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Ohio County
Paulding County, Ohio
The Great Black Swamp's last frontier and the Maumee-Erie Canal - from Paulding County's distinction as the last section of the Great Black Swamp to be drained and settled (the county's impenetrable swamp delayed settlement until the 1830s-1840s, when tile drainage and canal construction finally made it habitable) to the Maumee-Erie Canal's Paulding County segment (the canal brought economic development to what had been considered uninhabitable wilderness) and one of Ohio's most productive corn and soybean-growing counties on former swampland soils.
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Office: Paulding County Emergency Management Agency – 451 McDonald Pike, Paulding, OH 45879 | (419) 399-3500 | Fax: (419) 399-9331 | Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-4 PM; Director Randy Shaffer; coordinates the county’s Local Emergency Planning Committee and maintains the county’s Emergency Operations Plan.
Sheriff/Non-emergency: Paulding County Sheriff – (419) 399-3791.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-24 and SR-111/500 serve the village of Paulding, the county seat, in far northwest Ohio near the Indiana border
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – confirm directly with the county or your city
Notes: Paulding County covers 416 square miles and was, historically, entirely covered by the Great Black Swamp, a dense, mosquito-plagued forested wetland that made early settlement extremely difficult (malaria was common). The Wabash and Erie Canal, completed July 4, 1843, and the Miami and Erie Canal both crossed the county, meeting at the village of Junction – which briefly became a landmark stop for fugitive slaves escaping to Canada during the canal era.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Paulding County Building/Permits – confirm current contact via pauldingcountyoh.com.
Notes: Paulding County, formed in 1820 (organized 1839), is genuinely named for John Paulding, one of the three militia men who captured British Major John André during the American Revolution – the event that exposed Benedict Arnold’s plot to surrender West Point. The county seat moved twice before settling permanently in Paulding Center in 1851 (originally New Rochester in 1839, then Charloe in 1841). The Paulding County Carnegie Library, funded by Andrew Carnegie (who funded 2,811 libraries worldwide, 1,946 in the U.S.), holds a genuinely significant national distinction as the first county-level Carnegie library in the country – its establishment helped inspire other small rural communities nationwide to apply for Carnegie library grants, part of the early-20th-century adult-education and self-improvement movement. The library is NRHP-listed, one of four Paulding County sites on the National Register alongside the Paulding County Courthouse, the Antwerp train depot, and the William Sinn Round Barn.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Paulding County Veterans Service Commission – 810 East Perry Street, Suite A, Paulding, OH 45879 | (419) 399-8285 | Fax: (419) 399-5571 | [email protected]; CVSO Jonathon Lichty; Hours: Mon-Fri from 9:30 AM; provides emergency financial assistance, transportation to VA medical appointments (2-3 days advance notice required), and VA claims/benefits assistance.
State: Ohio Department of Veterans Services – dvs.ohio.gov
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Paulding County Carnegie Library – 115 N Williams Street, Paulding, OH 45879; the first county-level Carnegie library in the United States, NRHP-listed since 1984.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Paulding County Carnegie Library, the historic Antwerp railroad depot, the William Sinn Round Barn, and the former canal town of Junction are the county’s signature historic sites, alongside remnants of the once-vast Great Black Swamp landscape.
Notes: The genuine “first county-level Carnegie library in America” distinction and the John Paulding/Major André Revolutionary War connection are distinctive, checkable local facts.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Paulding County Auditor – confirm current phone via pauldingcountyoh.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Paulding County Dog Kennel – 13387 US 127, Paulding, OH 45879 | (419) 399-3791 | [email protected]; Deputy Sheriff David Bash; adoption fee $25, adoptions by appointment, out-of-state adoptions and rescue partners welcomed.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Paulding County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via pauldingcountyoh.com.
NOTES: Paulding County is the seventh and final county in this batch (Montgomery, Morgan, Morrow, Muskingum, Noble, Ottawa, Paulding) of the Ohio v2 redo. The genuine “first county-level Carnegie library in America” distinction and the county’s namesake connection to the Benedict Arnold/Major André affair are distinctive local facts. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Paulding County
Paulding County is northwest Ohio’s most persistently rural county – a former Great Black Swamp community that was among Ohio’s last regions settled and has maintained a predominantly agricultural character ever since.
Paulding (the county seat, population ~3,500) is a quiet agricultural service community – the county courthouse and farm-oriented businesses serve a sparse rural population on flat, exceptionally productive farmland.
The Great Black Swamp – which covered approximately 1,500 square miles of northwest Ohio – was one of the most formidable natural obstacles to westward settlement in the eastern United States. Paulding County’s portion was among the last to be cleared and drained, with significant settlement not occurring until the 1840s. The drainage infrastructure – miles of clay tile installed beneath the fields – transformed the swamp into some of the continent’s most productive cropland.
The Maumee-Erie Canal corridor through Paulding County preserves canal-era infrastructure including towpath sections, locks, and aqueduct remnants.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Paulding County Auditor at 115 N. Williams Street, Suite 300, Paulding, OH 45879, phone 419-399-8205. Appeal to County Board of Revision by April 1.
Courts & Legal
Paulding County Probate Court at 115 N. Williams Street, Paulding, OH 45879, phone 419-399-8230, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
PROBATE COURT
115 North Williams St, Paulding, OH 45879
(419) 399-8205
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Paulding County Probate Court, Paulding (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Paulding County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Paulding County Probate Court 115 North Williams Street, Paulding, OH 45879 (419) 399-8256 Paulding County is in northwestern Ohio, seated in Paulding.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Ohio has not adopted the Uniform Probate Code, but has incorporated some streamlined concepts into its own system under Title 21 of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC Chapters 2101-2131).
Summary Release from Administration (ORC § 2113.03) – available for very small estates valued at $5,000 or less. Lets the court release assets quickly, often to cover funeral expenses and support the surviving family, without a fiduciary being appointed.
Release from Administration (ORC § 2113.03) – Ohio’s broader small-estate shortcut. Available when the gross probate estate is $35,000 or less, OR up to $100,000 if the entire estate passes to a surviving spouse (by will or by Ohio’s intestacy law). No executor/administrator is appointed; the court releases the estate directly to the person(s) entitled to it.
Full Estate Administration – required when the estate exceeds these thresholds or the situation is otherwise contested or complex. The court appoints a fiduciary (Ohio’s term for executor/administrator), issues a Certificate of Appointment once any will is admitted, and the fiduciary inventories assets, publishes notice to creditors, pays debts, and distributes what remains under ongoing court supervision.
Step 2: filing for administration
File the will (if any) and an application with the Probate Court in the county where the decedent resided.
If pursuing Release from Administration or Summary Release, complete the applicable court forms (Form 5.0 for standard Release, Form 5.10 for Summary Release) along with a complete asset inventory and supporting documents.
For full administration, the court issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration to the appointed fiduciary.
The fiduciary publishes notice to creditors; claims generally must be presented within 6 months of the date of death.
The fiduciary inventories and manages estate assets, pays valid debts and expenses, and distributes what remains according to the will or Ohio’s intestacy law, reporting to the court along the way.
The estate is closed once a final account is filed and approved by the court.
What it costs
Filing fees vary by county – check with Paulding County directly for current fees.
No state estate tax, no state inheritance tax (repealed effective January 1, 2013). Only the federal estate tax could apply, and only to very large estates ($15,000,000 per individual as of 2026).
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
PROBATE COURT
115 North Williams St, Paulding, OH 45879
(419) 399-8205
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
503 Fairground Dr, Paulding, OH 45879
(419) 399-3791
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
BOARD OF ELECTIONS
503 Fairground Dr, Paulding, OH 45879
(419) 399-8281
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
503 Fairground Dr, Paulding, OH 45879
(419) 399-3921
Job and Family Services
503 Fairground Dr, Paulding, OH 45879
(419) 399-3756
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Paulding County Health Department – 101 West Perry Street, Paulding, OH 45879 | (419) 399-3921.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Paulding
Population: 18,500
Established: 1820
Tier: 4
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Paulding County residents.
