City History:

The first settlers in the attractive, growing community that is now Pickerington, arrived in the area in 1808. In 1815, Abraham Pickering laid out the original plat of old Pickerington. One hundred fifty years later relatively few people lived in the area, and Pickerington slumbered as an agricultural and dairy community, seemingly distant from both the county seat, Lancaster, and the state capital, Columbus.

The growth and prosperity since 1965 have forever changed Pickerington from an old country village to a major city in northwest Fairfield County. Equidistant between Lancaster and Columbus, today's Pickerington is both a Columbus suburban community and a transition zone leading to agricultural and open spaces to the east and southeast.

The City's population as estimated by the Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) for 2006 was 13,573. The unincorporated Violet Township estimated population (excluding Pickerington and Columbus) was approximately 19,264.

As a result of reaching an official population of over 5,000 persons, Pickerington was certified as a city by the Ohio Secretary of State in 1991. Pickerington is the second largest city in Fairfield County and is second in size only to Lancaster.

An official Pickerington seal, designed by local resident Nancy Brackbill, was adopted in 1989 and gradually replaced other symbols as the official Pickerington identification. The seal appears on the cover of the Annual Report and Annual Budget, identifies city vehicles, and is used on all City correspondence and publications. In 1996 the City was designated as by the Ohio Legislature as the "Violet Capital of Ohio."