Local events in Patterson
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Checked October 20; the events page is refreshed daily.
How Patterson began
Patterson was platted in 1846 in the center of Jackson Township, in the northeastern corner of Hardin County, and named for Robert Patterson, an official of the railroad that ran through the settlement. A post office operated there from 1869 to 1978. The village peaked at 385 residents in 1880, in the era of the Patterson Methodist Episcopal Church (organized 1857) and Patterson Cemetery (donated around 1849-50 by Josiah Price), and has declined steadily since, standing at 130 residents in the 2020 census.
Platted 1846, by platted and named for railroad official Robert Patterson.
Where the name comes from
The village was named for Robert Patterson, an official of the railroad that reached the site.
Before the town
No Native American village, trail, or treaty specific to Patterson is recorded in the sources searched. The village was platted in 1846, well after the Wyandot and Shawnee treaty cessions and removals from this part of Ohio.
Timeline
- — Patterson is platted in Jackson Township and named for railroad official Robert Patterson.
- — Josiah Price donates the land that becomes Patterson Cemetery.
- — Patterson Methodist Episcopal Church is organized.
- — A post office opens in Patterson.
- — Patterson's population peaks at 385 residents.
- — Population has already fallen to 247.
- — The Patterson post office closes after more than a century of operation.
- — The village's population is recorded at 130.
Stories
A rail-era village that outlived its post office
Patterson was born of the railroad, platted in 1846 and named for Robert Patterson, one of the line's officials, at a spot ten miles northeast of the county seat at Kenton. For a while it thrived in miniature alongside its larger neighbor Forest: Josiah Price gave land for a cemetery around 1849-50, and the Methodist Episcopal congregation organized in 1857 and worshipped alongside Forest's own churches. Patterson's population peaked at 385 in 1880 and had already fallen by nearly a third within a decade. The post office that had served the village since 1869 finally closed in 1978, and by the 2020 census only 130 people remained -- a long, slow decline typical of small rail-platted villages once the railroad itself stopped mattering as much.
Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · ohiogenealogyexpress.com
Water
Mostly private wells The water here
- Forest Village100% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)
Its ZIP codes
Each ZIP code that touches Patterson, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45843 Forest | 3% | Mostly private wells | 4.0 pCi/L average radon | Median year built 1974 | Riverdale Local · 3 stars overall | 1.2% of residents in the 1% floodplain |
Local government
Who holds office in Patterson, how its elections and ballot issues came out, and the state auditor's record.
Ballot issues
| Date | Issue | For | Against | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-11-08 | Issue: 8. Village of Patterson | 15 | 18 | Failed (45.45% for), unofficial |
Auditor of State record
- Fiscal emergency: declared 2013-05-14, released 2017-11-14. source
- Basic Audit, 2022 to 2023, released 2024-11-12
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 Patterson, day by day, from 1893 to now. Daily totals, not averages.
- rain, last 30 days
- 0.93 in
- 2026-09-29 to 2026-10-28
- rain so far in 2026
- 36.0 in
- 3.3 in above normal for the date
- snow so far in 2026
- 11.6 in
- a normal year brings 26.4 in
- a normal year
- 38.4 in
- average of 30 years, 1991-2020
| Month | Rain (in) | Snow (in) | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | 0.93 | — | 28 |
| September 2026 | 5.45 | — | 30 |
| August 2026 | 5.51 | — | 31 |
| July 2026 | 2.81 | — | 31 |
| June 2026 | 4.66 | — | 30 |
| May 2026 | 4.99 | — | 31 |
| April 2026 | 5.88 | — | 30 |
| March 2026 | 4.17 | 0.3 | 31 |
| February 2026 | 0.47 | 3.2 | 28 |
| January 2026 | 1.14 | 8.0 | 31 |
| December 2025 | 1.75 | 6.9 | 31 |
| November 2025 | 1.37 | 1.3 | 30 |
| Wettest year | 2011 — 56.2 in |
|---|---|
| Driest year | 1934 — 20.7 in |
| Snowiest year | 1895 — 69.7 in |
| Wettest day on record | 21 August 2007 — 5.26 in |
| Heaviest snowfall in a day | 23 December 2004 — 10.96 in |
| Deepest snow on the ground | 1 February 1978 — 18.94 in |
Estimated, not measured. No rain gauge has ever stood inside Patterson, 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.
48,878 days of records, 1893-01-01 to 2026-10-28. 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.
Quick answers
What county is Patterson, Ohio in?
Patterson is a village in Hardin County, Ohio, with 130 residents.
When was Patterson, Ohio founded?
Patterson was laid out 1846. Founders on record: platted and named for railroad official Robert Patterson. Source
How did Patterson, Ohio get its name?
The village was named for Robert Patterson, an official of the railroad that reached the site. Source
What ZIP code is Patterson, Ohio?
Most of Patterson is in ZIP code 45843.
Where does Patterson, Ohio get its water?
The main water source for Patterson (Forest Village): Mostly private wells.
Cite this page
Cite this page as:
Cracked Buckeye, "Patterson, Hardin County", https://crackedbuckeye.com/place/patterson/, built 2026-10-31, accessed [date].
How to cite · Report a correction · Built 2026-10-31
