The rails reached the new town in1855 and the first rail passenger arrived. The growth of the town accelerated. More merchants began to set out their businesses. There was controvercy concerning a potential name for the town, Litchfield, Hayesville and others. Eventually the town was named for an Ottowa Chief, Wauseon. Nathaniel Leggett was the first mayor, and at his passing, the Union cemetery site was selected. Perhaps a tribute to the foresight of this entrepreneur, the business life in Wauseon was booming. The Lyon and Brigham flour mill stirred development, offering local farmers a close location to grind wheat. In 1856 the "White School" was erected, and in 1868, a three story high school was constructed on Monroe Street. On Fulton Street, one of the earliest forms of an indoor mall was constructed, the Brigham and Guilford store, filling in the majority of the Northwest block of North Fulton Street between Depot and the corner of North Fulton and Elm Street.

 

In 1869, citizens voted to move theFulton County seat to Wauseon, but the courthouse building was not complete and offices moved until 1872. A normal school for training teachers was erected in 1888. A new high school was built in 1907. The original high school was renovated to house the first county hospital. The Carnegie Library was added to the downtown in 1904. From the beginning, the town fathers had a sense of saving areas for public space. The first park, South Park opened in 1854. Churches built structures that, like the early schools, were replaced with more modern facilities. The first bank, established by the town founder, eventually failed due to the Panic of 1907. Jim Brailey, a son of a Wauseon Founder and an attorney considered the expiring Bell patents, and in Wauseon he established the first independent telephone company in the United States! Unfortunately, the expanding business closed when the Barber bank failed.

 

The early industry of the town used drilled wells for a water source. When a major canning company offered to locate in Wauseon, two reservoirs were constructed.  Wauseon continued to build new schools. The Elm Street Elementary School was constructed at the site of the former Normal School. The new Detwiler Hospital was constructed on South Fulton Street. In 1941, a public swimming pool was dedicated at Reighard Park. A new Wauseon High School was built by Reighard Park and Harmon Field. The former high school served as a middle school until an explosion demolished much of the building. After that historic event, a new school building, housing both elementary students and the Junior High was hastily constructed on Burr Road. The remaining portion of the school on Clinton Street was renovated, initially to house the city offices and later to be expanded becoming the  home of the Wauseon Fire Department.

 

After World War II, many industries were thriving in Wauseon. The Sheridan Manufacturing Company, The Wauseon Foundry, The Wauseon Manufacturing Company, The Fulton Manufacturing company, The McCord Corporation, B&C Engineering, The Multicast Company, The Perfection Finishing Company, Wauseon Woodworking and the Fraker Seat Company. Sadly, many of the industries that were thriving after the great war have relocated or closed their productions entirely. In more recent years, the German Village Factory, J.C.I.M., Haas Door, Wauseon Machine and Manufacturing, International Automotive Components, Triangular Processing, E & J Demark, and Riley Tractor Parts have opened for business in the locations of earlier industrial plants.