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is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Richland County. The municipality is located in north-central Ohio in the western foothills of the Allegheny Plateau, approximately 80 miles (129 km) southwest of Cleveland and 66 miles (106 km) northeast of Columbus.
It was founded in 1808 on a fork of the Mohican River in a hilly region surrounded by fertile farmlands, and became a manufacturing center owing to its location with numerous railroad lines. After the decline of heavy manufacturing, the city's industry has since diversified into service economy, including retailing, education, and healthcare sectors.
The population was 49,346 at the 2000 census. In 2007 Mansfield had an estimated population of 49,675. According to the US Census 2007 estimate, the Mansfield, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area has a population of 125,679 residents, while the Mansfield-Bucyrus, OH Combined Statistical Area has 169,906 residents.
Mansfield's official nickname is "The Heart of Ohio". It is the largest city in the "Mid-Ohio" region of the state, the north-central region which is generally considered to extend from Marion, Delaware, Knox, Morrow, Crawford, Ashland and Richland counties in the south, to the Firelands area south of Sandusky in the north. Mansfield is also known as the "Carousel Capital of Ohio" and "Racing Capital of Ohio".
Mansfield was first settled in 1808 and was named for Jared Mansfield, the U.S. Surveyor General who directed its planning. The village of Mansfield was incorporated in 1828, and in 1857 Mansfield was chartered as a city. The area that is now Richland County, so named for the descriptive of the fertile soil. During the War of 1812, the first courthouse, jail, and church of Richland County was served in one of two blockhouses erected on the public square until 1816. In 1908, the blockhouse became a symbol of Mansfield's heritage during its 100th birthday celebration, and in 1929, the blockhouse was relocated to its present location at South Park. The railroads came to the city in 1846, followed by the first road across America, the Lincoln Highway in 1913, smoothing the path for economic growth.
In 1924, Oak Hill Cottage, a Gothic Revival brick house, built in 1847 by John Robinson, superintendent of the Sandusky, Mansfield, and Newark Railroad was the setting of The Green Bay Tree, Mansfield native Louis Bromfield's first novel.