Morgan County, Ohio

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

County Seat: McConnelsville
Year Organized: 1817
Square Miles: 418

Court House:

19 East Main Street
County Courthouse
Mc Connelsville, OH 43756-1100

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Residents named the county in honor of Daniel Morgan, a hero of the American Revolution.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

On December 29, 1817, the Ohio government authorized the creation of Morgan County. Residents named the county in honor of Daniel Morgan, a hero of the American Revolution. The first whites settled in the county in 1790. They built a community known as Big Bottom. In 1791, Indians attacked the settlement, killing twelve settlers. This event became known as the Big Bottom Massacre. The Ohio Historical Society commemorates the attack with a monument on the site.

Morgan County is located in eastern Ohio. It is predominantly rural, with less than one percent of the county’s 418 square miles consisting of urban areas. The county is also in the heart of Appalachia. The county seat is McConnelsville. With a population of 1,676 people, McConnelsville was the county’s largest community in 2000. Unlike many of Ohio’s more rural counties, Morgan County’s population has increased in recent years. Between 1990 and 2000, the county’s population grew by five percent, raising the total number of residents to 14,897 people in 2000. The county averages thirty-six people per square mile, making it one of Ohio’s least populous counties.

Agriculture is the largest employer in Morgan County. No other occupation draws more than 750 workers. During the nineteenth century, many McConnelsville residents earned their livings by transporting crops, manufactured goods, and people down the Muskingum River to the Ohio River. In 1999, the per capita income in the county was 17,794 dollars, with 15.3 percent of the people living in poverty.

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

Sources

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

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1982&nm=Morgan-County

Neighboring Counties:

Muskingum County (north)
Noble County (northeast)
Washington County (southeast)
Athens County (southwest)
Perry County (west)

Cities and Towns:

- Bloom	township
- Bristol	township
- Center	township
- Chesterhill	village	Incorporated Area
- Malta	village	Incorporated Area
- McConnelsville (County Seat)	village	Incorporated Area
- Meigsville	township
- Morgan	township
- Penn	township
- Stockport	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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