Butler County, Ohio

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

County Seat: Hamilton
Year Organized: 1803
Square Miles: 467

Court House:

315 High Street
County Administration Bldg.
Hamilton, OH 45011-6056

Etymology - Origin of County Name

The county was named in honor of Richard Butler, who was killed in St. Clair's defeat in 1791.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

On March 24, 1803, the State of Ohio established Butler County. The county was named in honor of Richard Butler, who was killed in St. Clair's defeat in 1791. It was originally part of Hamilton County.

Butler County is located in Ohio's southwestern corner. Its western boundary lies on the Indiana border. The county is generally rural, although urban areas cover twelve percent of Butler County's 467 square miles. The county's largest city is Hamilton, the county seat, with a population of 60,690 people in 2000. Middletown and Fairfield are the next two largest cities, with populations of more than forty thousand people in 2000. Almost 333,000 people resided in Butler County in 2000. This was an increase of more than fourteen percent since 1990. The county averages approximately 713 people per square mile.

While Butler County is a rural area, the majority of its residents work in sales or in service industries. Manufacturing, especially of paper, steel, and safes, and government positions finish third and fourth among occupations. Since Butler County is relatively close to Cincinnati, many residents commute to the larger city. A number of residents also work in the construction industry. In 1999, the county's per capita income was 26,456 dollars, with approximately eight percent of the population living below the poverty level.

Most voters in Butler County claim to be independents. Educator William Holmes McGuffey and author Murat Halstead were among Butler County's most famous residents. Ohio Governor James Campbell also was from the county. Butler County is home to Miami University, the second oldest state-supported institution of higher education in Ohio. It is located in Oxford.

Sources

Butler County, Ohio History Central, July 23, 2008,

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1903&nm=Butler-County

Neighboring Counties:

Preble County (north)
Montgomery County (northeast)
Warren County (east)
Hamilton County (south)
Dearborn County, Indiana (southwest)
Franklin County, Indiana (west)
Union County, Indiana (northwest)

Cities and Towns:

- College Corner	village	Incorporated Area
- Fairfield	city	Incorporated Area
- Hamilton (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Jacksonburg	village	Incorporated Area
- Lemon	township
- Liberty	township
- Miami	township
- Middletown	city	Incorporated Area
- Millville	village	Incorporated Area
- Monroe	city	Incorporated Area
- Morgan	township
- New Miami	village	Incorporated Area
- Oxford	city	Incorporated Area
- Reily	township
- Ross	township
- Seven Mile	village	Incorporated Area
- Somerville	village	Incorporated Area
- St. Clair	township
- Trenton	city	Incorporated Area
- West Chester	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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