Meigs County, Ohio

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

County Seat: Pomeroy
Year Organized: 1819
Square Miles: 430

Court House:

100 East Second Street
County Courthouse
Pomeroy, OH 45769-1094

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Residents named the county in honor of Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., a former governor of Ohio.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

On January 21, 1819, the Ohio government authorized the creation of Meigs County. Residents named the county in honor of Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., a former governor of Ohio. The county used to be parts of Gallia and Athens Counties. During the American Civil War, the Battle of Buffington Island took place in Meigs County. This was the only battle to occur in Ohio. The Ohio Historical Society maintains a monument to the Battle of Buffington Island in Meigs County.

Meigs County is located in southeastern Ohio. The county’s southern border lies along the Ohio River. It is predominantly rural, with less than one percent of the county’s 429 square miles consisting of urban areas. The county is also in the heart of Appalachia. The county seat is Pomeroy. With a population of 1,966 people, Pomeroy was the county’s third largest community in 2000, ranking behind Middleport (2,525 residents) and Chester Township (2,332 residents). Unlike many of Ohio’s more rural counties, Meigs County’s population has remained relatively steady, with the total number of residents at 23,072 people in 2000. The county averages fifty-four people per square mile.

The largest employers in Meigs County are farms, government positions and retail businesses. During the nineteenth century, county residents earned money especially through coal mining, iron ore excavation, and salt processing. In 1999, the per capita income in the county was 16,436 dollars, with 20.4 percent of the people living in poverty. This is one of the lowest per capita income averages and highest poverty rates in Ohio.

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

Sources

Meigs County, Ohio History Central, July 24, 2008,

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1976&nm=Meigs-County

Neighboring Counties:

Athens County (north)
Wood County, West Virginia (northeast)
Jackson County, West Virginia (east)
Mason County, West Virginia (southeast)
Gallia County (southwest)
Vinton County (west)

Cities and Towns:

- Chester	township
- Letart	township
- Middleport	village	Incorporated Area
- Olive	township
- Pomeroy (County Seat)	village	Incorporated Area
- Racine	village	Incorporated Area
- Rutland	village	Incorporated Area
- Salisbury	township
- Scipio	township
- Sutton	township
- Syracuse	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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