Hilliard's water, sewers and bathrooms, from Hilliards to the Columbus lines
In 1911 the farming village the state called Hilliards had 370 people, no public water supply and no public improvements, and the sewers the state approved for it that year were for storm water only: the village banned connecting any house to them, because its ditches drained toward the Columbus water supply. This page follows the public record from the State Board of Health's reports to Hilliard's own sewage plant and wells, service from Columbus by the 1970s, a town that grew ninefold in the 1950s, and when its houses were built.
Last updated September 2026 · Records are the Ohio State Board of Health's, the Public Health Service's, the Environmental Protection Agency's and the Census Bureau's, with the City of Hilliard's own history marked as the city's, each read September 24, 2026 · No prices on this page; the Estimate Builder carries those · Part of the knowledge base
Hilliards, the farming village
The City of Hilliard's own history says John Hilliard platted the town on September 1, 1853, and that it was incorporated as a village on July 13, 1869, with 280 people; those dates are the city's account and were not found in a primary record for this page. The State Board of Health spelled the village Hilliards in its reports through 1913. In 1895 its health officer counted about 400 people and named the village's defects plainly: defective drainage, a bad privy vault system and carelessness about garbage, the first two left unremedied for lack of money and the third, the officer thought, from indifference. In 1904 the board of health spent nothing and there was no garbage collection. In 1905 the village reported about 500 people and four cases of typhoid.
1911: storm sewers only, and no house may connect
The State Board of Health's report for 1911 describes Hilliards as a village of 370, essentially a farming community with no manufacturing, that had made no public improvements. The land was flat and drained poorly, and its surface water ran through county ditches to a small tributary of the Scioto that entered the Columbus water works storage reservoir. The village had no public water supply, so it produced little sewage, and it asked the state to approve storm sewers only, laid deep enough to drain cellars. The state approved them on that condition, because sewage in those ditches would endanger the water supply of the city of Columbus, and on September 11, 1911 the village passed an ordinance forbidding any house or cellar to be connected to the village sewers. Cellars were to be drained by tile laid outside the foundations. The approval lapsed unless building began before January 1, 1913; the year the sewers were laid is not in the report. In 1913 the state inspected the village's existing sewerage.
A sewage plant of its own, and wells
The year Hilliard's first sanitary sewers were built is not in any document read for this page. By 1962 they existed: the Public Health Service's inventory of municipal sewage works that year shows separate sewers serving 5,635 people and an activated-sludge plant designed for 0.500 million gallons a day that was running at 0.530, above its design flow, and flags it as needing enlargement. A federal river basin survey of 1967 says Hilliard was then on its own well field and could probably expand it, though further study might show connection to the Columbus water system to be the best solution. By 1978 the federal Environmental Protection Agency's draft impact statement says portions of Hilliard were served by the Columbus sewage plants, and its water map shows Hilliard served by Columbus. The city's own history says the connection to the Columbus regional sewer and water systems came in the 1960s; the federal record fits that only for the last years of the 1960s, since the 1967 survey still found Hilliard on wells, and no contract year was found.
From village to city
Hilliard stayed a village of a few hundred for more than eighty years after it incorporated: 338 people in 1890, 610 in 1950. Then it grew ninefold in a decade, to 5,633 in 1960, and the city says it became a city on December 12, 1960, on reaching that count; the 1960 census tables still list it as a village. It has grown in almost every count since. The two census publications that print its 1990 count disagree by two people, and both figures are given.
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1890 | 338 |
| 1900 | 376 |
| 1910 | 370 |
| 1920 | 451 |
| 1930 | 465 |
| 1940 | 583 |
| 1950 | 610 |
| 1960 | 5,633 |
| 1970 | 8,369 |
| 1980 | 8,131, as revised |
| 1990 | 11,796 in the 1990 count; 11,794 as the 2010 publication prints it |
| 2000 | 24,230 |
| 2010 | 28,435 |
| 2020, estimates base | 37,160 |
| July 1, 2025, estimate | 38,898 |
When Hilliard's houses were built
Hilliard's housing is mostly recent. In the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey, 12.8 percent of its 14,931 housing units were built before 1960 and 21.3 percent before 1980, and the median year built is 1997, plus or minus 2. The single largest share, 26.8 percent, went up in the 1990s. The small older rows carry wide margins.
| Built | Housing units | Share of all housing units |
|---|---|---|
| 1939 or earlier | 391 | 2.6 percent |
| 1940 to 1949 | 107 | 0.7 percent |
| 1950 to 1959 | 1,412 | 9.5 percent |
| 1960 to 1969 | 516 | 3.5 percent |
| 1970 to 1979 | 751 | 5.0 percent |
| 1980 to 1989 | 1,314 | 8.8 percent |
| 1990 to 1999 | 4,002 | 26.8 percent |
| 2000 to 2009 | 2,409 | 16.1 percent |
| 2010 to 2019 | 3,511 | 23.5 percent |
| 2020 or later | 518 | 3.5 percent |
Where the water and sewage go now
The City of Hilliard says the Columbus Division of Water provides its water and sewer service and that wastewater goes to a regional plant in Columbus. Hilliard adopts the Columbus sewer-use chapter into its own code, the city says the sewer lateral is the property owner's responsibility, and the city asks residents to call its operations office after a backup so its main line is inspected first; its backflow program is on the page on sewer laterals and basement backups by town. Plumbing work in Hilliard is inspected by the county under a contract with the city, which collects the plumbing fees, as the page on who issues building permits explains.
The short version. In 1911 the village the state called Hilliards had 370 people, no public water supply and no public improvements; the state approved storm sewers only, and the village banned connecting any house or cellar to them because the ditches drained toward the Columbus water supply. By 1962 Hilliard ran its own sewage plant, over its design flow, and in 1967 its own well field; by 1978 Columbus served it. The census counted 610 people in 1950 and 5,633 in 1960, and the median Hilliard house was built in 1997.
Sources
Every figure, date and quotation on this page comes from one of these documents, read on the date given. Where two of them disagree, the page says so.
- Ohio State Board of Health, Annual Reports, 1895, 1904, 1905, 1911 and 1913, full text at the Internet Archive (items annualreportofst followed by the year and ohio); read September 24, 2026.
- U.S. Public Health Service, Municipal Waste Facilities, 1962 Inventory, Region V, Ohio entries; read September 24, 2026.
- Ohio River Basin Comprehensive Survey, Volume V, Appendix D, 1967; read September 24, 2026.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region V, Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Columbus metropolitan area wastewater facilities, February 1978, section 3 and Figure II-6; read September 24, 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, decennial census volumes: 1910 Volume III, Ohio, 1930 Volume I, Ohio, 1950 Volume I, Ohio, 1960 Volume I, Part 37, and the 1990 and 2010 Population and Housing Unit Counts for Ohio; and the 2020 to 2025 city population estimates; read September 24, 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 5-year estimates, tables B25034 Year Structure Built and B25035 Median Year Structure Built, for the place, through Census Reporter; read September 24, 2026.
- City of Hilliard, History, Sanitary Sewer and Stormwater Systems and Questions and Answers, the city's own account; read September 24, 2026.
Common questions
When did Hilliard get sewers?
In 1911 the Ohio State Board of Health approved storm sewers only for the village, and on September 11, 1911 the village banned connecting any house or cellar to them. The first year of sanitary sewers was not found; by 1962 a Public Health Service inventory shows separate sewers serving 5,635 people and a sewage plant running above its design flow.
Why did Hilliard ban house connections to its sewers in 1911?
The State Board of Health said the village's ditches drained through a tributary of the Scioto into the Columbus water works storage reservoir, so sewage in them would endanger the water supply of the city of Columbus. It approved the 1911 sewers for storm and cellar drainage only, and the village passed an ordinance forbidding house connections.
Where did Hilliard get its water before Columbus?
A federal river basin survey of 1967 describes Hilliard's own well field. By 1978 the federal Environmental Protection Agency's water map shows Hilliard served by Columbus, and the city says the Columbus Division of Water provides its water and sewer service today.
When did Hilliard become a city?
The City of Hilliard says it became a city on December 12, 1960, on reaching 5,633 people, which is the 1960 census count; the 1960 census tables still list it as a village. The city also says it was platted in 1853 and incorporated as a village in 1869.
How old are the houses in Hilliard?
In the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey, the median year built for Hilliard's 14,931 housing units is 1997, 12.8 percent were built before 1960 and 21.3 percent before 1980, and the largest share, 26.8 percent, was built in the 1990s.
How big was Hilliard in 1950?
The census counted 610 people in Hilliard in 1950, up from 338 in 1890, and 5,633 in 1960. The Census Bureau estimates 38,898 people on July 1, 2025.
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