[Photo:  Melrose (Ohio). 1890 circa. Center for Archival Collections, Bowling Green State University (OH). Ohio Memory Project.]

Statistics (from 1882)
The population of the county in 1830 was 161; in 1840, 1,034; in 1850, 1,766; in 1860, 4,945; in 1870, 8,544; in 1880, 13,489.  Number of acres of arable or plow land as returned in 1880, 47,199. Number of acres meadow or pasture land, 7,230. Number of acres timber land, 205,970. Total number of acres in county, 260,399.

Click on the following links to read more history:

Geographic Position

Introductory History

Early Settlers

Formation

Soil and Timber

Canals and Railroads

Manufacturing

Offices

County Officers

War Record

Press

Source:  History of Paulding County by Prof. Everett A. Budd as printed in the Historical Hand-Atlas:  History of Northwestern Ohio and History of Paulding County, Ohio. H. H. Hardesty & Co., Publishers:  Chicago and Toledo. 1882.

Other Helpful Links

Ohio Historical Society

Paulding County 
Genealogy Society

Ohio Memory Scrapbook

Paulding County 
Carnegie Library

Soil and Timber
The county is wholly situated in the "Black Swamp," and the soil is characteristic of that well-known region.  It is in the most part clayey, if not clay.

Large boulders and stones are not common on the surface, but are found in the river beds.  A finely laminated clay is shown along the banks of the Maumee, which at some points in the county reaches the depth of ten feet.  This forms the top of the drift, and gives character to the soil.  At other points in the county this laminated structure is wanting, and the usual amount of gravel stones, and even boulders, are embraced in the soil.  In some parts of the county, particularly in the eastern part, there are ridges of sand, which have an excellent black soil, and is very easily tilled.  In fact, there is scarcely an acre of ground in the county but what is susceptible of cultivation, and wherever the forests have been cleared away, and the "stubborn glebe" broken by the plow, it has yielded a rich harvest to the worthy husbandman.

The county in its natural state was very heavily timbered; and, as yet, contains extensive tracts of timber land.  Among the various species that it embraces may be mentioned the white, red, shingle, chestnut, pin and burr oak; the black, white, blue and prickly ash; the beech, and the water beech; the elm, and the slippery elm; cottonwood; soft, and sugar maple; black walnut, hickory, sycamore, basswood, aspen, black cherry, mulberry, ironwood, flowering dogwood, buckeye, wild plum, great-toothed poplar, thorn, honey locust, pawpaw, wahoo, hackberry, judas tree, apple and June berry.

In the early settlements of the county much valuable timber was destroyed in the clearing of farms, owing to the want of market.  Large and valuable oaks and poplars were wantonly cut down by hunters in quest of raccoon.  It seems now like a pity that such should have been the case, but at that time, a "coon-skin" was worth more than a dozen poplars, however proudly they might wave their branches in the forest breeze.  Large quantities of oak staves have been made in the county, and ship timber to the value of thousands of dollars are annually taken from its forests.  The black walnut and poplar have become almost extinct, but cottonwood and elm yet remain in apparently inexhaustible quantities.