Lincoln Highway Historic Byway

If you are arriving in Mansfield from the east, you have either traveled from Ashland County on US 42 or state route 430.

On leaving Mansfield westward, you will need to make a decision to follow the 1913-1920 route or the 1920-1928 route.

- To follow the pre 1920 route, follow state route 430 to state route 309 to Ontario.

Mansfield (On the Highway since 1913) Pop: 51,600. County seat.

Early settlers came to this area because of the streams that provided water amidst the dense forest. Mansfield was founded in 1808 and became the Richland County seat in 1809. The city was named for Surveyor General of the United States, Col. Jared Mansfield. Mansfield was primarily agricultural prior to the coming of the railroads in 1846. Then the city's farm equipment and stove manufacturing industries ushered in Mansfield's greatest period of industrial expansion. Eclipse Stove (later called the Tappan Company) was started in 1889. In the late 1920's, Westinghouse was the City's largest employer, specializing in electric lighting and home appliances.

In Mansfield's early days, the Lincoln Highway ran along West Fourth St. Businesses along Park Avenue used to change the route signs to get travelers to pass their shops instead. Finally in 1928, the route was moved to pass through the center of town. There is a replica LH concrete post on Park Avenue East near the court house.

Famous Mansfield natives include Senator John Sherman; Louis Bromfield, Pulitzer Prize winning author & conservationist; John "Appleseed" Chapman planted apple trees here; and Frank Lahm, a military pilot who learned to fly with the Wright Brothers.