Athens County, Ohio

Athens County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Athens
Year Organized: 1805
Square Miles: 507

Court House:

15 S. Court Street
County Courthouse
Athens, OH 45701-2836

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Athens County was named for Athens, Greece.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Formed on February 20, 1805, Athens County was named for Athens, Greece. Athens County was originally part of Washington County. Ohio University, the earliest institution of higher education in Ohio, was established in Athens in 1804. The county also was home to Ohio’s first library, the Coonskin Library, established in 1804.

Athens County is located in the southeastern portion of Ohio and sits squarely in the heart of Appalachia. Its southeastern corner resides on the Ohio River. The county consists of 507 square miles of land, and it is primarily rural, with only 1.4 percent of the county deemed to be urban areas. The county seat is Athens, which is the largest city in the county, with a population of just over 21,300 people in 2000. The county experienced a 4.5 percent population growth between 1995 and 2000, with approximately 62,200 people calling the county home in 2000.

The largest employer in Athens County is the government, principally Ohio University and the county’s two state parks and national forest, including Zaleski State Forest, Burr Oak State Park, and Wayne National Forest. The county’s next largest employers occur in sales positions and in service industries. In 1995, the per capita was 18,202 dollars, with over nineteen percent of the county’s residents living in poverty, one of the highest rates in Ohio.

Most voters in Athens County claim to be independents, yet in recent years, they have overwhelmingly supported Democratic candidates at the national level.

Educator William Holmes McGuffey ranks among Athens County’s more famous residents.

Sources

Athens County Ohio History Central, July 23, 2008,

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1893&nm=Athens-County

Neighboring Counties:

Perry County (north)
Morgan County (northeast)
Washington County (east)
Wood County, West Virginia (southeast)
Meigs County (south)
Vinton County (west)
Hocking County (northwest)

Cities and Towns:

- Albany	village	Incorporated Area
- Alexander	township
- Ames	township
- Amesville	village	Incorporated Area
- Athens (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Bern	township
- Buchtel	village	Incorporated Area
- Canaan	township
- Chauncey	village	Incorporated Area
- Coolville	village	Incorporated Area
- Glouster	village	Incorporated Area
- Jacksonville	village	Incorporated Area
- Lee	township
- Nelsonville	city	Incorporated Area
- Trimble	village	Incorporated Area
- York	township

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

Penn Foster High School

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