Greene County, Ohio

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

County Seat: Xenia
Year Organized: 1803
Square Miles: 415

Court House:

35 North Detroit Street
County Courthouse
Xenia, OH 45385-2909

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Residents named the county in honor of General Nathaniel Greene, a hero of the American Revolution.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

On March 24, 1803, the Ohio government authorized the creation of Greene County. The county was originally parts of Ross and Hamilton Counties. Residents named the county in honor of General Nathaniel Greene, a hero of the American Revolution.

Greene County is located in southwestern Ohio. It is predominantly rural, with four percent of the county's 415 square miles consisting of urban areas. The county seat is Xenia, which was the county's third largest city in 2000. With a population of 37,984 people, Beavercreek was the county's largest community in 2000. Greene County experienced a sizable increase in population-roughly 8.2 percent-between 1990 and 2000, raising the total number of residents to 147,886 people. The county averages 356 people per square mile.

The largest employers in Greene County are service industries, especially Wilberforce University, Wright State University, Cedarville College, and Central State College, with government positions finishing second. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is the largest government employer. Tourism, another type of service industry, is a rather large employer in the county, with many people visiting the outdoor drama Blue Jacket that takes place near Xenia. In 1999, the per capita income in the county was approximately 27,100 dollars, with just over seven percent of the people living in poverty.

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

Educator Horace Mann, novelist William Dean Howells, and historian Whitelaw Reid rank among the county's more prominent residents.

Sources

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

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1934&nm=Greene-County

Neighboring Counties:

Clark County, Ohio - north
Madison County, Ohio - northeast
Fayette County, Ohio - southeast
Clinton County, Ohio - south
Warren County, Ohio - southwest
Montgomery County, Ohio - west

Cities and Towns:

- Beavercreek	city	Incorporated Area
- Bellbrook	city	Incorporated Area
- Bowersville	village	Incorporated Area
- Caesarscreek	township
- Cedarville	village	Incorporated Area
- Clifton	village	Incorporated Area
- Dayton	city	Incorporated Area
- Fairborn	city	Incorporated Area
- Jamestown	village	Incorporated Area
- New Jasper	township
- Riverside	city	Incorporated Area
- Silvercreek	township
- Spring Valley	village	Incorporated Area
- Xenia (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Yellow Springs	village	Incorporated Area

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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