township in the north of Highland County. It grew as a small farm-trade town on the road that is now Ohio State Route 28, had 265 residents in 1900 and 284 in 1980, its highest census count, and by the mid-20th century had produced U.S. Congressman James G. Polk. The village remains a small residential community of a few hundred people, sharing its township with Leesburg.
Platted 1816.
Where the name comes from
The 1902 county history lists the town as New Lexington (Highland postoffice), platted in 1816 by John Conner; Wikipedia says it was originally called Lexington. The date of, and reason for, the change to the post office name Highland as the village's name are not recorded.
Before the town
No site-specific Native American history — named villages, trails, mounds — is recorded for the village of Highland or Fairfield Township. The land lay within the roughly two-thirds of Ohio ceded by the Treaty of Greenville (1795), signed by the Wyandot, Shawnee, Lenape (Delaware), Miami, Ottawa and other nations, which opened southern and central Ohio including the future Highland County to American settlement.
Nations recorded here: Shawnee, Wyandot, Lenape (Delaware).
Timeline
- — The settlement is laid out under the name Lexington in what is now Fairfield Township.
- — John Conner's plat of New Lexington is dated September 1816.
- — Dr. Charles Conway becomes the first physician at New Lexington.
- — A post office named Highland opens; the 1902 county history lists the village as New Lexington (Highland postoffice).
- — The Methodist church at New Lexington, founded by the Woodmansee family, builds its first church.
- — The great storm of 1860 destroys the New Lexington Methodist church.
- — The village, by then known as Highland, has a population of 139.
- — Highland's population reaches 210.
- — The Highland (New Lexington) Farmers Bank is established, with D. A. Terrell as president.
- — Highland's population reaches 265 in the 1900 census.
- — The census counts 272 people in Highland.
- — November 21: a World War II veterans memorial is dedicated in the village.
- — James G. Polk, the U.S. representative for Ohio's 6th district (1931-1941 and 1949-1959), dies in Washington on April 28 and is buried in Highland Cemetery at Highland.
- — Highland reaches its census high of 284 residents.
- — The census counts 232 people in Highland.
Stories
The congressman from Highland
James Gould Polk was born October 6, 1896, in Highland County and grew up on a farm. He was spared the First World War draft by a physical disability, took a degree at Ohio State in 1919, and worked as a school administrator in small Ohio towns. A Democrat, he was elected to Congress in 1930 for Ohio's 6th district and served from March 1931 to January 1941. After working in the Department of Agriculture during the Second World War he won the seat back in 1948 and held it until he died of cancer in Washington on April 28, 1959. He is buried in Highland Cemetery at Highland.
Photographs
Photo: Aesopposea, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Aesopposea, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org · archive.org · archive.org · en.wikipedia.org · postalhistory.com
Water
No water-system data is linked to Highland's ZIP codes yet.
Its ZIP codes
Each ZIP code that touches Highland, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45132 Highland | 96% | Mostly private wells | Too few radon tests | Appraisal records without year built | Fairfield Local · 4.5 stars overall | 0.0% of residents in the 1% floodplain |
Local government
How its elections and ballot issues came out and the state auditor's record.
Money issues on the ballot since 2023: 1 of 1 passed.
Ballot issues
| Date | Issue | For | Against | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-11-07 | Issue 11: Village of Highland Renewal | 33 | 23 | Passed (58.93% for) |
Elections for office
| Date | Office | Candidates and votes |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-11-07 | Mayor | Jeremy Kibbey 35, 100.0% |
| 2019-11-05 | Member of Council | Tim Williams 34, 56.67%; Andrew Mackan 26, 43.33% |
| 2019-11-05 | Mayor | Jeremy Kibbey 27, 65.85%; Julia Crabtree 14, 34.15% |
Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked. The county's results on file run through 2023-11-07; later elections are not loaded yet.
Auditor of State record
- No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
- Financial Audit, 2023 to 2024, released 2026-01-06
- Financial Audit, 2021 to 2022, released 2024-09-10
On the November 3, 2026 ballot
Statewide question: State Issue 3: Voter ID
Races, candidates and every question for an address: your ballot. County offices and judges are on your county board's sample ballot.
The county
Highland County: 7 ZIP codes, 26 cities, villages and townships with pages here, 43,823 people (Census Bureau estimate, July 2025).
Nearby places
Rain and snow
How much has actually fallen on Highland, day by day, from 1893 to now. Daily totals, not averages.
- rain, last 30 days
- 0.80 in
- 2026-10-02 to 2026-10-31
- rain so far in 2026
- 41.9 in
- 3.9 in above normal for the date
- snow so far in 2026
- 18.9 in
- a normal year brings 21.4 in
- a normal year
- 44.6 in
- average of 30 years, 1991-2020
| Month | Rain (in) | Snow (in) | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | 0.80 | — | 31 |
| September 2026 | 7.55 | — | 30 |
| August 2026 | 6.07 | — | 31 |
| July 2026 | 3.40 | — | 31 |
| June 2026 | 4.83 | — | 30 |
| May 2026 | 4.81 | — | 31 |
| April 2026 | 4.32 | — | 30 |
| March 2026 | 7.43 | 1.2 | 31 |
| February 2026 | 1.24 | 6.3 | 28 |
| January 2026 | 1.47 | 11.4 | 31 |
| December 2025 | 2.69 | 11.5 | 31 |
| November 2025 | 3.67 | 3.9 | 30 |
| Wettest year (estimated) | 2011 — 59.9 in |
|---|---|
| Driest year (estimated) | 1901 — 24.3 in |
| Wettest day (estimated) | 23 July 1965 — 4.46 in |
| Heaviest snowfall in a day (estimated) | 6 January 1910 — 11.52 in |
| Deepest snow on the ground (estimated) | 21 January 1978 — 23.58 in |
Estimated, not measured. No rain gauge has ever stood inside Highland, so every figure here is worked out from the gauges around it - the nearest ones weighted most. Treat them as close estimates rather than readings.
48,876 days of records, 1893-01-01 to 2026-10-31. 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 2026-11-02): correlation 0.9515, median absolute difference 0.217 in a month. Built 2026-11-02 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.
Quick answers
What county is Highland, Ohio in?
Highland is a village in Highland County, Ohio, with 239 residents.
When was Highland, Ohio founded?
Highland was laid out 1816. Source
How did Highland, Ohio get its name?
The 1902 county history lists the town as New Lexington (Highland postoffice), platted in 1816 by John Conner; Wikipedia says it was originally called Lexington. Source
What ZIP code is Highland, Ohio?
Most of Highland is in ZIP code 45132.
Where does Highland, Ohio get its water?
The main water source for Highland: Mostly private wells.
Cite this page
Cite this page as:
Cracked Buckeye, "Highland, Highland County", https://crackedbuckeye.com/place/highland/, built 2026-11-02, accessed [date].
How to cite · Report a correction · Built 2026-11-02